For Dr. David Mulkey, nursing is more than a career – more than a calling, even.
The Grand Canyon University associate professor takes his teaching philosophy one step further.
Nursing, he said, is a ministry.
"It is a unique position that we are in as nurses to care for patients at their most vulnerable state – when they need health care. ... It's a really vulnerable time for (the patients). And so, teaching nursing as a ministry and calling really impacts how we care for our patients.”
That philosophy has pushed him in his work to help redevelop the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions' doctor of nursing practice program, an online program launched in 2014 to train learners to translate research into clinical practice to improve patient outcomes.
Mulkey, who himself holds a DNP, has been the lead on those program revisions.
The college wants to open pathways and increase the number of nurses earning a DNP, he said. When he took on the project, less than 2% of nurses nationally sought the advanced degree, which prepares nurses for practice at the highest level. It can help graduates step into health care management roles, work in academia within practice-based nursing programs, take on health policy positions or become nursing researchers.
According to a June 2025 article by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in 2024, the number of DNP students grew by 2%, or 936 students, marking 21 years of continuous enrollment expansion, from 70 students in 2003 to 42,767 learners last year.
GCU won’t miss out on the trend.
But there's much more that goes into Mulkey's role in the college. While the redevelopment effort progresses, the Denver, Colorado-based educator is teaching and publishing scholarly work in peer-reviewed journals, such as the "History of Men in Nursing: Pioneers of the Profession" in the Journal of Christian Nursing and "Using gamification to engage clinical nurses in quality improvement" in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, to name a couple. He also has penned book chapters.
“That scholarship goes into the awards with the program revision work,” he said of recognition he has received from GCU leaders for his work with the DNP program.
His absolute joy comes from helping students on the way to earning their terminal nursing degree. A doctor of nursing practice empowers the graduate in many ways. It’s the step nurses take to go beyond being a nurse practitioner.
With a practice-focused doctoral degree, the holder can take skills into clinical practice, administration, and academics. DNPs have training and expertise in advanced patient care, and in most states, they can prescribe medication.
“We can impact patient outcomes,” Mulkey said. “The degree is clinically focused. It’s for nurses wanting to go back to school to learn (more about) practice and organizational change.”
He emphasizes to his students that they are equipped to be change agents in the health care industry.
“Change is going to start with them,” Mulkey said. “They can use their knowledge. They can use their skills to make those changes and improve the health care that we are delivering to patients and making sure that it's the most evidence-based.”
Mulkey has a reputation for making a difference with his students. In many cases, he’s working one-on-one with students on their doctoral projects – the DNP equivalent of an academic dissertation..
“It has to be based on evidence, well researched and well written,” he said. “They have to develop a plan to implement (their discovery) to sustain it once they’re done.”
One student was so moved by his assistance outside class that she nominated him for a Daisy Award as a thank you. The gesture moved him.
“I think the best thing that I like about teaching is just the different students that come through the program. They're all at different walks of life,” Mulkey said. “They're adult learners. They each bring different strengths to our program and the nursing community. Just getting to know each and every one of them, I get to meet so many different people.”
He believes the nursing community is a small, rich community, and he likes that the students in the program are located all over the country.
As a teacher, I try to have high expectations of my students, but also to teach with grace as well.
Dr. David Mulkey, associate professor, GCU College of Nursing and Health Care Professions
“Just because we're all over the United States, I'm able to interact with these students and teach them and learn from them,” Mulkey said. “I think that's another thing that I like about teaching is that I am learning, as well, and I'm learning from my students, and they're learning from me.
The unique cycle of shared experience is how nursing became a mission for Mulkey. Early in his career as a bedside nurse, his mentor invited him to watch her teach a college-level simulation. That simulation started him on the path toward education because of his mentor.
And his faith has guided him to see nursing as a ministry.
“That's one of the great things about working at GCU is that we get to teach from a Christian worldview,” Mulkey said. “I think that that aligns, really, with the philosophy I mentioned earlier that nursing is a ministry.”
A member of Nurses Christian Fellowship, Mulkey is a contributing editor to the Journal of Christian Nursing.
Living on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, Mulkey enjoys hiking and getting out into the mountains. He’s married, and before children, he and his wife were avid campers. It’s not quite a family activity yet, as his three children are aged 5, 3 and 1.
His faith has impressed him with the knowledge that each person has an inherent worth, whether student or patient.
“(That value) shapes how we treat one another, again, patients or students,” Mulkey said. “As a teacher, I try to have high expectations of my students, but also to teach with grace as well.”
GCU senior writer Eric Jay Toll can be reached at [email protected]
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