Doctor of Nursing – DN
Program Description
The Doctor of Nursing (DN) is a professional doctoral program designed to prepare nurses with the required skills to apply knowledge in diverse settings and (a) lead in dynamic, fast-paced, technologically advanced and sophisticated health-care environments and (b) teach in nursing education. Students will engage in advanced education related to leadership and knowledge application in healthcare or nursing education.
The DN is offered in a hybrid online (required courses) and on-site (required residencies) delivery model. Students will normally complete this full-time program in eight sessions compressed over three years due to cohort-based delivery and use of the summer sessions.
Program Learning Outcomes
| DLE | DN Program Objectives | DN Program Learning Outcomes |
| 1. Depth and Breadth of Knowledge | PO #1 – Advanced understanding of the theoretical foundations of implementation science, Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) strategies and change theory. PO #2 – In-depth knowledge on how implementation science and change theory is relevant to nursing leadership in healthcare and education. PO#3 A broad appreciation of the relationship between implementation science in nursing, KTE and the scientific basis of other health disciplines. | PLO #1 – Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of Implementation Science frameworks, KTE strategies and change theories. PLO#2 – Identify barriers and facilitators of implementing KTE strategies at individual and organizational levels. PLO#3 – Demonstrate advanced knowledge of nursing leadership to transform healthcare and education as appropriate. PLO #4 – Articulate the system barriers to equity of access to safe and effective care for patients and families with diverse backgrounds within healthcare organizations. PLO #5 – Demonstrate knowledge of how challenges related to diversity, cultural safety and social determinants of health are integrated in healthcare and education. PLO#6 Demonstrate knowledge of how to manage human, financial and material resources in healthcare or education. |
| 2. Research and Scholarship | PO #4 The ability to systematically review and synthesize research, and effectively engage in translating evidence to healthcare or education. PO# 5 Critical thinking skills to promote change and sustain innovative leadership or scholarship in healthcare or education. PO#6 Leadership skills to improve healthcare or education outcomes through strategic thinking, critical appraisal and implementation of varied forms of evidence. PO#7 Expertise to create, maintain and evaluate diverse healthcare or education settings. PO #8 Proficiency in advancing leadership and scholarship across healthcare and education. PO#9 Advanced skills to provide exemplary nursing healthcare practice or education evaluation and KTE. | PLO# 7 Critically appraise and synthesize results of research relevant to leadership issues in healthcare or nursing education. PLO#8 Plan, design and carry out a research project that addresses an innovation to transform nursing leadership in healthcare or education. PLO#9 Produce original and quality scholarly outputs to satisfy peer review and to merit publication or presentation targeted at professional and lay audiences. |
| 3. Level of Application of Knowledge | PO#10 Application of research evidence that is relevant and useful to nursing leadership in healthcare and education using implementation science, KTE strategies and change theories/ frameworks. | PLO#10 Conceptualize, design and evaluate a KTE plan to implement/ disseminate research evidence. PLO# 11 Apply Implementation Science theories and frameworks when implementing/disseminating research evidence in complex healthcare and educational situations. PLO#12 Understand relevant change theory applicable to leadership in healthcare or nursing education. PLO#13 Define and develop evidence-informed analytical and tactical strategies for advancing nursing leadership in healthcare and education. PLO#14 Determine effective strategies for addressing leadership issues across healthcare or education organizations and/or systems while engaging relevant stakeholders. |
| 4. Professional Capacity/ Autonomy | PO# 11 A commitment to ethical scholarship and collaboration in furthering knowledge with a critical and objective perspective on research application. | PLO#15 Model a strong commitment to professional ethics when developing solutions to complex healthcare (e.g. equal access to care) or education (e.g. diversity) issues. PLO#16 Explain the impact of KTE on organizational structure, and how context (work environment) influences KTE strategies in healthcare or education. PLO#17 Understand the importance of consultation and meaningful engagement with relevant stakeholders in healthcare or education contexts. |
| 5. Communication Skills | PO# 12 Clear and effective oral and written communication across varied and complex healthcare and education. | PLO#18 Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing to enable implementation of new knowledge within healthcare or education. |
