As a D.N.P. student, you'll choose from five advanced practice specialties to prepare for certification as a nurse practitioner. Each specialty provides focused courses and clinical placements, helping you discover your professional passion.
Focused on clinical practice and translating research findings to benefit patients, our Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) program will prepare you to become a critical thinker and evidence-based practitioner who can initiate change within increasingly complex health care systems.
Our post-baccalaureate D.N.P. program helps RNs take their practice and careers to new heights. This program is designed for you if you earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing and your goal is to become an advanced practice clinician.
The Direct Entry D.N.P. offers students with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than nursing an accelerated opportunity to become an in-demand nurse leader.
* Note: GRE is preferred, but not required for application.
Throughout the first five semesters of intensive, full-time study, you will prepare to take the NCLEX exam and become a licensed RN. At the end of this portion of your studies, you will be conferred a generalist master of science in nursing.
During the final portion of your program, you will complete courses and clinical fieldwork in your specialty. You will graduate prepared for certification as a nurse practitioner.
Students will complete both the Master of Science, Advanced Nursing Generalist curriculum and the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program curriculum for a total of 107 credits.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that coursework they have completed satisfies the prerequisite requirements. The graduate program staff will not contact applicants during the admissions process to verify prerequisite coursework.
Direct entry students are required to complete prerequisite courses prior to the start of the program. It is preferred that applicants have at least 4 of the following 5 science prerequisites completed or in process at the time of application: General Chemistry with Lab; Microbiology with Lab; Anatomy & Physiology I with Lab; Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab; Pathophysiology. All prerequisite coursework must be completed prior to matriculation. Students must receive a minimum grade of B- (80) in each of the prerequisite courses. AP credit is NOT accepted as fulfilling prerequisite coursework.
For coursework completed before applying, please submit transcripts as part of your application. For coursework that you plan to complete after applying but before starting the program, please indicate this on the application and submit transcripts following course completion. The prerequisite courses include:
Our post-master’s D.N.P. program helps current NPs take their practice and careers to new heights. This program is designed for you if you earned a master's degree in nursing and your goal is to become an advanced practice clinician.
Our program allows current RNs without bachelor’s degrees to maximize both their experience and the credits they have earned from previous programs (approximately 112 earned credits required). If you are a motivated and accomplished student who wishes to transform your professional knowledge into a career as an advanced practice nurse, this program is for you.
As a D.N.P. student, you'll choose from five advanced practice specialties to prepare for certification as a nurse practitioner. Each specialty provides focused courses and clinical placements, helping you discover your professional passion.
Adult-gerontology nurse practitioners (NPs) provide primary preventive and chronic illness care for individuals throughout the entirety of adulthood, forming lasting bonds with patients over the course of their time together.
Adult-gerontology NPs take patient histories, perform diagnostic testing, interpret lab results, prescribe medications and other therapies, and refer patients to consultations—all while providing essential health and wellness education and counseling.
Completing patient histories, diagnostic testing, prescribing therapies and medications, wellness education—these roles all fall under the purview of adult health NPs. Focusing on adults, they provide primary care in community clinics, hospitals, private practices, and other settings.
Family Nurse Practitioners (NPs) study and improve the health of individuals and families while identifying risk factors and preventing illness. They help patients throughout the entire lifecycle, assessing, diagnosing, and managing common acute and chronic primary health care challenges.
Family NPs improve the health of both individuals and families, providing acute and ongoing primary care throughout a patient’s entire lifecycle. They also address the epidemiological and environmental factors leading to health challenges.
Working with infants, children, adolescents, and their families, pediatric nurse practitioners (NPs) promote wellness, prevent illness, conduct well-visit checkups, and treat common diseases and injuries. Our practitioners mentor students so they can care and advocate for children from various backgrounds and populations. Attending to patients from infancy to adulthood, pediatric NPs help ensure that children get a healthy start while promoting equal access to care.
Working in a range of well-child settings and specialty placements, pediatric NPs care for children of all backgrounds and ages, starting from infancy. They promote overall health, treating common issues and performing checkups.
