The DNP: Current Issues and Clarifying Recommendations
Learn about the latest recommendations from the Implementation of the DNP Task Force to clarify the DNP Essentials. Get the latest updates relevant to DNP scholarship, DNP projects, DNP practice experiences and collaborative academic practice partnerships to ensure consistency of learning and optimal outcomes for DNP students.
NOTE:This Webinar is open to everyone including non-members, communities of interest, practice representatives, and AACN member schools including deans, faculty, staff, and students
Webinar Speakers
Sarah A. Thompson, PhD, RN, FAAN
Chair Implementation of the DNP Task Force
Dean and Professor
College of Nursing
University of Colorado
Dr. Sarah Thompson is dean and professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. She previously held a joint appointment with the University of Nebraska Medical Center as professor in the College of Public Health, Department of Health Services Research and Administration, and professor and associate dean of academic programs in the College of Nursing. Dr. Thompson has actively pursued improving end-of-life care in nursing homes for the past 16 years. Funding from both the Kansas Department on Aging and National Institute of Health have supported her research on the impact of organizational and clinical variables on the quality of nursing home care. Study findings have been widely disseminated in peer-reviewed nursing and inter-professional journals and led to practice changes in nursing homes that include palliative care and falls prevention programs. Dr. Thompson is passionate about nursing education and has a taught at all levels of nursing curricula including BSN, MSN, and PhD. She was instrumental in launching University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing’s DNP program. While at the University of Nebraska Medical Center she was selected by the Chancellor to lead UNMC’s inter-professional education initiative. Dr. Thompson earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Kansas.
Karen Stefaniak, PhD, RN
Adjunct Assistant Professor
College of Nursing
University of Kentucky
Dr. Karen Stefaniak received a diploma from Lakeview Memorial Hospital in Danville, Ill., in 1965, followed by a BSN from Southern Illinois University in 1967, MSN from the University of Kentucky in 1982, and PhD in Education Policy Studies and Evaluation from UK in 1998. Dr. Stefaniak retired from UK's Albert B. Chandler Hospital following 23 years of nursing leadership positions, including seven years as chief nursing officer/associate hospital director. In that role, she was responsible for nursing practice throughout the inpatient areas and hospital-based outpatient areas. Under her leadership, University of Kentucky nursing was designated Magnet by ANCC in 2001 and re-designated in 2005. Dr. Stefaniak completed the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship in 2006. She is certified as a nurse administrator by ANCC and certified in appreciative inquiry by the Corporation for Positive Change. Her primary leadership interests lie in collaboration, appreciative inquiry, positive deviancy and complexity science. She is currently an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, College of Nursing. Her primary responsibilities are teaching leadership in the DNP program and advising DNP students including their DNP Project.
William Michael Scott, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP
Professor and Associate Dean
Academic Programs, Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Consulting Faculty Associate
Duke University School of Nursing
Dr. William Michael "Mike" Scott is currently Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas. He maintains an appointment as Consulting Faculty Associate in the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) where he is currently serving as a co-investigator on a genetics application grant exploring the relationship between genetic risk counseling and its role in chronic disease prevention. Dr. Scott earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with honors at Armstrong State College (GA), followed by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Georgia Southern College. He earned a Master of Science in Nursing with a Family Nurse Practitioner focus at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Scott completed his Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) at Georgia Southern University. A family nurse practitioner for more than two decades, Dr. Scott is known mostly for his work in rural health outreach as a primary care clinician with a nurse practitioner. He was selected to be an evaluator for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) in Washington, DC and subsequently was elected to its Board of Commissioners representing practice. He served two consecutive terms on the CCNE board. For his past work in nurse-managed clinics and for his advocacy of the nurse practitioner role at the national level, Dr. Scott was awarded the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners State Award for Excellence for North Carolina in 2010, and was selected as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) in 2013.