168 ■ II: ROLES FOR DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
Key Differences
- Theoretical foundations
of nursing practice prepares
the graduate to: critique and
evaluate a variety of
theories, apply and use
appropriate theories to
improve health care
Master’s Essentials
- Human diversity/social
issues prepares the
graduate to confront
subcultural influences on
human behavior, including
ethnic, racial, gender, and
age differences; deliver
multicultural competent
advance nursing care
Doctorate of Nursing
Practice Essentials
- Organizational and
systems leadership for QI
and systems thinking
prepares the graduate to:
use advanced
communication
skills/processes to lead
change, employ principles
of business, finance, health
law to develop plans for
practice level and/or
system-wide improvement- Key differences again
continues to be the scope of
practice (macroscopic-DNP
versus microscopic-MSN) - DNP graduate will exhibit
the ability to incorporate
leadership, organizational,
and systems theories to impact
change with large data sets
over many organizational
boundaries/nationally - MSN focuses on the
application of principles while
the DNP will develop
organizational- wide
improvements for application - The MSN continues to have a
limited focus on population
and/or community-focused/
specific issues while the DNP
focuses on national trends to
address health care issues
across several boundaries
and geographic areas
- Key differences again
No specific essential—
although these concepts
are embedded in the DNP
essentials
No specific essential
FIGURE 6.2 Comparison of essentials of master’s education and doctorate of nursing practice.
(continued )