Guide for Advising DNP Students - School of Nursing

Guide for Advising DNP Students 

The following guide assumes that all DNP students have been acquainted with our school’s vision of the tripartite role 

and how the program goals and the three components of the DNP program requirements support preparation for the 

tripartite role of advanced practice, leadership, and practice inquiry. The URL for the program goals and requirements 

is: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/dnp-curriculum-components.html 

The advisor assigned at the time of matriculation and then the supervisory committee chairperson should meet with the 

student at least once per quarter and submit a note each quarter regarding the student’s progress to Academic Services 

(AS). See: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/evaluation-of-student-performance.html 

Information and policies regarding the evaluation of DNP students quarter to quarter and throughout the programs may 

be found at: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/evaluation-of-student-performance.html 

I. Advisor Assigned at the Time of Matriculation 

A. All DNP Students 

B. Students Preparing for a Specialty or New Specialty 

C. Post-Master’s DNP Students (Not Seeking a New Specialty) 

II. Establish DNP Supervisory Committee 

III. Approval of the Program of Study 

IV. NCLIN 798 Tripartite Immersion Practicum (TIP) 

V. DNP Project (formerly referred to as DNP Capstone Project) 

VI. Final Quarter 

I. Advisor Assigned at Time of Matriculation 

A. All DNP Students 

1. During first quarter, acquaint student with the Program of Study Course Proposal form available on the Student 

Forms page: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/dnp-student-forms.html 

2. The student should make an e-copy of the Program of Study Course Proposal form to customize and update 

from each quarter to the next. Form can be used during quarterly advisement meetings, although many 

specialties prefer using the specialty curriculum grid. 

3. Ensure that student plans to take DNP core courses when offered (info in catalog may not match current reality). 

Student must understand consequences of not taking a course that is the prerequisite for another (for example, 

not possible to skip NMETH 533 and then take NMETH 534). 

4. Explain that the student’s DNP supervisory committee is responsible for approving additional courses that will 

meet DNP degree requirements outside of specialty and DNP core course requirements. Complete assurance 

comes solely with supervisory committee approval. 

5. Advise student on how to approach the selection of supervisory committee. Student should interview faculty as 

potential chair or members. Approaching faculty with a description of one or more areas of general interest and 

an attitude of openness and flexibility is usually more productive than when the student has a narrowly-focused 

interest and a specific plan in mind. The exception to this might be identifying a faculty member with the same 

narrowly-focused are of interest. 

Collectively, the supervisory committee membership should support capstone project plans by having 

knowledge of the content area and approach to be used. 

Guide for Advising DNP Students.docx SF 10-29-12

Refer student to material on the website: 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/dnp-supervisory-committee.html 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/steps-in-the-selection-of-the-dnpsupervisory-committee.html 

B. Students Preparing for a Specialty or New Specialty – advisor affiliated with specialty. 

1. Acquaint student with specialty requirements. 

2. Present options regarding specialty requirements, if any (such as part-time study or options in sequencing 

specialty requirements). 

3. Acquaint student with master’s degree in passing option. Help student identify pros and cons for the student’s 

unique situation (e.g., should be a student-centered decision, not an expectation driven by the specialty). URL 

for master’s-in-passing: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/master’s-inpassing.html 

4. Advise student planning to earn a master’s in passing that the student’s DNP supervisory committee also 

oversees the activities involved with master’s-in-passing. 

C. Post-Master’s DNP Students (Not Seeking New Specialty) – no restrictions with regard to faculty member serving as 

advisor. 

1. Post-master’s DNP students are less likely to have support of peers than students taking specialty classes. 

Ensure student knows about Network for Doctoral Students in Nursing (NEDS): 

https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/nedsnursing 

2. Post-master’s DNP students should select supervisory committee chair as soon as they can define their interest 

for the DNP capstone project. 

3. Discuss student’s planned timeline for program. If student plans to complete within one year, needs to establish 

supervisory committee in first quarter. 

