Orientation held for inaugural DNP class

The first students to enroll in Kirkhof College of Nursing's Doctorate of Nursing Practice attended a day-long orientation on August 7 to prepare for the fall semester.

Twenty students comprise the first DNP class, meeting enrollment expectations, according to KCON Dean Cynthia McCurren. She added that the class includes students with extensive professional background and several who recently earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Kathryn Speeter has worked at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids for 20 years. She hopes to open her own mental health clinical practice, and said she enrolled in the program “because of the evidence-based practice and applied research we’ll be doing.”

Stacey Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Grand Valley in December and now works at Sunset Home Services. She is interested in a rural health care practice. “I wanted to go straight through to get a doctorate because the opportunities are limited once you move away from larger cities,” Smith said.

Nursing students with bachelor’s or master’s degrees in nursing are eligible to enroll in the DNP program. The BSN to DNP will involve approximately 90 credits hours and 1,000 clinical hours; for master’s degree students, enrolling in the MSN to  DNP program will mean about 40 additional credits and 400  clinical hours. Visit the KCON Web site at www.gvsu.edu/kcon for more information.

The DNP is only program of its type in West Michigan. McCurren said the program will produce candidates who can hold joint appointments in clinical or academic settings, thus helping 
satisfy the need for nursing faculty members.