DNP Role Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice, Second Edition

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Preface

Functioning as both a graduate textbook and a professional resource, DNP Role

Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice explores the historical and evolving

role of the doctoral advanced practice registered nurse, as well as describes Doctor of

Nursing Practice (DNP)- educated nurse practitioners, nurse- midwives, nurse anesthe-

tists, and clinical nurse specialists. Similarly, this text addresses roles for nurses engaged

in doctoral advanced nursing practice, which describes the role of the clinical executive,

faculty member with a clinical focus, quality officer, and the other diverse roles that the

DNP graduate may assume. There is a growing literature on the domain of practice “be-

yond the MSN,” and this text specifically focuses on this emerging discussion. Because

the role of the DNP graduate is still evolving, the primary authors and contributing

authors of this text present positions and Reflective Responses that represent a wide

range of current views on the DNP role and the diverse “ideals” of what the role of this

graduate should be. This text also exclusively examines the evolving and expanding

role functions of the DNP graduate.

Too often, nursing texts offer the sole view of the author. This text uniquely offers

the views of many diverse faculty, executives, practitioners, and scholars. The distinc-

tive feature of this text is the two- part chapter organization that presents the chapter

content followed by one or more Reflective Responses, which provide commentar-

ies that may counter or support the opinions of each chapter author or authors. Each

Reflective Response is written by a well- known DNP leader or leaders representing the

diverse roles and experiences of academics, administrators, and practitioners, including

graduates from different DNP programs. This innovative chapter presentation is bound

to enhance classroom discussion. The work in its entirety is hopefully stimulating and

provocative, and a well- rounded presentation of issues germane to DNP education, core

competencies, and unfolding role development. We believe this is a “must have” text in

DNP role development courses and courses covering contemporary DNP-degree issues.

Each of the textbook’s sections thoroughly covers important aspects of role

development:

• Section I provides background information on the evolution of the DNP de-
  gree, essential content on role theory, what nursing “roles” are and how they
  evolved, and a discussion of how master’s- versus doctoral- level advanced
  nursing practices differ.


• Section II focuses on the three basic roles of the DNP graduate that currently
  predominate: practitioner, clinical executive, and faculty member with a clini-
  cal focus. This section also addresses the role of the clinical scholar, something
  each graduate is expected to embrace as a steward of the discipline.

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