25: TODAY, TOMORROW, AND IN THE FUTURE ■ 565attempt to increase the number of NPs, the Obama administration has provided: (a) $30
million to begin training an additional 600 NPs including provid ing incentives for part-
time students to become full time and complete their education sooner; and (b) $15 mil-
lion to establish 10 new NP- led clinics, which assist in the training of NPs, are staffed by
NPs, and provide comprehensive primary health care services to populations living in
medically underserved communities (HealthReform.Gov, 2010). This is important when
NP roles are expected to grow at an extraordinary rate due to the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA; Auerbach, 2012; Van Vleet & Paradise, 2015). As our med-
ical and health system starts to shift more visibly to a preventive care model, the DAPNs
have an opportunity to seize the day. The DAPNs of today, tomorrow, and the future
will be the primary generator of “practice knowledge” and “practice- based evidence
nursing knowledge” that focuses on finding solutions to real clinical or organizational
problems in the field (Dreher, 2010, 2013). The recent AACN (2015b) white paper on the
DNP has clarified:
Graduates of both research- and practice- focused doctoral programs are pre-
pared to generate new knowledge. However, research- focused graduates are
prepared to generate knowledge through rigorous research and statistical
methodologies that may be broadly applicable or generalizable; practice-
focused graduates are prepared to generate new knowledge through innova-
tion of practice change, the translation of evidence, and the implementation
of quality improvement processes in specific practice settings, systems, or
with specific populations to improve health or health outcomes. New knowl-
edge generated through practice innovation, for example, could be of value
to other practice 2 settings. This new knowledge is considered transferrable
but is not considered generalizable. (pp. 2– 3)This clarification from the 2006 essentials document is progress in the recognition that
the DNP can contribute new knowledge, even if classified as “practice knowledge: to the
discipline. The early days of some DNP students being told “you cannot call it research!”
appears to be fading away as the profession better discerns the domain of knowledge
development for the DNP degree. The authors foresee DAPNs creating new practice
knowledge and practice evidence for the discipline, and then efficiently translating and
disseminating it to practice. Nurses engaged in doctoral advanced nursing practice
need to be visible, bold, innovative, data driven, and outcome oriented. The ultimate
value of this degree will be the evidence that the DAPRN or DAPN improves the health
of individuals (Terhaar et al., 2016). In summary, the role of the DAPRN or DAPN, no
matter the setting or job description, has the potential to improve health outcomes. It
is also equally as critical that the DAPRN or DAPN be a clinical scholar and conduct
rigorous practice- based and evidence- based projects and disseminate their work. This
requires leadership from deans and faculty to refine curricula to meet the needs of soci-
ety so the DAPRN or DAPN are educated to deliver quality care, improve outcomes,
reduce cost, and be welcome in the academy as full members. This also requires leader-
ship from nurse executives to provide the time and resources for DAPRNs or DAPNs to
engage in formal clinical inquiry and contribute to the evidence base in our discipline in
their institutions and beyond; as well as, lead system wide change. Health care system
and chief nursing officers’ support is critical for the advocacy of DAPRN or DAPN’s
scholarly release time and increased compensation expected with a higher level degree,
increased knowledge, and expanded skill set (Melnyk, 2013 ; Nichols, O’Connor, &
Dunn, 2014). Finally, we need to continue to work diligently to implement the Future of
Nursing Report: