232 ■ II: ROLES FOR DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
that is evidence-based and context specific. The importance of contextualizing care as
a hallmark of DNP scholarship cannot be overstated in an ever- increasing EBP health
care culture. The authors stress the vital role that DNP- prepared nurses play in address-
ing contextual factors that impede practice innovation and research utilization in health
care systems. In addition, Jutel (2008) contends that “[i] t is not that science does not have
the ability to ask questions, rather it is unable to contextualize its answers at either the
individual or social level. Science explains disease; it does not treat patients” (p. 418).
Thus, as clinical scholars, DNPs have an opportunity to fill the research– practice gap
by adapting interventions to meet patient needs and to develop new practice- centered
models of knowledge production in nursing.
While the authors acknowledge the importance of theoretical discourse in clinical
practice, conceptualizing the scholarly role of the DNP- prepared nurse as theorist is not
discussed. This crucial aspect of clinical scholarship deserves further deliberation and
debate in both practice and academe. The critical question remains. How will DNP-
prepared nurses generate disciplinary knowledge? In AACN’s (2015) recent publication
on the practice doctorate, scholarship is defined as the process of knowledge develop-
ment within a discipline. The report also states that graduates of both research and
practice- focused doctoral programs are prepared to produce new disciplinary knowl-
edge (AACN, 2015). Importantly, this more capacious view offers an unprecedented
opportunity to significantly increase the scholarly productivity of all doctorally
prepared nurses (less than 1% of all nurses). Exclusive focus on the role of DNP as
knowledge translator, facilitator, and evaluator perpetuates a constraining paradigm
that marginalizes nursing knowledge and undermines professional jurisdiction over
practice (Jutel, 2008; Reed & Lawrence, 2008).
The pursuit of innovative approaches to developing theory- based practice knowl-
edge by DNP- prepared clinical scholars will be critical to advancing a more unified
worldview of clinical scholarship in nursing. Exposition of the “knowing practitio-
ner” for whom theory and practice are inseparable could be an important area of DNP
scholarly inquiry (Doane & Varcoe, 2005). Exploration of the mechanisms of knowledge
generation in practice or the explication of practice inquiry methods that examine the
unique interaction between nurse and patient could also be rich sources of DNP clini-
cal scholarship (Reed, 2006; Rolfe, 2006). Finally, continued development of conceptual
models that identify the distinct and shared contributions of nurse clinicians and nurse
scientists to advance disciplinary knowledge will also be needed to further cultivate
DNP scholarship (Velasquez, McArthur, & Johnson, 2011).
The authors provide a timely and relevant discussion of the clinical scholarship
role of doctoral advanced nursing practice. With over 4,200 DNP graduates and more
than 22,000 currently enrolled in DNP programs (Trautman, 2016), it is imperative that
the scholarly contributions of doctoral-prepared advanced practice nurses to innovate
and improve care be demonstrated and disseminated. Within the discipline, the emer-
gence of the practice doctorate also provides exciting opportunities for scholarship
through exploration of new epistemological approaches to knowledge production in
nursing practice.
■ REFERENCES
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced
nursing practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/DNPEssentials
.pdf