Morningside College will begin offering classes for its first ever doctoral program, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), featuring tracks in Direct Patient Care and Transformative Leadership this fall.

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Morningside College will begin offering classes for its first ever doctoral program, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), featuring tracks in Direct Patient Care and Transformative Leadership this fall.

The 30-credit program will be delivered online and is designed for working nurses seeking advancement as leaders in health care.

“This is a wonderful moment for Morningside College and Siouxland because the DNP program will allow us to foster the growth of the talented nursing professionals in this region,” said Jackie Barber, dean of the Morningside College Nylen School of Nursing. “I’m thrilled we will be able to offer our undergraduate and graduate students and other nursing professionals the opportunity to earn their terminal degree, and that area employers will benefit from their skills and expertise.”

A driving force behind the development of the program was the level of demand. Nurses are being required to possess increased levels of evidence-based knowledge and practice expertise to ensure safety and quality outcomes. Additionally, there is a nationwide push for nurses to earn a doctorate as a way to help mitigate the shortage of family practice doctors, particularly in rural areas, while helping drive innovation in the health care system.

The two DNP tracks Morningside will offer directly address these demands. The Direct Patient Care track is designed for nurses who want to become a Family Primary Care Nurse Practitioner or Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, or for those who already serve in the nurse practitioner role and want to expand their expertise for improved patient outcomes. The Transformative Leadership track is for nurses in systems or indirect care delivery who wish to drive changes in health care.

“Like our other nursing programs, our DNP program will set high standards of excellence in nursing education that will benefit our community and the health care industry as a whole,” said Barber. “Adding the DNP will also encourage more of our students to consider an advanced nursing degree because they will have the ability to seamlessly continue their education right here at Morningside.

Morningside was notified by the Higher Learning Commission earlier this summer it had been approved to launch the program this fall. This fall’s start will be slightly delayed to accommodate enrolling the initial cohort, which Barber expects to be around 6-8 students. Going forward, rolling enrollment options in fall, spring, and summer will be available. In addition to be offered online, the program will also offer the same flexible plan of study offered by the Graduate Nursing program, allowing students the ability to complete coursework while remaining employed. For more information on the program, visit here.