DN Program

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Graduate Department of Nursing Science's additional admission requirements stated below.

• Applicants must have a master's degree in nursing or a closely related field, such as education, public health, health science, health policy, or business administration, with a minimum B+ standing from a recognized university.

• Applicants must hold current registration as a Registered Nurse and must have a minimum of two years of relevant health-care leadership experience or advanced nursing education teaching experience.

• Applicants must provide three reference letters: two work-related and one academic.

• Applicants must submit a letter of intent outlining their reasons for applying to the program and a proposed thesis project.

• Applicants whose primary language is not English and who have graduated from a university where the primary language of instruction and examination is not English must demonstrate proficiency in English. See General Regulations section 4.3 for requirements. An interview may be required.

Completion Requirements

• Students must successfully complete a total of 5.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) 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

    • 2.0 FCEs in seminar courses:

      • NUR1311H DN Seminar 1

      • NUR1312H DN Seminar 2

      • NUR1313H DN Seminar 3

      • NUR1314H DN Seminar 4

  • Internships (1.0 FCE):

    • NUR1398H DN Internship 1 normally completed in the Summer session of Year 1.

    • NUR1399H DN Internship 2 normally completed in the Fall session of Year 2.

• Residencies. Students must complete three residencies consisting of intensive on-campus sessions lasting three to five days each.

• Literature Review Paper. The literature review paper topic and objectives/questions must be approved by the supervisor (and documented 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. Students are required to successfully defend their thesis proposal. This is normally done by the end of the fifth session (April 30, Year 2). 

  • 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. Assessment of the proposal consists of both the written proposal and the oral defence of the proposal. 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.

  • If the student does not successfully defend the thesis proposal by April 30 in Year 2 (including a second attempt, if required), Bloomberg Nursing will normally recommend to SGS that the student's registration in the DN program be terminated.

• Doctoral Final Oral Examination (FOE). The student's thesis will be defended in the FOE of the School of Graduate Studies. Students must complete an FOE of the thesis by the end of the final session in Year 3. The FOE will be conducted in accordance with the SGS Final Oral Examination Guidelines.