“If someone wants to learn, we need to encourage them.”
Family nurse practitioner program director embraces challenge, models success

Charleen Singh, program director for the Doctor of Nursing Practice — Nurse Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP) Degree Program at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, shares her experience as a clinician and researcher, along with her vision for the program.

Charleen Singh put her dreams of research on hold and went to nursing school because her best friend thought it would be fun to do it together. That whim led to a 40-year career working in everything from surgery to pediatrics.

Not satisfied with her desire to learn more, she received a master’s degree in nursing education and a Master of Business Administration, became a board-certified nurse practitioner and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Healthcare services. Those experiences now guide her as program director for the Doctor of Nursing Practice — Family Nurse Practitioner Program (DNP-FNP.) at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.

“I think I’ve been working toward this role slowly without realizing it,” Singh explained. “My overall philosophy is if someone wants to learn, we need to encourage them and foster the drive they have to learn.”

Meet the DNP-FNP Program Director
Internationally recognized for her work on pediatric wound care, Singh’s nursing practice spans multiple hospitals and clinics throughout the West Coat and across the age spectrum.
Read more about Charleen’s background 

Armed with several degrees that span multiple disciplines, at the heart of Singh’s work is quality improvement. She brings her decades of clinical experience and perspectives of the business of health care to the program, which is still in its early stages. Since the first class entered in 2023, Singh has taught the health promotion and introduction to research courses.

“Knowing that my own experience is really empowering in this program. We will do exactly what the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation wanted – to break down barriers, reach out to people, increase equity and equality for education and then serve the community.”

Singh began her first master’s degree journey while working full time with two children under the age of three. She achieved that degree thanks to online study. The hybrid format of the School of Nursing’s DNP-FNP program offers working nurses a way to advance their career in a way that works for them.

“It allows nurses from all over California to continue working and participate in the theory. Then the four onsite immersions are the time to really dive into the clinical practice, meet people, create a connection so that you don’t feel isolated,” Singh said.

She adds that those immersions, and the clinical rotations in years two and three of the program, expose students to various types of patients and their cultural considerations in caring for them.

“What is it for that person that makes them unique and then being able to bring the national guidelines for promoting health and disease manage and applying it to that patient,” Singh explained. “That’s what makes us different from other programs. The health equity and DEI focus are in the curriculum and experiential as well.”

Singh’s focus now, as DNP-FNP program director, is leveraging the flexibility of new program, listening to how students need it to evolve and create a space where ambitious students can embrace a challenge to make a difference in their communities.

“As faculty, we challenge ourselves every day to think, how can we do this differently,” she said. “I hope to inspire students that even when they think the journey is done, that learning actually never stops.”