UTMB launches doctoral nursing program

GALVESTON — There’s a special group of students on campus at the University of Texas Medical Branch this semester — the first class of candidates for the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The new program was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in October, and the first class of students met recently on campus for orientation.

“This new program fills a need in the education of health care providers and recognizes the desire of nurses to pursue the highest achievement in clinical practice while developing leadership skills,” said Pamela G. Watson, dean of the School of Nursing.

The eight members of the class are master’s degree-prepared nurse practitioners, a requirement for the new program, which is an online curriculum and will be offered part-time during the first five years. Before its offering, nurses’ only option was to pursue a Ph.D. in nursing, which traditionally has been research-focused. For nurses who enjoy working with patients, this often meant a move away from that clinical practice.

“The DNP resolves that pull between research and practice,” said Linda Rounds, professor in the School of Nursing and a past president of the Texas Board of Nursing, when addressing the group during orientation. “It’s not just about practice — it’s about leadership and understanding health care systems.”

She said that nurses can have an impact on public policy and changes in health care and the way patients are cared for.

Ranging from age 32 to “retirement age,” more than half the group have earned a degree at the medical branch — either undergraduate or master’s level — and a common sentiment among them is an appreciation for the support and encouragement of the nursing faculty and their dedication to advancing the nursing profession.

Shaini Elavumparambil started to pursue her doctorate in nursing in 2009 and transferred to the DNP because “this program is a perfect blend of clinical practice, research and teaching,” she said. “I’m a hands-on person, love my patients and their families and wanted to continue my clinical practice.”

That feeling was echoed by Aimee Jackson, who works at the medical branch in the division of maternal-fetal medicine and whose background is in high-risk obstetrics.

“Though my practice is divided between clinical and research, I am in my heart a clinician,” Jackson said. “I am excited every day I get to take care of patients and consider it a great privilege to provide care to the most medically complicated pregnant mothers and their babies.”

She said the clinical track will allow her to grow and she has “patiently waited for it to come to fruition.”

Bruce Leonard, associate professor in the School of Nursing and director of the program, said it was designed to add more clinical hours as well as a concentration in leadership and quality improvement in patient outcomes.

“The DNP is designed for using evidence-based information from clinically-based studies and applying it in practice so it’s actually an applied science,” Leonard said. “It’s the wave of the future.”