Nursing Practice, D.N.P. (Post-Bachelor of Science in Nursing)

Saint Louis University's Doctor of Nursing Practice is a practice-focused doctoral degree that educates nurses to become expert clinicians, leaders in health policy and catalysts for improved health care delivery. We offer nurse practitioner specialties in adult/gerontological acute care, family, pediatric primary care, and family psychiatric-mental health.

The Valentine School of Nursing is renowned for excellence in nursing education. In 2021, Niche ranked Saint Louis University’s Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing as the No. 8 best college in the country for nursing. Additionally, U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks our MSN-NP program as a top 50 program in their Best Graduate Schools survey.

Program Highlights

• Full- and part-time curriculum plans
• A variety of specialty areas and role options
• The option to emphasize research in any specialty area
• Responsive faculty who are nationally recognized for teaching excellence, nursing leadership, scholarly research and student mentorship
• Faculty advisers who are individually assigned to mentor each student throughout the program
• An online library
• An online writing center
• State-of-the-art teaching facilities

Students may choose from four concentrations, allowing them to customize the patient population with which they will work most:

Adult/Gerontological Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Concentration

If you choose the adult/gerontological acute care nurse practitioner program, you will learn to use complex monitoring and invasive therapies, high-intensity interventions, and continuous vigilance within the range of high-acuity care to help meet the specialized physiological and psychological needs of adults of all ages, including the frail elderly.

Adult/gerontological acute care nurse practitioners work in emergency departments, tertiary care settings, intensive care units, trauma centers and specialty medicine areas treating patients with acute, critical and chronic illness, as well as those with disabilities or injuries. Graduates are eligible for national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration

SLU’s family nurse practitioner program prepares you to provide primary health care to patients of all ages. You will help prevent disease, assess and manage acute and chronic health problems, and consult and refer patients within the health care system. SLU’s family nurse practitioner program emphasizes quality relationships with patients, families and communities, as well as education and coordination of services aimed at specific health outcomes.

Family nurse practitioners, also known as FNPs, work in a variety of settings and are also well-suited to rural populations, where specialty care may not always be available. Graduates are eligible for national certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program.

Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Concentration

If you choose the pediatric primary nurse practitioner program, you will be prepared to provide care to patients from birth through the age of 21. Pediatric primary nurse practitioners, also known as PNPs, focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and management of acute and chronic conditions in pediatric offices as well as school, community, urgent care and specialty settings.

Graduates are eligible for national certification from the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Concentration

If you pursue the SLU's family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program, you will work with children, adolescents and adults of all ages with acute or complex mental health needs, or psychiatric diagnoses. SLU’s family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program encourages evidence-based, culturally sensitive, recovery-oriented and holistic care.

You will be prepared to apply the nursing process and medical/medication management to promote optimal mental health while engaging in active, ongoing collaboration with clients, their families, significant others, and the interprofessional team. Graduates are eligible for national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Curriculum Overview

The Post-Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice program requires a total of 68 credits beyond the B.S.N., depending on the population specialty focus. The courses can be taken over a four-to-five-year period with full- or part-time study.

Students will complete the program with 1,050 or 1,125 clinical hours, depending on the specialty.

Four visits to Saint Louis University’s campus are required. The first is a two-day orientation about online education and the role of nurse practitioners. The second is a three-day residency at the School of Nursing, where your knowledge of the curriculum’s content, including diagnostic reasoning, clinical assessment skills and therapeutic communication, will be assessed. The next visit is an orientation to doctoral-level course work. The fourth occurs at the end of the program to present the DNP project.  Please click here to review DNP projects from previous graduates.

Careers

Graduates of SLU's Doctor of Nursing Practice program are prepared to be nurse clinicians or educators. Graduates influence health policy at institutional, local, state and national levels and formulate strategies to maximize patient health.

According to a U.S. News & World Report ranking, the median salary of NPs in 2020 was $111,680. The best-paid 25% of NPs made $130,240 that year; the lowest-paid 25% made $94,980.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 52.2% employment growth for NPs between 2020 and 2030. In that period, an estimated 114,900 jobs are projected to open up in the NP profession.

Admission Requirements

The Saint Louis University Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing adheres to the principles of a holistic admission process in which selection criteria are broad-based and linked to our University’s and school’s mission and goals. While we do consider academic metrics we also look at applicant experiences, attributes, potential for success, and how applicants may contribute to the school’s learning environment and to the profession.

Licensure Disclosure

The curriculum for this program meets the educational requirements for licensure as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in the State of Missouri. Note that the Missouri Board of Nursing may impose additional requirements on candidates prior to granting a license; we encourage you to investigate these requirements.

The Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing has not determined whether the curriculum for this program meets the educational requirements for nursing licensure in any other states or territories. However, graduates of our APRN programs are eligible to sit for National Board Certification Exams in all states and territories. We encourage you to investigate the requirements in your state or territory prior to accepting an offer of admission at the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing.

