NSPII Grants Expand Educational Opportunities

The School of Nursing has received three Nurse Support Program II grants to fund new educational opportunities including a DNP/PhD dual-degree program, an acute care pediatric nurse practitioner program, and expanded curricula in palliative care. The grants (more than $3 million total) are funded by the Health Services Cost Review Commission of the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

DNP/PhD Dual Degree

The new Doctor of Nursing Practice/Doctor of Philosophy dual-degree program—led by Associate Professor Jason Farley, PhD, MPH, ANP-BC, FAAN—combines the competencies of the DNP degree with the scientific rigor of the PhD. Through the five-year curriculum, students will learn to teach, mentor, conduct and implement clinical research, apply strategies for illness prevention and health promotion, and easily transition into leadership roles in nursing and the broader national and international health care arenas.

Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Certificate

Assistant Professor Shawna Mudd has developed a certificate program to prepare pediatric nurse practitioners to treat acute and chronic conditions across a variety of settings and through the continuum of care. The 13-credit, three-semester program incorporates hands-on clinical experiences, online classes, an accelerated format, and opportunities to diagnose, evaluate, and manage health problems of acutely ill children. The grant will also help fund collaborative experiences with the School of Medicine and with partners within and external to the Johns Hopkins Health System.

Advanced Practice Palliative Care

The need for more nurses trained in providing palliative care, symptom control, and support for patients and families has driven the proposed development of an advanced practice curricula that can accelerate palliative care competencies among Advanced Practice–Doctor of Nursing Practice graduates. Cheryl Dennison-Himmelfarb, PhD, RN, FAAN, will lead this effort to enlarge the pool of preceptors with palliative care capacity in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Palliative Care Services, the Berman Institute of Bioethics, and other practice partners. 

“Our mission to improve the health of individuals and communities across the world starts with excellence in education,” says Dean Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, RN, FAAN. “With these new grants, we will continue to strengthen our already robust curriculums to promote and advance knowledge, leadership, quality and safety, and academic progression that equates to value for patients and our health care system.”

Visit nursing.jhu.edu/academics to learn more