GW Nursing Magazine 2014

New Executive
Leadership DNP
Not all nursing positions involve
bedside care of patients. As health
care evolves, nurses must play a larger role
at higher levels. The School of Nursing, in
collaboration with the School of Business, is
answering the call through its new Doctor
of Nursing Practice (DNP) in executive
leadership.
Nurse executives are in high demand in
all sectors of health care—clinical practices,
hospitals, home health agencies, senior
living facilities, nursing homes, managed
care centers, community clinics, and more.
GW’s new DNP program also prepares
nurses to better lead and manage their own
private practices.
Designed for nurses who are
entrepreneurial, passionate about
innovation, and keen to lead organizations
in new strategic directions, the Executive
Leadership DNP prepares nurses leaders
who understand business, finance,
health policy, entrepreneurship, and
intrapreneurship (that is, creative innovating
within a system).
“Many nurses have learned about
leadership on the job. The joy of the
Executive Leadership DNP is it validates
their work and stretches them academically
to grow even further in their knowledge to
reach an even higher leadership level,”
says Assistant Professor Kate Driscoll
Malliarakis, PhD, RN, CNP, MAC.
“In creating this program, the School
of Nursing reached out to executive nurse
leaders across the country and asked them
what they saw as crucial areas in which
upcoming executive nurse leaders should
be prepared,” says Dr. Malliarakis, and
this led to discussions and ultimately an
academic collaboration with the School of
Business.
“We are very pleased to be engaged
with the School of Nursing in this
partnership,” says Philip Wirtz, PhD, School
of Business vice dean for programs and
education, and professor of decision
sciences and of psychology. “In our many
discussions with the School of Nursing
as this academic offering was being
developed, we discovered the substantive
side could quite effectively be interwoven
with the business side, providing students
with both solid theory and solid analytical
tools. We are thrilled with the results of this
collaboration.”
The first cohort of students pursuing
the Executive Leadership DNP began
classes this fall. Structured for working
nurses, students enroll on a part-time
basis—taking approximately two courses
per semester and completing the degree
in three years. The rigorous curriculum
incorporates the values within the
School of Nursing vision and mission,
is consistent with the American Nurses
Credentialing Center (AACN) Magnet goals,
and emphasizes the key areas identified by
executive nurse leaders consulted during
the design of this degree.
“The interprofessional collaboration with
our colleagues in the School of Business is a
great experience,” says Associate Dean for
Graduate Studies Christine Pintz, PhD, RN,
FNP-BC. “The quality of our curriculum, the
faculty expertise, the collaboration between
the School of Nursing and School of
Business, and this new focus on leadership
and health policy will not only help our
students, it will help nurses to be more
influential in the health care sector.”
to mothers interested in reentering the
workforce and professionals establishing a
second or even third career.
“We deeply appreciate the critical
thinking and professionalism these
second-degree BSN students provide,”
says MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing
Executive Susan Eckert, MSN, RN. “That
is why we are so thrilled to be partnering
with the world class nursing education
at GW.”
W 2 will offer fall and spring semester
enrollments each year until 2018. There
are 20 students in the first fall cohort, and
spring 2015 admissions are wrapping
up. Prospective students interested in W 2
complete the School of Nursing’s regular
admissions process, along with a special
application for W 2 . MedStar Washington
Hospital Center has discretion in selecting
the W 2 scholarship award recipients and
clinical placements.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
clinical educators Catherine Reisenberg,
PhD, FNP, PNP, RN, CS, and Dina Rosenthal,
MSN, BSN, RN, have both been appointed
to the School of Nursing faculty to
supervise clinical rotations at the hospital
and to teach in the didactic portion of W 2 .
Dr. Reisenberg also serves as the W 2
program director and coordinates the
clinical component of the program in
conjunction with Associate Dean for
Undergraduate Studies and Assistant
Professor Billinda Tebbenhoff, DNP, RN,
PMHCNS. Dr. Reisenberg and
Ms. Rosenthal participate in faculty
meetings and will serve on committees
and workgroups.
“We’re very pleased about this
partnership with MedStar Washington
Hospital Center, a major teaching and
research hospital, and look forward to
collaborating with the expertise of the
hospital’s nurse educators to educate
and guide our Accelerated BSN students
during their clinical experiences,” says
Dr. Tebbenhoff.
nursing.gwu.edu 5