324 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
■ EXPECTATIONS FOR THE MASTER’S- LEVEL PRACTITIONER
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2010) has identified compe-
tencies that are essential for master’s-prepared nurses to practice effectively. Although
technology is assumed to be integrated throughout all the competencies, this AACN
document explicitly addresses technological competencies in Essential V: Informatics
and Healthcare Technologies, which articulates the five broad areas that these competen-
cies encompass. The master’s- level practitioner must be proficient in: (a) patient care
and other technologies to deliver/ enhance care; (b) communication technologies to
integrate/ coordinate care; (c) data management to analyze/ improve outcomes of care;
(d) health information management for evidence- based care/ health education; and
(e) facilitation and use of electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care
(AACN, 2010, p. 17). In addition, Essential IV: Translating and Integrating Scholarship Into
Practice requires informatics and technology competencies as well as information man-
agement skills in order to effectively “lead continuous improvement processes based
on translational research skills” bringing “evidence- based practice to both individual
patients for whom they directly care and to those patients for whom they are indirectly
responsible” (AACN, 2010, p. 16).
Irrespective of the practice setting of the master’s- prepared nurse, proficiency
in the utilization of technology is crucial to any effort to address health care needs,
whether directly or indirectly. The focus at this level is proficiency. For the doctoral APN,
the expectations are much higher.
■ RAISING THE BAR: EXPECTATIONS FOR THE DOCTORAL APN
Because the use of technologies to deliver, improve, and document care is changing
rapidly in the current, dynamic health care arena, it is absolutely essential that the doc-
toral APN possess high- level skills— basic proficiency is insufficient. It is expected that
the doctoral APN will function in a leadership role in the use of technologies to support
health care delivery (Chase & Pruitt, 2006; Otterness, 2006; Porter- O’Grady & Malloch,
2008; Webber, 2008). It is important that the doctoral APN not only possesses these skills,
but also takes measures to ensure that these skills are kept up- to- date.
The doctoral APN is expected to leverage the skills and knowledge of infor-
mation systems and technology in both academic and health care settings with the
goal of improving patient care and the health care systems charged with providing
this care. To accomplish this, the doctoral APN must not only possess technological
skills, but also high- level practical research skills in order to be able to contribute
to the body of scientific knowledge, and further, to serve as a catalyst for change.
We admit this is and will continue to be a debatable point with regard to the prac-
tice doctorate— the graduate’s role in knowledge development. We assert, however,
that the overly simplified adage that the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) graduate
will only translate and disseminate research findings is problematic if it is assumed
that all doctoral graduates should contribute to the evidence base of their respec-
tive discipline. In addition, he or she must be able to manage and use effectively an
increasing volume of evidence to guide practice and establish new standards of care
within health care systems. Technologies explored in this chapter provide doctorally
prepared nurses and those beginning doctoral studies with an understanding of how
these innovations can be used effectively to support the advanced practice role and
meet these expectations.