4. Given the prescriptive nature of undergraduate and master’s-level nursing education, post-master’s DNP 

students rarely have experience in devising a program of study. 

5. Post-master’s DNP students are not required to take NMETH 520. However, many may find taking NMETH 520 

to be helpful prior to taking NMETH 533. 

Post-master’s student electing not to take NMETH 520 should be strongly encouraged to take the 1 credit selfstudy 

unit of applied statistics within NMETH 520. This can be done as an NMETH 600 Independent Study with 

the advisor. The link to the statistics module is: 

http://www.son.washington.edu/portals/nursed/statistics.asp 

A modified NMETH 600 independent study form tailored to the statistics module is located on the O drive in the 

NMETH 600 Stats Module folder. 

Page 2 of 7

II. Establish DNP Supervisory Committee 

Refer to: 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/dnp-supervisory-committee.html 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/steps-in-the-selection-of-the-dnp-supervisorycommittee.html 

A. Supervisory Committee Chair should be selected first. 

In addition to being a good fit with regard to focus and/or methods for the DNP project, the faculty member-underconsideration-to-be-chair 

and the student need to be a good fit with regard to amount of guidance 

provided/needed, availability to the student, and so forth. Open disclosure on both sides will foster a continued 

positive relationship. The chair should give a realistic estimate of the time needed to review student work. The 

chair needs to be a graduate faculty member endorsed to chair doctoral committees and a Seattle campus SoN 

faculty member. 

B. The Supervisory Committee Chair provides input to the student in the selection of other members of committee. 

Two graduate faculty endorsed to chair doctoral committees are needed. The third member need not be a 

graduate faculty member or even a faculty member. When feasible, a person from the agency with which the 

student does his or her DNP project is recommended as the third member. 

Students preparing in a specialty or new specialty must have one member who has full knowledge of the 

requirements for the specialty. 

Note: Overall faculty resources for PhD and DNP supervisory committees will be conserved by not having all three 

members of the committee be graduate faculty endorsed to chair doctoral committees. 

C. Chair reviews and approves the student’s letter of request for appointment of supervisory committee to the 

Associate Dean for Academic Programs. The Associate Dean for Academic Programs serves as the SoN’s Graduate 

Program Coordinator to the Graduate School. The Graduate Program Coordinator’s role includes responsibility for 

ensuring the appropriateness of the supervisory committee membership. 

An example of the letter of request is available as a link within “Steps in the Selection of the DNP Supervisory 

Committee” web page: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/steps-in-the-selection-ofthe-dnp-supervisory-committee.html 

D. The Use of Human or Animal Subjects for UW Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations form signed by the DNP 

Supervisory Chair and the student should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs when the 

request for committee approval is made. The URL for the form is: 

http://www.son.washington.edu/students/policies/docs/GS_rsf.pdf 

E. Advise student of options to reconfigure committee (members and/or chairperson) and to contact the Impartial 

Review Committee if the student perceives bias or unfair treatment. Refer to: 

http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/supcom/review.asp 

III. Approval of the Program of Study 

A. Each quarter the student should update the Program of Study Course Proposal form. Review during quarterly 

advisement meetings. The Program of Study Course Proposal form is on the Forms page. 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/dnp-student-forms.html 

B. Chair reviews the Program of Study Course Proposal form with student to identify areas where additional course 

work is needed to meet requirements. The Program of Study Checklist can assist in the review of the program of 


study: http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/docs/Prog-of-Study-Checklist.pdf 

C. Additional course work needed to fulfill Advanced Practice, Leadership, and Practice Inquiry minimum requirements 

needs the supervisory committee’s approval. A variety of courses within and outside the School of Nursing may 

meet with the committee’s approval. If the chair is uncertain with regard to endorsing a course, send an email to 

the committee to discuss and determine as a group. 