Applicant Criteria

• Baccalaureate degree in nursing from a program accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
• One year of clinical experience.
• Cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher on a 4.00 system.
• An unencumbered registered nurse license in the state in which clinical experience will be done.
• Current CPR certification from the American Heart Association.
• Completion of an undergraduate-level descriptive and inferential statistics course.
• Completion of a beginning-level health assessment or equivalent course.

Requirements for International Students

All admission policies and requirements for domestic students apply to international students. International students must also meet the following additional requirements:

• Demonstrate English Language Proficiency
• Financial documents are required to complete an application for admission and be reviewed for admission and merit scholarships. 
• Proof of financial support that must include:
  • A letter of financial support from the person(s) or sponsoring agency funding the student's time at Saint Louis University
  • A letter from the sponsor's bank verifying that the funds are available and will be so for the duration of the student's study at the University
• Academic records, in English translation, of students who have undertaken postsecondary studies outside the United States must include:
  • Courses taken and/or lectures attended
  • Practical laboratory work
  • The maximum and minimum grades attainable
  • The grades earned or the results of all end-of-term examinations
  • Any honors or degrees received.

WES and ECE transcripts are accepted.

Application Requirements

Applying for the B.S.N.-D.N.P. program requires careful planning to ensure that all admission requirements are met. You may experience a delay in processing if the application instructions are not followed exactly as listed.

Please follow the five steps outlined below to apply:

Step 1 - Application

Submit the application form and fee through either SLU (graduate application) or NursingCAS.

Note: Students only need to submit one application option. Submitting the application directly through SLU is preferred but not required.

Step 2 - Transcripts

Option A: If you are completing the application through SLU please submit your official e-transcripts from all colleges/universities attended to graduate@slu.edu.

Option B: If you are completing the application through NursingCAS please submit your official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended directly to NursingCAS. They will provide details when the application is initiated.

Step 3 – Resume or Curriculum Vitae

Attach your CV/résumé documenting your education, clinical nursing experience, and service to the nursing profession/community within the SLU or NursingCAS application.

Step 4 - Professional Goal Statement

Attach your professional goal statement within the SLU or NursingCAS application. The goal statement should outline your goals for doctoral study, research translation area of interest for the capstone project and your career goals. The statement should be one-to-two pages and double-spaced.

Step 5 – RN License

Attach a copy of your unencumbered registered nurse license in the state in which clinical experience will be done within the SLU or NursingCAS application.

Application Deadlines

If the application deadline has passed for your semester of interest, please contact slunurse@slu.edu since a limited number of late applications may be accepted.

• Fall admissions: Priority admission is April 15th with an application deadline of August 1st.
• Spring admissions: Priority admission is October 15th with an application deadline of December 1st.

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed shortly after the submission deadline. Applicants will have a decision two weeks after that time.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Financing for this program may be available through grants, scholarships, loans (federal and private) and institutional financing plans.  For price estimates, please review the SLU Cost Calculator.  

The Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing at Saint Louis University offers scholarship and graduate research assistantship opportunities to eligible graduate students.  Additionally, most nursing students will participate in a tuition assistance program provided through their employer.

For more information, visit the student financial services office online at https://www.slu.edu/financial-aid.

1. Graduates will be able to use advanced knowledge of mid-range and translational theories from nursing and other disciplines as a framework for advanced nursing practice.

2. Graduates will be able to critically examine research and scholarship to support evidence-based clinical practice.

3. Graduates will be able to exemplify ethical principles in the delivery of comprehensive health care.

4. Graduates will be able to formulate strategies to maximize health inpatient populations.

5. Graduates will be able to develop clinical competence for advanced practice that provides consumers with primary, secondary and/or tertiary health care.

6. Graduates will be able to use technology and information to improve health care.

7. Graduates will be able to apply principles of epidemiology, biostatistics, and environmental sciences to recognized populations at risk, patterns of disease, and effectiveness of prevention and intervention.

8. Graduates will be able to apply current knowledge of organizations and financing of health care systems to improve the outcomes of care.

9. Graduates will be able to design and implement processes to evaluate outcomes and systems for health care delivery.

10.  Graduates will be able to use business and management strategies for the provision of quality care and efficient use of resources.

11. Graduates will be able to use advanced communication and leadership skills with interprofessional health care teams to create and evaluate health care delivery systems.

12. Graduates will be able to influence health policy at institutional, local, state and national levels.

Adult-Gerontological Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Family Nurse Practitioner

Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner

Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Continuation Standards

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 in all graduate/professional courses.

Roadmaps are recommended semester-by-semester plans of study for programs and assume full-time enrollment unless otherwise noted.  

Courses and milestones designated as critical (marked with !) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation. Transfer credit may change the roadmap.

This roadmap should not be used in the place of regular academic advising appointments. All students are encouraged to meet with their advisor/mentor each semester. Requirements, course availability and sequencing are subject to change.

Adult-Gerontological Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Concentration

Family Nurse Practitioner

Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Concentration

†

3 day on-site; usually end of April

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Concentration

Apply for Admission

For additional admission questions, please contact the Valentine School of Nursing's recruitment and enrollment staff:

Undergraduate Inquiries
314-977-8995 
slunurse@slu.edu 

Graduate Inquiries
314-977-8976 
gradnurse@slu.edu