Wilkes launching doctoral program

In case you are interested: Wilkes will launch doctor of nursing program - News - Citizens Voice

Wilkes University is beginning a doctor of nursing program that will be the first in Northeastern Pennsylvania and unusual in the country for including online classes to better accommodate working professionals.

The first classes will begin this summer, and students will have three areas - gerontology, psychiatric/mental health and nursing management - to concentrate in.

The doctor's degree is designed to give a boost to advanced practice nurses in jobs such as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists that already require a master's degree.

The program is designed to accommodate nurses who hold either bachelor's or master's degrees and includes a one-week residency.

Students who have obtained masters will need 30 credits in the program, which will take about two and a half years, while bachelor's degree students will need 67 credits, which will take about five years.

Another related article: Wilkes planning to offer nursing doctoral degree | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Wilkes University will become the 101st school in the nation – and the first in Northeastern Pennsylvania – to offer a doctor of nursing practice degree. School officials made the announcement Thursday.

There are more than 600 nursing programs in the United States, but less than 17 percent offer this particular degree. In Pennsylvania, only the University of Pittsburgh, and Chatham, Robert Morris, Drexel, Waynesburg and Thomas Jefferson universities have the degree program. It’s geared toward advanced practice nurses such as nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives.

The college will begin the program next summer through its Nesbitt College of Pharmacy and Nursing and it will be offered solely online. A one-week long residency will be required to complete the program, according to Mary Ann Merrigan, chairwoman of the college’s nursing department. Wilkes will offer three concentrations of study: gerontology, nursing management and psychiatric/mental health.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has issued a position statement that after the year 2015, all advanced practice nurses must graduate with this degree.

Nurses with the degree also can teach at colleges and universities.

“One of the biggest problems we have now is getting faculty members, especially doctoral trained faculty,” said Bernard Graham, dean of the Nesbitt College.

Graham said about 10 to 20 students will be enrolled in the inaugural class in 2010, though he said that number could be expanded.

“Because it’s online, it’s not restricted by the number of seats needed in classrooms,” Graham said.

Having the program offered online, Merrigan said, was a decision made by the school with working nurses in mind.

“It allows nursing professionals to work around their schedules,” Merrigan said. While most doctoral programs require a graduate degree as a prerequisite, this one does not. Nurses with a master’s degree can earn the degree by completing 30 credits in about two and one-half years.

Nurses with a bachelor’s degree must complete 67 credits and receive the degree in about five years.

This is the third doctoral program offered at Wilkes. It currently offers doctorate degrees in education and pharmacy.

Two other area colleges have nursing programs, but neither offers the program.

Misericordia University spokesman Paul Krzywicki said the school has explored the program but has no concrete plans to implement it.

“It’s in the exploratory phase,” Krzywicki said.

Marywood University spokeswoman Juneann Greco said that school is in the midst of preparing to send out a survey to 30,000 nursing professionals across the state to gauge their interest in such a program. The surveys will go out in January and will help determine whether to start the program and if so, how to best structure it.