D. 1000 hours of clinical practice (count starts post BSN). Clinical practice includes advanced practice, scholarly inquiry, 

and leadership activities to reflect the DNP tripartite role. Clinical hours are determined on the basis of 30 hours for 

each course credit. [Note: This determination differs from counting the hours of direct patient contact needed to 

qualify to take certification examinations.] 

Examples: 

1) 12 credits of NMETH 801 equate to 360 hours. 

2) 3 credits of an NCLIN course equate to 90 hours, even if the course included fewer hours of direct contact. 

Students who are already advanced practice nurses, can count the clinical hours taken in their prior programs 

without including the clinical courses in their DNP programs of study. For example, recent FNP or ANP graduates will 

have at least 500 clinical hours (since this is currently the minimum number of hours needed to qualify to take 

certification exam). 

E. Graduate work done for a master’s degree in nursing or PhD from another institution. 

Up to 30 quarter credits completed at another institution from a prior PhD or master’s degree may be waived in the 

student’s Program of Study. Most post-master’s students will use the majority if not all 30 credits for the Advanced 

Practice component. The courses/credits waived from another institution must meet with the supervisory 

committee’s approval. 

F. Post-master’s students are not required to take NMETH 520. UW MN graduates may count NMETH 520 credits 

taken in the program of study. 

G. Community Health students must have a community assessment course. Applies to post-master’s students 

prepared in community health. 

H. The 3 Ps are required by all students who are and are becoming NPs, nurse midwives, or CNSs. The “3 Ps” are 

physical assessment, physiology/pathophysiology (lifespan), and pharmacology. A distinct course is needed in each 

one. This meets a CCNE accreditation requirement. 

Note: Post-master’s DNP students may have completed programs that integrated content in one or more of the 3 

Ps. These students will need to take courses to meet this requirement. 

I. Master’s in passing 

1. Help student identify pros and cons for the student’s unique situation. URL for master’s-in-passing is: 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/master’s-in-passing.html 

2. Most helpful if Master’s Project relates to area of future DNP Project and provides a building block to this 

future work. 

J. When chair and student are in agreement over the program of study, the fully completed Program of Study Course 

Proposal form should be emailed as an attachment to the committee for their review. Questions and concerns 

should be discussed and resolved. Approval of Program of Study may be indicated via email to AS, e-signature, or 

signature on hard copy. Approved program of study goes to AS for student’s file. 


IV. NCLIN 798 Tripartite Immersion Practicum (TIP) 

Can be helpful if at same site as DNP Project, although not essential to be. Useful learning experience in any clinical 

agency. URL for TIP is: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degree-programs/dnp/tripartite-immersionpracticum.html 

Read Academic Services Memorandum No. 41 regarding students at clinical and external sites: 

http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/policies/students-in-external-and-clinical-sites.html 

V. DNP Project (formerly referred to as DNP Capstone Project) 

URL for web page describing Capstone Project steps: http://nursing.uw.edu/academic-services/degreeprograms/dnp/capstone-projects.html 

A. Whenever possible, select a project from the Possible Student Projects SharePoint library: 

https://sharepoint.washington.edu/nursing/as/curr_stu/stud_proj/default.aspx 

Projects listed are desired by the agency. 

B. Follow all specified steps to ensure intra-SoN coordination and the existence of a current affiliation agreement (legal 

agreement between SoN and agency). 

Note: Existing affiliation agreements may not cover activities planned in the DNP project. Check to be sure the 

affiliation agreement does not need to be updated. 

C. When general focus of project area and agency have been affirmed, student should correspond with agency to 

determine the specific focus or next step in project area most relevant to the agency. Supervisory Committee may 

give permission to take 2 credits of NMETH 801 to begin course work with the agency to identify the specific 

purpose of the DNP project. 

D. IMPORTANT: The chair’s input is vital to “right size” the DNP Project. 

Both the agency and the student are likely to envision a larger project than is appropriate. The chair’s advice is 

essential in guiding the student and working with the agency mentor to determine a project that will address the 

NMETH 801 course objectives and be accomplishable within the minimum number of required credits and a 

reasonable time frame. The vast majority of DNP Projects will address a single step or aspect of translating evidence 

to practice. 

