7: THE ROLE OF THE EDUCATOR ■ 193spend long hours in the clinical area, particularly in undergraduate nursing
programs.
Scholarship for the DNP should also be defined by excellence in clinical
practice— the goal of the clinically focused DNP is more proficient and expert
advanced practice. However, not every school or college of nursing recognizes
this as an important aspect of scholarship. Specific and current skills in clinical
practice are necessary for effective clinical teaching at both the undergraduate
and graduate level. Yet, academic appointments for DNP- prepared advanced
practice faculty teaching at the graduate level are particularly challenging when
accrediting bodies require significant practice hours for recertification, but nurs-
ing departments do not typically allot time for practice, and practice is not con-
sidered a scholarly endeavor. This issue has been largely ignored by schools that
are actively seeking DNP graduates to teach in their respective DNP programs.
While tenure and promotion of doctorally prepared faculty should not be
an issue, those disciplines that have practice- focused doctorates still lag behind
in having access to tenure track positions, because the current system does not
look favorably upon the type of scholarship these faculty produce. This barrier
makes academia less attractive to DNP graduates. Until major research universi-
ties address these issues, there is little hope for parity for faculty who are doc-
torally prepared and active in practice. Mixed messages of valuing researchers
(who do not practice), but taking for granted the immense time commitment to
practice that advanced practice faculty require to teach competently and expertly,
are not a prescription to attract the faculty in a shortage.
Another issue is the leveling of doctorally prepared faculty in academia.
The DNP- prepared nurse educator is often viewed as a second- class citizen,
one who is not eligible for full faculty privileges. Unfortunately, this is not only
propagated by the larger academic system, but it is propagated by nurse edu-
cators and leaders who view their role as PhD- prepared nurses as the true ter-
minal degree. This sets up an oppressive system ripe for horizontal violence
(DalPezzo & Jett, 2010). Therefore, consideration of the aforementioned con-
cerns is not only a professional mandate, but it is also an ethical imperative that
the profession of nursing must address to enable uplifting of all our doctorally
prepared nursing colleagues.
As a DNP- prepared nurse educator, I have experienced both career devel-
opment benefits and liabilities. My chosen path has afforded me an opportu-
nity to accomplish my passion to help educate the next generation of nurses,
the individuals who will positively affect patient care. It has allowed me to use
my clinical expertise in an educational setting and provide mentorship and role
modeling to graduate and undergraduate students. The liabilities of being in the
role include the lack of time in academia to pursue scholarly activity, and expe-
riencing the rigidity of the system in relation to promotion and tenure. Overall,
I choose to continue in this role because of the fulfillment I receive from wit-
nessing the students’ growth as they develop into the professional nurses and
doctoral advanced practice nurses (whatever their role) so desperately needed
in today’s health care environment.
■ CASE STUDY: A DNP- Prepared Nurse- Midwife Goes
Into Academia (continued)