Focusing on health and wellness, psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioners (NPs) lead caregiving teams, paying particular attention to patients’ emotional, cognitive, and social functioning, and play key roles in clinical evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. They also help people and communities recover after trauma or distress. Psychiatric/Mental Health NPs work to:
Attending to emotional, cognitive, and social functioning, psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioners (NPs) are vital to evaluating and treating patients. They conduct psychotherapy, perform assessments, prescribe medications, and act as case managers.
Women’s health nurse practitioners (NPs) provide comprehensive care to women, supporting their general health across the lifespan. They also provide sexual and reproductive health care to men. We prepare our graduates for practice with an emphasis on reproductive, gynecologic, and well-women health and to understand how psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual influences may affect women’s health.
Our women’s health nurse practitioners also conduct research, serve as case managers, and educate patients, groups, communities, and health care professionals. They provide the following services:
Our women’s health students graduate prepared to provide comprehensive care to women—and sexual health care to men—with a particular emphasis on reproductive, gynecologic, and well-women health.
Our graduates have been hired at local and national institutions, including:
$120,680
Median annual wage for nurse practitioners
Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2021
52%
Projected growth in the Nurse Practitioner field by 2030—nearly six times
the national average for all occupations.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
“At Boston College, you will be taught by actively practicing providers who work in a variety of health care settings. When you graduate, you will be prepared to provide excellent and equitable advanced practice nursing care in one of our five specialties. ”
In your last two semesters as a D.N.P. candidate, you'll apply your clinical and classroom experience in a rigorous practice change project, dedicated to improving health care outcomes for a patient population. These projects apply existing research in practice, develop evidence-based solutions, and identify ways and means of delivering more efficient care.
Students: Kylynn Ann Barbero, Briana Bowler, Nicola Amy Kim, Caroline Denise Trickett
Be Proactive: Who is Most Likely to Fall? Screening Older Adults in Assisted-Living
Advisor: Beth McNutt-Clarke, RN, DNP, M.Sc.(A), MBA, CWOCN
Students: Ashley Altmann, Victoria Foote, Emily Manfra, Lauren Shea
Utilizing Vitalize 360 at Orchard Cove Senior Living to Assess Residents’ Perception of Health and Wellness
Advisor: Beth McNutt-Clarke, RN, DNP, M.Sc.(A), MBA, CWOCN
Students: Sara Dilbarian, Kathryn Postma, Jennifer Kelly Wilson
Adding a Standardized Headache Flowsheet to a School-Based EMR
Advisor: Catherine Conahan, AGNP-C, DNP
Students: Brittany Boltz, Josephine Elvira Pagliuca, Alexandra Terwilliger
Implementation of Baseline Concussion Testing in Student-Athletes at a High School Serving Students of Lower Socioeconomic Status
Advisor: Catherine Conahan, AGNP-C, DNP
Students: Ariana Marie Rowell-Hanson, Mbaira Micheline Maorongarti
Increasing Understanding of Period Poverty Among Faculty and Staff at Cristo Rey High School Boston (CRB)
Advisor: Catherine Conahan, AGNP-C, DNP
Students: Julie Sanders, Gina Pallanta, M. Katherine Valovcin
Advanced Practice Nursing Students Beliefs are Consistent with Weight Bias
Advisor: Catherine Conahan, AGNP-C, DNP
Students: Linda Uche, Michaela Voyer
The Problem of Underrepresentation: Developing a Toolkit to Increase Diversity in Cognitive Trials at MGB-ACTRU
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Carole Anne Malloch, Shanyse Lingham
Transforming Clinical Research Nurse Orientation with Interactive Modules at an Academic Medical Center
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Nicolette Tyler Bushman, Amanda Veronica McNally, Allison Rodgers
Caregiver Education on Cough, Cold, and Congestion Management to Decrease Pediatric Emergency Department Use with a Language-Based Intervention
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Jason C. Driscoll, Bridget Jaklitsch, Laura Rianne Turner
Tune in to Better Training
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Elizabeth Lessman, Katina M. Athanas
