Elms College Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Earns Accreditation
CHICOPEE — The School of Nursing at Elms College has received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for its doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program.
CCNE accreditation is a nongovernmental peer-review process that operates in accordance with nationally recognized standards established for the practice of accreditation in the U.S.
“We all share in the joy and pride of having achieved this great accomplishment,” said Kathleen Scoble, dean of the School of Nursing at Elms. “The DNP program was a vision and a dream for Elms School of Nursing and our community partners.”
The DNP degree is a clinical practice doctorate in an advanced specialty of nursing practice for the role of nurse practitioner. DNP graduates from Elms are eligible to sit for advanced certification and licensure in one of two specialty tracks: family nurse practitioner or adult-gerontology acute-care nurse practitioner.
Most local programs educate advanced-practice nurses (APRNs) at the master’s level, but — in accordance with the American Assoc. of Colleges of Nursing’s evolutionary position to move the level of preparation necessary for APRN roles from the master’s degree to the doctorate level — Elms College has implemented the clinical doctorate to prepare NPs with the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise.
The college has partnered with Baystate Medical System and Berkshire Health Systems, who fund cohorts of nurses to fill critical roles in their organizations now and into the future.
A special white-coat ceremony for Elms’ second cohort of DNP students will be held in December. “This spring, our ultimate goal of graduating nurse practitioners prepared with a quality clinical doctorate in nursing will be realized,” Scoble said.
