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UNH is a long way from where Darius Love ‘22G built his career in healthcare, but when it came time to evolve as a leader, UNH’s online Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program was the perfect fit.

Love now works as assistant vice president of workforce optimization and redesign at Orlando Health in Florida, a role that allows him to help reimagine how care is delivered. He focuses on improving systems and processes that directly impact frontline clinicians and leaders while also serving as the executive leader for Magnet and Professional Practice and overseeing the organization’s centralized staffing office.

Through this work, Love helps elevate the voice of clinical teams, align operations with best practices, develop leadership pipelines, and design workforce strategies that place the right people in the right place at the right time.

In the following conversation, Love discusses how he built his career in healthcare and how the UNH DNP program helped him advance his leadership skills.

What drew you to nursing?

My father. I wanted to be a performer. I had earned several vocal performance scholarships and could clearly see a path in music. But my dad challenged me to think beyond the stage — to consider impact, stability, and legacy. He asked me to imagine a world where my gifts could touch lives in a different way.  

I’m grateful he did. What I discovered is that nursing is performance in its own right — it’s presence, voice, influence, and human connection. I fell in love with the complexity of healthcare, the privilege of caring for people in their most vulnerable moments, and eventually, the opportunity to lead. Nursing became more than a profession — it became purpose.  

What did your career path look like before enrolling at UNH?  

The bulk of my career has been in the hospital and acute care setting, primarily in nursing operations leadership roles. I have always been drawn to the intersection of people, process, and performance — optimizing care delivery while elevating the frontline clinician experience.  

My path allowed me to move into progressive leadership roles where I was responsible not only for outcomes, but for culture — building teams, developing leaders, and improving quality and safety metrics at scale.  

Why did you pursue a DNP?  

As I moved further into leadership, I realized that operational excellence wasn’t enough. I wanted to understand health systems thinking. I wanted exposure to large-scale implementation and strategy. I wanted to be able to influence work not just within a unit or hospital, but across an entire organization.

The DNP program opened that door. It expanded my lens from “How do we fix this here?” to “How do we design this right across a system?”  

I’ve always believed that preparation and opportunity must meet. I didn’t want an executive opportunity to land on my doorstep and not be equipped with the tools, language, or framework to lead at that level.

Healthcare is evolving rapidly — workforce shifts, digital transformation, care model redesign. I wanted to be armed with the skills and knowledge to lead confidently in that evolution, not react to it.  

The DNP sharpened my strategic thinking and strengthened my ability to translate vision into operational reality.  

Why was UNH the right choice for you?  

UNH felt like alignment. I had earned an MHA rather than an MSN because I intentionally diversified my preparation. UNH honored that background and valued my nursing leadership experience. That mattered.  

But beyond that, the program challenged me to stay relevant to the current state while being relentlessly forward-thinking. It wasn’t theory for theory’s sake — it was practical, system-level thinking that required you to ask: What does the future of nursing look like, and how do we build toward it now?  

What were the strengths of UNH’s DNP program — and how did they influence your growth as a leader/clinician?  

One of the greatest strengths was accountability. The faculty did not allow you to stay comfortable. They pushed you to think beyond your local context and consider broader impact. They emphasized evidence translation, implementation science, and measurable outcomes.  

That approach strengthened my ability to:  

• Lead large-scale initiatives  
• Connect strategy to frontline execution  
• Evaluate impact beyond anecdote  
• Think systemically rather than tactically  

It also refined me as both a clinician and an executive leader.  

What was your DNP project focused on, and what impact did it have?  

My DNP project centered on the reintegration of LPNs into the acute care setting.  

It took place during COVID — a time when workforce instability forced us to reimagine care models in real time. Rather than react out of desperation, I sought to create a thoughtful and intentional framework that set both the clinician and the organization up for success.  

The project focused on scope clarity, competency validation, role delineation, and team integration. The impact extended beyond staffing relief — it helped redefine care delivery models during one of the most disruptive periods in modern healthcare.  

It reinforced a core belief of mine: workforce challenges require innovation, not just replacement.  

What advice would you give someone considering the UNH DNP program?  

Jump in. If you are serious about influencing practice, leading change, and shaping the future of nursing, this program will stretch you in all the right ways.  

It is rigorous. It will challenge your thinking. It will demand relevance. But it will also prepare you to positively impact practice in your geographic region — and beyond.  

I’ve recommended the program to several leaders I’ve had the honor to mentor. One of them is now a graduate. That, to me, speaks volumes.