522 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
clinical practice (Finke, 2012). Within the triad, scholarship is frequently valued more
highly than teaching or service. The classical interpretation of scholarship is the gener-
ation of new knowledge. When defined this way, it is frequently seen as the domain of
PhD-prepared faculty. The priority an institution places on scholarship in its tenure and
promotion decisions relies heavily on its Carnegie classification, the emphasis placed on
research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the institu-
tion’s culture, values, and beliefs (Clark, Houten, & Percea-Ryan, 2010; Roberts & Glod,
2013). Traditional models of defining scholarship can pose barriers for DNP-prepared
faculty in qualifying for tenure and promotion in some institutions.
Recognizing that the traditional boundaries of scholarship have not always fit the
scholarly work of the discipline of nursing, the AACN (1999) developed a position state-
ment defining scholarship based on the work of Boyer (1990). The AACN’s model is an
adaption of four areas proposed by Boyer (1990) and encompasses the scholarship of
teaching, practice/application, integration, and discovery. This model supports the val-
ues of a discipline that brings together both scientific inquiry and application through
professional practice and service (AACN, 1999). DNP-prepared faculty are clearly
engaged in advancing the scholarship of nursing using this expanded definition.
In the document DNP Roadmap Task Force Report , the AACN (2006b) recommends
that institutions offering a DNP should review their policies for promotion and tenure
and, if the institution tenures faculty with other practice professional degrees (such as
education, medicine, pharmacy, law, and audiology), then faculty with a DNP-practice
doctorate should also be eligible for tenure. The AACN notes that in such cases, the
standard for tenure should include a broad definition of scholarship consistent with
Boyer’s model (1990).
Although DNP-prepared faculty may face potential barriers to academic pro-
gression and appointment, the national nursing faculty shortage serves as a robust cat-
alyst for change (Li, Stauffer, & Fang, 2016; Roberts & Glod, 2013). A special survey
on vacant faculty positions completed by the AACN for academic year 2015 to 2016
revealed that there is a vacancy rate of 7.1% across the nation for full-time faculty posi-
tions (Li et al., 2016). Factors contributing to turnover include higher compensation in
clinical and private sector settings, long hours, the desire to remain clinically active, and
the perceived constraints of academia (Fitzpatrick, 2008; Lupien & Rosenkoetter, 2006;
Potempa, Redman, & Landstrom, 2009). Although faculty roles can be highly complex,
most regard the opportunity to lead in colleges and schools of nursing as extremely
rewarding. Some of the most influential factors nursing faculty cite for accepting aca-
demic positions are academic freedom and the ability to use one’s knowledge to teach
and have an impact on the profession (Lupien & Rosenkoetter, 2006).
An increasing number of college and university nursing programs acknowl-
edge that recruiting DNP-prepared faculty is not only an answer to the shortage of
qualified doctoral faculty but also a much needed solution to meeting the educational
needs of the next generation of nurses (Roberts & Glod, 2013). There are many factors
that have profoundly influenced how schools of nursing conceptualize their curricu-
lum. These factors include the growing complexity of our nation’s health care system,
the rampant growth in scientific knowledge and the increasing sophistication of tech-
nology. Benner, Sutphen, and Leonard (2010) , the authors of a book titled Educating
Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation , strongly advocate for innovative teaching and
learning approaches that bring nursing education and practice together. A viable solu-
tion to bridging the gap between education and practice is for schools of nursing to
recruit DNP-prepared faculty. After all, nursing is a practice discipline and the purpose
of the clinical doctorate is to provide affirmation for the highest level of preparation for
advanced clinical practice.