The College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice, or D.N.P., Program was given official reaccreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, or CCNE, for a full 10 years. The CCNE accreditation “serves the public interest by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices.

As a voluntary, self-regulatory process, CCNE accreditation supports and encourages continuing self-assessment by nursing programs and supports continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education and nurse residency programs.”

Value Colleges named the University of Florida’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program No. 6 in value among D.N.P. programs nationally.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, or AACN, the leading national nursing education organization, officially recommended adopting the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree as the industry standard and terminal degree for advanced practice nurses.

When it comes to nursing, the D.N.P. differs from the Ph.D. in a few essential ways, the main difference being that the Ph.D. is oriented toward theory and research, while the D.N.P. is directed toward putting theory and research into practice in advanced clinical situations.

The AACN has promoted the D.N.P. degree to combat the well-known nursing shortage, a shortage that threatens to become a crisis in the next decade.

“Strong, well-educated leaders are needed in clinical settings, and current, knowledgeable educators are needed in clinical education; the D.N.P. prepares nurses for both,” said Dean Anna McDaniel.