E. A Statement of Mutual Agreement is needed to better ensure that the student and agency have a clear 

understanding regarding the student’s activities within the agency in advance of beginning any activities related to 

the approved proposal. Include within this statement whether the student may place the final report in the School 

of Nursing’s electronic library of DNP Project Final Reports. The student and an individual with administrative 

authority at the agency must sign the agreement. The individual with administrative authority is not necessarily the 

agency mentor. The agency mentor may sign as well. The chair of the supervisory committee signs the Statement 

of Mutual Agreement to indicate knowledge of the contents: 

http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/docs/MutualAgreement.pdf. 

F. Protection of Human Subjects. Determine and facilitate the appropriate review, if needed. If a review is not 

needed, have a statement that will go into the student academic file stating this. Human subjects considerations are 

placed prior to Proposal, since sometimes the consideration of the needed review will inspire the student to a reconceptualization 

of the purpose and scope of the project. 


G. Proposal 

1) Audience for proposal is agency and committee. 

2) Needs to demonstrate accurate appraisal of the evidence. Since DNP general examinations are no 

longer required, the proposal needs to serve purpose of demonstrating to the committee the student’s 

knowledge regarding area of the project’s focus and the processes and procedures to be undertaken. 

Consider appending evidence tables to keep text of the proposal a more concise and focused synthesis. 

H. Chair provides feedback on proposal drafts to student. Chair sends proposal to other committee members when 

acceptable. 

I. Schedule oral presentation of proposal when full committee agrees that student is sufficiently ready. For guide to 

proposal see: http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/docs/SuggestedGuide.pdf 

J. DNP project implementation. 

Make clear that the student may not begin any of the project activities until proposal has been approved by 

committee and statement of mutual agreement has been signed. 

K. At conclusion of DNP project, provide student with feedback on drafts of Final Report. Although Executive Summary 

is listed first, recommend to student to write it only after Final Report is in an acceptable near-final form. Refer the 

second page of: http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/docs/SuggestedGuide.pdf 

L. Check to see that student has written personal letters of appreciation to the agency and notified Betsy Mau of the 

following: 

1) Names and titles of the specific people worked with 

2) Date the collaboration with the agency concluded 

VI. Final Quarter 

URL for Final Quarter requirements: http://www.son.washington.edu/students/dnp/evals/finalquarter.asp 

A. Student needs to read Final Quarter requirements carefully. Recommend reading the quarter prior to expected final 

quarter. Then re-reading in final quarter. 

B. Student must be registered for a minimum of 2 credits. If only 2 credits, almost always the two credits are in NMETH 

801. Although a minimum number of credits is required, some students may need to take more than the minimum 

number to complete their DNP Projects. 

C. See V-K above. Chair sends draft of final report to all members when deemed ready for full committee’s review. A 

minimum of 2 weeks must be allowed for the review. 

D. Chair should receive input from other members, and a collective decision by all the members is made with regard to 

changes required so that the final report will be considered satisfactory. 

E. Presentation of the student’s DNP project constitutes the final exam required by the Graduate School. 

F. Students must make an online request for the final exam. The day, date, time, and room is needed to make the 

request. See the URL indicated above for Final Quarter Requirements. Students need to check with all committee 

members before making the online request to ensure all can attend the specified date and time. 


G. If student progress does not suggest a successful final exam, the final date should be cancelled. If already scheduled 

at the very end of the quarter, the student may need to take 2 more credits of NMETH 801 and complete his or her 

degree in the following quarter. 

H. The student’s presentation and discussion of the project during the final exam may reveal additional required 

and/or recommended changes in the final report. Required changes would need to be addressed satisfactorily prior 

to the conclusion of the quarter (last day of finals week). 

I. Chair completes evaluation of student for program evaluation purposes. 

Prepared by Susan Flagler at the request of DNPCC.

Guide for Advising DNP Students - School of Nursing

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