Pulse - Summer 2010

              TABLE OF CONTENTS
DNP program ready to launch........... 1
Message from the Dean ................... 2
School of Nursing endowment ......... 2
Phil Greiner leaves Fairfield ............. 3
The Conversation on Healthcare ...... 3
Kate Wheeler honored ...................... 4
Stranded abroad! ............................. 4
SON welcomes three
Board members ................................ 5
Gerontological nursing course .......... 5
Graduation photos! .......................... 6
In the news....................................... 7
PULSE The
www.fairfield.edu/nursing
Summer 2010
DNP program ready to launch
by Nina Riccio, M.A. ’09
It’s been in the development
stages for several years, and
now Fairfield’s Doctor of
Nursing Practice (DNP) program
is set to begin with a full class of
students in September.
“We’ve had a wonderful
response to both open houses,
and the applications are still
rolling in,” said Dr. Jean Lange,
professor of nursing and DNP
program director. “The faculty
are looking forward to our first
class of doctoral students, and we
feel this is an exceptionally strong
program.”
Applicants have been evenly split
between those with a bachelor’s degree
and those with a master’s; one attraction
of Fairfield’s program is that candidates
can be admitted with either.
“We’re very gratified that we’re off
to good start, and that so many Fairfield
alumni are in the applicant pool,” noted
Marianne Gumpper, director of graduate
admission. “It speaks to the strength of
our programs that so many people come
back here to further their education.”
The DNP is an exciting new degree
for nurses who wish to continue in
a clinically-focused career path in an
advanced practice role as nurse practi-tioner,
midwife, clinical specialist, or
anesthetist. APRN programs across the
country are currently transitioning APRN
master’s level programs to the DNP.
Those with the degree have the capacity
to improve systems of care in practice,
policy, and organizational arenas; they are
better prepared to assume leadership roles
in healthcare and are qualified for execu-tive
positions in healthcare organizations,
directors of clinical programs, and faculty
positions with a clinical focus. Fairfield
offers an advanced degree for those inter-ested
in post-master’s education or for
nurses with a bachelor of science degree
in nursing who are interested in family or
psychiatric nurse practitioner specialties.
The nurse anesthesia program will transi-tion
to the DNP in June 2011.
“We see the School of Nursing mov-ing
in a new direction,” said Dr. Lange.
“[This program] will bring further oppor-tunities
to enhance collaborative research
between faculty and students.”
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY
A PUBL I C A T ION OF THE S CHOOL OF NURS ING
Dean Novotny and Dr. Suzanne Campbell (both far right),
talk to three prospective students at the Graduate
Information Session in April, where there was quite
a bit of interest in the DNP.