Nurse Practitioner Advances to DNP
Winnegan aims to expand career horizons
Lona Winnegan, MSN, FNP-C, planned to become an engineer or a physician until her son was born. The nurse practitioner at the hospital impressed her so much that she switched her major to nursing.
“I knew even when I was in nursing school that I didn’t want to stop at becoming an RN,” said Winnegan, who is studying in the Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston, the No. 1 DNP program in Texas.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at Hampton University, a historically Black institution in Virginia. “I had not seen a lot of Black professional nurses at the time. It was my first introduction to nurses past the bedside,” she said. She found inspiration in the many opportunities available to nurses with doctorates. “I did not know the impact that nurses could make.”
Her then-husband’s Army career kept Winnegan on the move. She applied to the nurse practitioner program at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) enroute from Germany to his new posting at Fort Bliss. There, she earned a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) as a family nurse practitioner.
Eventually, a desire to move closer to family in her home state of Louisiana brought her to Houston. She now wears many hats as clinical director of the Baylor Medicine Spine Center. As a clinician, she sees neurosurgical patients and serves as the advanced practice provider on the informaticists team, one of three informaticists with Baylor Medicine, the academic medical practice of Baylor College of Medicine.
Winnegan thought an MSN would be her highest degree, but the landscape for graduate nursing education has changed significantly. UTHealth Houston established the first DNP program in Texas in 2006, and its first nine students graduated in 2009, just as Winnegan was finishing her studies in El Paso.
Because of the extensive and rigorous requirements for becoming a health care provider, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties in 2018 recommended that entry-level education for all nurse practitioners be transitioned from the MSN to the DNP level by 2025.
Cizik School of Nursing has been a leader in adopting this standard, with its Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse Anesthesia curriculum now offered as BSN to DNP tracks. Family Nurse Practitioner students may still choose an MSN pathway, although the DNP is recommended. Students who are already MSN-prepared nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, or nurse managers may opt to complete additional coursework to earn their DNPs through the school’s post-master’s program.
“I learned that in the Texas Medical Center, you often need a doctorate to be considered for promotions,” Winnegan said. She chose Cizik School of Nursing because of its reputation and value.
When she interviewed for the school’s DNP program, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies Latarsha Cheatham, DNP, FNP-BC, suggested Winnegan consider the post-master’s Nurse Executive track. Her learning experiences in the program have included attending high-level budget meetings and shadowing a chief nursing officer (CNO).
“Seeing health care from a financial and administrative perspective helps me understand some of the things I never see, even in my role as a clinical director,” Winnegan said.
Her favorite aspect of the Nurse Executive program is the faculty. She reassures nurses who might be anxious about starting a DNP program that the advisors at Cizik School of Nursing will support their success.
Advisors assist students in setting the focus for their DNP projects, and advisor Lisa Thomas describes Winnegan as a “stand-out leader of change.”
“Lona’s eye for detail and collaborative approach in daily communications made all the difference in this effort,” noted Thomas, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, CRRN, NEA-BC, CNE, an assistant professor. “She was able to increasingly identify patients at risk of injury and in need of closer monitoring.”
Winnegan is on track to graduate in December 2025 and hopes to celebrate no longer being a student by taking a bucket-list trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. Long-term, she has her sights set on becoming a CNO or chief operating officer.
“When you get a seat at the table, take it!” Winnegan said.
