New UW Nursing Program Receives Full Accreditation

The University of Wyoming’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program has been fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, an achievement that will strengthen delivery of both primary and mental health care in Wyoming.

Without national accreditation, UW’s DNP Program graduates would not be able to sit for the national certification exam and would not be able to obtain licensure to practice as nurse practitioners in Wyoming or elsewhere, says DNP Program Director Ann Marie Hart, an associate professor in the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing.

UW’s Board of Trustees, in 2010, approved the new DNP Program as part of a national shift to offer extended training for nurse practitioners and in response to Wyoming’s health care needs, says Mary Burman, School of Nursing dean.

According to a release from U.W., the DNP Program offers two options: family nurse practitioner (FNP), which prepares nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice as primary care providers; and family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (FPMHNP), which prepares NPs to practice as mental health providers. Both FNPs and FPMHNPs are prepared to diagnose and manage illness, including prescription of medications.