Qualitative Analysis of Current Practices of Screening to Brief Intervention of Adolescents: A Doctorate of Nursing Practice Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Monika DeTurk, Joelle Fern Mamon, Ellen Tracy
An Evaluation of Attitudes, Knowledge, and Beliefs about Race-Based Medicine at Signature Health // Race-Based Medicine: Breaking the Cycle
Advisor: Corrine Y. Jurgens, Ph.D., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Alycia Dymond, Abigail Steiner
Lactation Services Quality Improvement at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
Advisor: Christine Repsha, Ph.D., RN, CNP, CHSE
Students: Emily Molina, Andrea Gabriela Lopez, Haram Park
Implementing and Adopting EHR Nursing Templates in a School Based Setting
Advisor: Christine Repsha, Ph.D., RN, CNP, CHSE
Students: Colin Young, Ryan Lee
Improving Perceived Self-Efficacy Among Medical Providers in the Transition Care of Pediatric Patients with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
Advisor: Christine Repsha, Ph.D., RN, CNP, CHSE
Students: Kaitlin M. Hammon, Grace Po-Yin Hsieh
Establishing an Autism Developmental Clinic at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
Advisor: Christine Repsha, Ph.D., RN, CNP, CHSE
Students: Tia Andrawis, Alexandra Himel, Niah Gibbs, Gilberte Elise Erilus
Music & Memory: Hebrew Senior Life (HSL)
Advisor: Elizabeth P. Howard, Ph.D., RN, ANP, ACNP, FAAN
Students: Emily Brown, Emily Nicole Stansky, Sarah Manuppelli, Cameron Michael Howe
Implementing Hands-On Simulations to Enhance Dementia Training at Hebrew SeniorLife
Advisor: Elizabeth P. Howard, Ph.D., RN, ANP, ACNP, FAAN
Students: Esther Apraku Bondzie, Sarah Buckley, Elizabeth Williams
Racial Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening
Advisor: Jacqueline Sly, DNP, RN, NP-C
Students: Madeline Aubertine, Katherine Lizbeth Carrera Pena, Sydney Cheney
Influencing Healthcare Provider Awareness and Attitudes Regarding Race-Based Corrections Used in Spirometry
Advisor: Jacqueline Sly, DNP, RN, NP-C
Students: Kelly Cavan, Kimberly Lai, Sarah McDonnell
Educating Anesthesiology Providers on Systemic Racism in Medicine
Advisor: Jacqueline Sly, DNP, RN, NP-C
Students: Christine Miller, Natalie Corrales
Initial Prenatal Visit Postpartum Depression Screening at NWO
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Emma K. Blackwell, Emily Ursini
Postpartum Hypertension Patient Education and Documentation Compliance - A Quality Improvement Initiative: Phase Two Newton Wellesley Hospital
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Brittany Bayne, Katherine Love
Utilizing a Health and Social Needs Screening Tool to Identify Opportunities for Improved Access to Care at a Community Free Medical Program
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Kitzia Colliard, Julia Wilson
Assessing the Effectiveness of Patient Education Tool (Breastfeeding in the NICU) Using PEMAT
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Elizabeth S. Blocker, Isabella McDonald, Elizabeth Weyman
Co-Creating Patient-Facing Materials for Primary Ovarian Insufficiency: A Nurse-Led Quality Improvement Project
Advisors: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC & Andrew Dwyer, PhD, FNP-BC, FNAP, FAAN
Students: Emily Bower, Elizabeth Cilia, Jennifer Marie Schmitz
Concussion Policy Development and Education for Staff Implementation at Cristo Rey Boston High School: A Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Susan Kelly-Weeder, Ph.D., FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Students: Katie Chaucer, Rachel Zhang
Optimizing School-Based Health Center (SBHC) Follow-Up Appointment Scheduling and Clinic Utilization: A DNP Student Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Susan Kelly-Weeder, Ph.D., FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Students: Emily Bower (FNP), Elizabeth Cilia (FNP), Jennifer Schmitz (FNP)
Concussion Policy Development and Education for Staff Implementation at Cristo Rey Boston High School: A Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Susan Kelly-Weeder,Ph.D.., FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Students: Vy Hoang (FNP), Caitlin Martin (FNP), Katlyn Noonan (FNP)
Implementation of a Comprehensive Health Intake Tool at Cristo Rey Boston High School and Its Impact on the Confidence of Nurse Practitioner Students
Advisor: Susan Kelly-Weeder,Ph.D.., FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Students: Megan Catherine Mellon (WHNP), Samantha Paragona (WHNP)
Implementation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at the Initial Prenatal Visit: A Quality Improvement Initiative
