23: THE DNP IN THE ACADEMIC ROLE ■ 509innate traits found in individuals who enjoy working with and have the capacity to
build partnerships, sustain relationships, and weather the emotional demands of an
administrative role. The DNP program curricula provides an opportunity for the future
academic “chair” to explore leadership theories, project management and evaluation
techniques, business planning, policy, evidence-based practices, and change theories.
This coupled with their real-life work experiences in the health care service industry
provides the foundation to be a successful academic administrator.
PREPARATION FOR ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION: CLINICAL VERSUS
RESEARCH EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS
As DNP-educated faculty is a relatively new phenomenon, there is naturally
much discussion regarding what kinds of roles they may be prepared for in the
academic setting. This is an important topic because DNP graduates are assuming
faculty roles and are becoming integral to filling the nursing faculty. In the tradi-
tional triad of faculty roles and responsibilities, specifically teaching , scholarship ,
and service , it may be beneficial to explore the educational components of gradu-
ate nursing education for both practice-focused and research-focused doctorates
to ascertain what kind of faculty graduates from such a program might be quali-
fied to occupy.
A review of the DNP curricula across programs (AACN, 2016b) generally reflects
incorporation of the DNP Essentials (AACN, 2006), although variation and further special-
ization are evident. Succinctly, DNP education focuses on preparing expert practice clini-
cians, or as aligned with Boyer’s Model of Scholarship, scholarship of both application and
integration (Boyer, 1990). Areas of emphasis in DNP programs include organizational sys-
tems, collaborative practice, policy, informatics, quality improvement, and populations-
based health care for advanced practice nurses: both advanced practice registered nurses
(APRNs) and nurse executives. Although students are groomed to assume leadership
roles on graduation, including writing and disseminating for the profession, these activi-
ties are generally focused around outcomes studies or other form of scholarship; the main
focus of a DNP program is not on traditional discovery scholarship. Additionally, some
DNP programs feature specialization in nursing education (Danzey et al., 2011). These
content areas would suggest solid preparation of future DNP-prepared faculty in teach-
ing, practice-focused scholarship, and service. According to the literature, the majority of
DNP-prepared faculty today is primarily engaged in teaching (Agger, Oermann, & Lynn,
2014), but also can include practice, scholarship, and administration (Bellini, McCauley,
& Cusson, 2012).
Conversely, the main foci of research-focused doctoral programs in nursing is to
prepare nurse scientists who will serve as stewards of the discipline and educate the
next generation of nurse academicians and scientists (AACN, 2004 ); indeed the main
focus is on developing future discovery scholars (AACN, 2010). Examination of general
curricula for PhD programs is congruent with outcomes expectations, with course-
work in: grantsmanship, theory, methods, and advanced statistics. Additionally, some
programs offer additional optional preparation in education to optimize future suc-
cess in the realm of nursing education (University of Connecticut Certificate in Health
Professions Education, 2016). Together, these areas of focus in research-focused
programs should prepare future graduates as faculty for teaching, research-focused
scholarship, and service.