Photo: Dr. Ann Schaeffer (right), assistant professor in the practice of nursing at EMU, teaches in EMU and Goshen College’s joint Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Photo provided by EMU

Spring 2020 marked the first graduation for seven students in Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and Goshen (Indiana) College’s joint Doctor of Nursing Practice program. The graduates are from three states and work in nursing education, hospital administration, family practice and the public school system.

The doctoral program, accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education in 2019, aims to prepare nursing professionals to lead within dynamic health-care systems.

“Creating this program was an amazing, challenging and energizing experience,” says program co-director Melody Cash, who teaches nursing at EMU in Harrisonburg, Virginia. “When we gathered our first cohort together for our in-person residency, there was such a sense of excitement and realization of a dream. The cohort of students bonded immediately and stood ready to tackle the program together.”

Co-director Ruth Stoltzfus, a professor at Goshen College, says that graduates of the program “are well positioned to identify areas in their place of employment where innovations are needed” and leave “prepared to be change agents.”