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, D.N.Sc., FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Sara Bowen (WHNP), Anastasia Green (WHNP)
Retrospective Chart Review of Readmission Rates for Women with Postpartum Hypertension and Evaluation of the Discharge Process: A Quality Improvement DNP Project
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, D.N.Sc., FAAN, NEA-BC
Students: Jessica Damiano (PNP), Katherine Vooys (PNP)
Optimizing Emergency Department Follow-Up in Primary Care to Reduce Future and Unnecessary Utilization in the Pediatric Population: A DNP Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Corrine Jurgens, Ph.D.., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Elizabeth Lessman (PMHNP), Katina Athanas (PMHNP) Qualitative Analysis of Current Practices of Screening to Brief Intervention of Adolescents: A Doctorate of Nursing Practice Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Corrine Jurgens, Ph.D.., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Monika DeTurk (FNP), Joelle Mamon (AGNP), Ellen Tracy (FNP)
An Evaluation of Attitudes, Knowledge, and Beliefs about Race-Based Medicine at Signature Health // Race-Based Medicine: Breaking the Cycle
Advisor: Corrine Jurgens, Ph.D.., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Amy Azevedo (FNP), Milenis Cevallo-Pimentel (AGNP)
Qualitative: A Novel Qualitative Analysis of a Dementia Research Unit’s Participants’ Ethnic Diversity and Experiences. Quantitative: A Novel Quantitative Analysis of a Dementia Research Unit’s Participants’ Ethnic Diversity
Advisor: Corrine Jurgens, Ph.D.., RN, ANP, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN
Students: Katie Chaucer (PNP), Rachel Zhang (PNP)
Optimizing School-Based Health Center (SBHC) Follow-Up Appointment Scheduling and Clinic Utilization: A DNP Student Quality Improvement Project
Advisor: Susan Kelly-Weeder,Ph.D.., FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Students: Mary Ladesic (FNP), Samantha Weinberg (PMHNP)
Implementing a Health and Social Needs Screening at a Community Free Clinic
Advisor: Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, D.N.Sc., FAAN, NEA-BC
The Meaning of the Transition to Retirement at Midlife from Active Duty Military Service in the United States
Intensive Care Unit Nurses’ Experience of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring Caritas Process Three: Cultivation of One’s Own Spiritual Practice and Transpersonal Self, Going Beyond Ego-Self
Occupational Health Across Generationally-Defined Age Groups in a Cohort of Hospital Nurses
Critical Care Nurse Intentions to Report to Work During an Influenza Pandemic
The GNA facilitates professional development opportunities and sponsors social events, connecting you to your fellow students and serving as a voice for the CSON graduate community.
The KILN program helps students maximize their leadership potential, prepares them to provide nursing care in an increasingly multicultural society, and nurtures their ability to create positive social change.
Participation in CSON's international programs can count toward nurse practitioner (NP) supervised hours for graduate students.
A non-refundable application fee of $75 is required.
Deadlines
To be uploaded to your online Application Form.
Please submit a goal statement which will be used as a source of information about your educational objectives and as a sample of your writing ability. The goal statement should be typewritten (double-spaced) and no more than four pages in length.
Two letters of recommendation:
Official transcripts are preferred but not required upon application. If admitted, official transcripts will be required.
Official digital transcripts can be sent to csongrad@ngskmc-eis.net.
All hard copy transcripts may be sent to the following mailing address:
Boston College
Graduate Nursing Office
Maloney Hall - 2nd Floor
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
*If the last name on your transcript does not match the application name, please contact csongrad@ngskmc-eis.net after submitting the application.
GRE is preferred, but not required for application
Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores* (current within five years of application deadline). Institutional code 3062
* Please allow 2-4 weeks for test scores to be received in order to meet application deadline
Based on the answers you provide in your application, you may need one or more of the following forms to complete your application: