Doctor of Nursing Practice

The part-time Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program at Upstate Medical University College of Nursing is specifically for the post-master's Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). The DNP degree prepares nurse experts to the highest level of advanced practise expanding the APRN role in leadership, health policy, advocacy, interprofessional practice, and information technology. The expanded clinical role provides the DNP skills to translate and generate evidence-based knowledge into clinical practice that promotes safe, effective, and equitable patient care.

The program is 40 semester hours and is online. The degree can be completed in two and a half years of part-time study with five semesters of 6-7 credits per semester and two summer semesters of 3 credits each.

A nurse with a DNP is prepared for an expanded clinical role that encompasses populations and systems, and individual patients. In the career setting, a nurse with the DNP degree designs, applies, and evaluates research and generates evidence to promote safe, effective, and equitable patient care.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is designed to meet the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, is the only academic medical centre in Central New York. It is also the region's largest employer with 9,460 employees. Affiliated with the State University of New York, Upstate's mission is to improve the community's health through education, biomedical research, and health care.

Its four colleges anchor Upstate Medical University's educational mission—Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions, and Graduate Studies (biomedical sciences).

As a biomedical research enterprise, Upstate focuses on the most prevalent human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, nervous system disorders, vision, and infectious diseases. The quest for treatments and cures is built upon expertise in structural, molecular, and systems biology. Upstate also offers many clinical trials for patients.

We offer dozens of unique health care services to our region through Upstate University Hospital, Upstate University Hospital at Community Campus, and our outpatient clinics. We also house the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital to serve the region.

The mission of SUNY Upstate Medical University is to improve the health of the communities we serve through education, biomedical research, and patient care. Everything we do at Upstate—teaching students, discovering new knowledge through research, and caring for patients—is done to achieve that goal.