| 6. Awareness of Limits of Knowledge | PO#13 Displaying an appreciation of the strengths and limitations of their work and its contributions to the greater body of knowledge, being open to multiple interpretations of their work and its impact at various levels of application. | PLO#19 Articulate the strengths and limitations of KTE frameworks and models for implementing and disseminating research in complex healthcare and education settings. PLO#20 Determine limitations of knowledge, multiple interpretations and impact at various levels. |
Program Structure
The DN program is a full-time, cohort-based graduate program with 8 consecutive terms consisting of required and elective courses, internships, seminars, residencies and a thesis. The mode of delivery combines on-campus experiences with online coursework. The hybrid delivery model, with a blend of online synchronous and asynchronous courses, onsite intensive residencies, and internships is tailored for students who have considerable professional experience and work commitments.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | ||||||
| Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 | Term 7 | Term 8 | |
| Courses | NUR1301 | NUR1302 | NUR1303* | Elective | ||||
| Seminar | NUR1311 | NUR1312 | NUR1313 | NUR1314 | ||||
| Internship | NUR1398 | |||||||
| NUR1399 | ||||||||
| Residency | #1 | #2 | #3 | |||||
| Literature Review Paper | Literature Review Paper Completed | |||||||
| Proposal writing & defence | Thesis Proposal Defended | |||||||
| REB approval | ||||||||
| Data Collection & Analysis | ||||||||
| Thesis Writing | ||||||||
| Final Oral Exam | FOE | |||||||
* NUR 1303 is Term 4 (for students starting 2023-2024) and Term 3 (for students starting 2024-2025 and 2025=2026)
Program Requirements
The DN is offered as a full-time program. Candidacy is achieved by successful completion of the literature review paper, internships, proposal defense, attendance at year 1 and 2 residencies, and all required courses except NUR1314, as described below. Achievement of candidacy is noted on the academic transcript and students may refer themselves as “DN candidates”, rather than “DN students” once candidacy is achieved.
All courses are only open to DN students.
Coursework
Students must successfully complete a total of 5.0 full-course equivalents (4.0 FCEs for coursework and 1.0 FCE the internships). FCEs for coursework as follows:
Coursework (4.0 FCEs):
- 1.5 required FCEs:
- NUR1301H Leadership: Health Services and Education
- NUR1302H Implementation Science: Health Services and Education
- NUR1303H Health Policy in Nursing Practice and Education
- 0.5 elective FCE relevant to the student’s focus, chosen from:
- NUR1331H Analysis and Application of Individual and Population Health Data
- NUR1332H Informatics and Technologies for Practice Advancement
- NUR1333H Equity and Ethics in Healthcare Leadership
- NUR1334H Quality Improvement, Safety, and Evaluation Science
- NUR1335H The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Healthcare Practice and Education
internships (1.0 FCE):
- NUR1398HDN Internship 1 normally completed in the Summer session of Year 1.
- NUR1399H DN Internship 2 normally completed in the Fall session of Year 2.
Internships
Students must complete two internships focusing on healthcare or educational leadership:
- NUR1398H: DN Internship 1 normally completed in the Winter or Summer session of Year 1
- NUR1399H: DN Internship 2 normally completed in the Fall session of Year 2
Refer to the Forms, Requests & Resources page on the Bloomberg Nursing website for details on the internship requirements and evaluation methods.
Residencies
Students must complete three residencies consisting of intensive on-campus sessions lasting 3-5 days each. Students will present their works in progress at each of the residencies.
Literature Review Paper
Guidelines for the literature review paper are available on the Forms, Requests & Resources page on the Bloomberg Nursing website.
The literature review paper topic and type should be discussed and approved by the student and supervisor (with documentation by the supervisor on the DN Student Milestones Tracking Sheet) by November 30 of Year 1.
- The literature review paper must be submitted by April 30 of Year 1. The submitted literature review paper will be formally reviewed and evaluated by the supervisor and at least one additional thesis committee member. Written and verbal feedback about the submitted literature review paper will be provided to the student at a supervisory committee meeting. For the literature review paper to be considered a pass, both faculty members’ assessments of the literature review paper must be at the successful completion or pass level. If both assessments are considered pass, the student will receive a satisfactory rating at their supervisory committee meeting. If one or both paper reviews are rated failure or not pass, then the student receives an unsatisfactory rating at the supervisory committee meeting.
