Also, among the 149 Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) programs, which U.S. News ranked for the first time today, UTHealth’s D.N.P. program (at No. 24) is the highest ranked in Texas.
“We are very proud that the school continues to place in the top 5 percent of U.S. nursing graduate schools, a distinction it first attained 10 years ago,” said UTHealth School of Nursing Dean Lorraine Frazier, Ph.D., R.N., who is also theHuffington Foundation Endowed Chair and John P. McGovern Distinguished Professor. “The high U.S. News rankings for our master’s and D.N.P. programs are measurable tributes to the commitment of our faculty and staff to preparing tomorrow’s nursing leaders for a changing health care world.”
In addition, UTHealth’s nurse anesthesia master’s/doctorate program was ranked in the top 10 (at No. 8) by U.S. News on its latest “Health Disciplines” list. UTHealth’s last four classes of nurse anesthesia graduates scored 100 percent pass rates on the first attempt of the National Certifying Examination administered by the National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists.
“It makes me feel good that our program is being recognized among our peers as a high-quality and innovative program,” said Nurse AnesthesiaTrack Director Kristen Starnes-Ott, Ph.D., CRNA. “We will continue striving to move up even more in the rankings and take pride in how well our graduates do – both on the certifying exams and in serving the anesthesia needs of the people of Texas.”Overall, UTHealth School of Nursing shared the No. 23 spot with four other master’s nursing programs. In the 2016 Best Graduate Schools rankings released last March, UTHealth was ranked 26th.
“UTHealth’s M.S.N. program has remained in the top 5 percent of graduate programs since 2007 due to the ongoing excellence of the education delivered to our students,” said Susan D. Ruppert, Ph.D., R.N., professor and coordinator of the Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) program. “Our students receive outstanding career preparation for leadership in advanced practice, nursing education and nursing administration led by nationally known expert faculty. Our high program outcomes distinguish us as pacesetters in graduate education.”For the Best Graduate Schools 2017 guidebook, programs at the 519 nursing schools with master’s or doctoral programs accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing were surveyed in fall 2015. Of those, 259 responded and were deemed eligible for ranking.
“Our well-designed and comprehensive D.N.P. curriculum provides a strong educational background in evidence-based practice, population health, translational science, health policy, collaborative interprofessional teams and quality improvement and safety,” said Joanne V. Hickey, Ph.D., R.N., coordinator of the highly ranked D.N.P. program. “Graduates are prepared for innovative, high level leadership and practice positions in which they contribute to promoting best practice in nursing and health care and cost-effective quality health care.”
Making its first stand-alone appearance in the U.S. News rankings, UTHealth was the first nursing school in Texas to offer the D.N.P. degree. The first-ever D.N.P. class graduated in 2009.
“We continue our strong commitment to maintaining the high quality of our program while also putting more content online,” said Hickey, the Patricia L. Starck/PARTNERS Professor in Nursing.
Hickey noted that starting this fall, D.N.P. students will come to campus just two consecutive days (Friday afternoons and Saturdays) twice a semester – a total of four days per semester. “These changes were made to meet the needs of working students so that they have to take less time off from work, and to make a better schedule for D.N.P. students who travel to Houston for class meetings,” she said.
UTHealth was also the first and only public university in the stateto offer a nine-semester program from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) degree to a D.N.P. in Nurse Anesthesia. Its first nurse anesthesia doctoral students were admitted in summer 2014.
UTHealth first appeared as a top-ranked graduate nursing program in the 2001 rankings by U.S. News and World Report.
Nurse anesthesia master’s/doctorate programs were ranked by U.S. News in its latest national peer-assessment survey of programs accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.
Rankings for Best Graduate Schools 2017 and full methodologies were released online today at: www.usnews.com/grad.
With more than 1,250 students currently enrolled, the UTHealth School of Nursing graduates an average of 290 nurses with undergraduate degrees and 120 nurses with graduate degrees each year. Since 1972, UTHealth School of Nursing has granted 10,167 nursing degrees to its graduates. For more information, go to https://nursing.uth.edu/.– Written by David R. Bates, Communications Director
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