- If the student does not successfully complete the literature review paper first submitted, the student will have one additional opportunity to revise and rewrite the literature review paper, based on the feedback received at the supervisory committee meeting. The student must resubmit the revised literature review paper by June 30 of Year 1. This revised literature review paper must be formally evaluated by the supervisor and one other thesis committee member (normally the same committee member who completed the assessment of the original literature review paper). The student will receive feedback about the revised literature review paper at a supervisory committee meeting. For the literature review to be considered a pass, both faculty members’ assessments of the literature review must be at the pass level. If both assessments are considered pass, the student will receive a satisfactory rating at their supervisory committee meeting. If one or both paper reviews are rated failure or not pass, then the student receives an unsatisfactory rating at the supervisory committee meeting.
- If the student does not successfully complete the literature review paper on the second attempt, the Faculty of Nursing will normally recommend to SGS that the student’s registration in the DN program be terminated.
Thesis Proposal
The DN Thesis Proposal Guidelines document specifies the required elements for the written proposal. The thesis requires students to identify and investigate a practice problem, articulate and apply theory and evidence to the problem, design strategies for action to address the problem, report on strategies implemented to address the problem, and discuss the results and knowledge dissemination plan. The proposal normally goes through multiple rounds of feedback with the student and supervisor as well as with the larger committee before the student is deemed by the committee as ready to proceed to the oral proposal defence. An internal examiner is selected by the supervisory committee in consultation with the student.The examiner may be a member of the SGS faculty appointed to the Candidate’s graduate unit, or a member of the SGS faculty appointed to other graduate units of the University. The examiner must not have been closely involved in supervision of thesis development.The written proposal should be submitted to the supervisory committee and examiner at least 4 weeks in advance of the oral defence date. Student services will assist with arranging the oral exam including securing a chair. The exam may be held in person, hybrid, or fully online. Assessment of the thesis proposal consists of both the written proposal and the oral defence of the proposal. The oral exam consists of a 15- minute presentation of the proposal by the student, followed by multiple rounds of questions starting with the internal examiner. The oral exam is normally completed within 2 hours. Further information on procedures for conducting the exam can be found in the document Record of the PhD/DN Proposal Examination.
Students are normally expected to defend their thesis proposal by January 30 in Year 2 of their program. Students must successfully defend their thesis proposal no later than April 30 in Year 2. Students who do not successfully defend the proposal after the first attempt may have one additional opportunity to successfully present and defend the written proposal, and this must be accomplished before April 30 in Year 2 of the program.
If the student does not successfully defend the thesis proposal April 30 in Year 2 (including a second attempt, if required), the Faculty of Nursing will normally recommend to SGS that the student’s registration in the DN program be terminated.
Research Ethics Board Approvals
While preparing their thesis proposal, students should identify the steps required for approval to conduct their project. These steps will depend on the type of project planned and where the project will be conducted. The approval process may involve review by a research ethics committee or a quality improvement review process (if available) at the site where the project will be completed. The proposal will also be submitted to the University of Toronto for administrative review. In some cases, only the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board will review and approve the proposal. Students should work with their supervisor and reach out to the relevant approval bodies for information and guidance on the process and access to any relevant documents (e.g., templates for consent forms if needed).
Students may prepare all documents relevant to the review process prior to the oral defence, however, the actual submission for ethics review must not occur until successful defence of the thesis proposal. Students are encouraged to use the 4-week window before their oral defence to prepare all documents for review so they are ready to submit them soon after the successful defence. Once all required approvals are in place, the student may proceed with their project.
Thesis
The thesis in the DN program will be written using a traditional dissertation format as a coherent document that provides a complete and systematic account of the thesis project. It is a single report, divided into chapters. Please see the Thesis Guidelines for DN Students for additional information on the format and content of the DN thesis. Similar to preparation of the thesis proposal, the thesis normally goes through multiple rounds of feedback with the student and supervisor as well as with the larger committee before the student is deemed by the committee as ready to proceed to the final oral defence.
Final Oral Exam
The final oral exam is normally conducted at the end of year 3 in accordance with the SGS Guidelines for the Doctoral Final Oral Examination. For more information about the preparation and processes around the conduct of the Final Oral Exam, please see the Final Oral Exam section under ‘Academic Policies, Procedures & Regulations’ in this handbook.
Length of Program
Normally, degree requirements are completed in three academic years of full-time study. All requirements for the degree must be completed within six calendar years (full-time study) from the date of the student’s enrolment in the program.