402 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
care disciplines (Richards & Novak, 2010). DNPs have the ability to establish new global
models reflecting the future of nursing recommendations and evaluating their impact,
all of which will lead to higher quality and more cost- effective care.
The Carter Center has three objectives: (a) to prevent and resolve conflicts, (b) to
enhance freedom and democracy, and (c) to improve health (Carter Center, 2010). In the
words of Carter Center co- founder and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in his 2002
Nobel Peace Prize speech, “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the
divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can
choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make
these changes— we must” (Carter, 2002, para 39).
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has local, national, and global objectives.
Globally, the foundation focuses on reducing extreme poverty, improving health, and
increasing the public library access. Within Africa, the foundation has had a profound
effect on improving access to antiviral medications and the prevention and treatment
for HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria.
The author has partnered with Christel House International and the Johnson &
Johnson Foundation to enact an ongoing interprofessional service- learning project in Cape
Town, South Africa. Christel House International is a public charity that operates learning
centers (kindergarten through 12 [K-12] schools) in impoverished neighborhoods with
the goal of creating sustainable social and educational impact. Between 1999 and 2002,
Christel House opened five learning centers in Mexico, India, South Africa, Venezuela,
and the United States. Christel House K- 12 Academy in Cape Town helps children break
the cycle of poverty, realize their hopes and dreams and become self- sufficient, contrib-
uting members of society through educational excellence. Teams of nursing and medi-
cal students have partnered with local community leaders to provide school and family
health promotion, HIV/ AIDS, TB, and malaria prevention and intervention, and educa-
tional programs. Direct care has been provided in the Themba Care Orphanage and the
Tafelsig Community Health Center. Working with an interprofessional student team in
caring for AIDS patients develops a depth of communication, and a deep sense of human-
ity and camaraderie. Students describe this service learning experience as deeply affecting
their personal, moral, and ethical development and changing their professional goals. For
example, after their service learning projects, nearly 50% of the 98 health- science student
participants changed their professional goals to public health in global settings.
DNP practice inquiry projects with interprofessional partners in the health sciences
and engineering are ongoing (Richards & Novak, 2010). As nursing’s status in second-
and third- world countries varies widely, these initiatives and their interprofessional
and interdisciplinary frameworks will provide a foundation for global DNP program
development. Student participants describe the experiences as “life- changing; promot-
ing one’s professional identity development while acknowledging health care as a team
sport; new ways of knowing and doing; deep understanding that the community must
lead the partnership for long- term sustainability, relevance, and rich student learning.”
■ INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
The focus of DNP Essential VII outcome (AACN, 2006) is the analysis of appro-
priate scientific data, the synthesis of concepts related to clinical prevention
and population health to develop increased cultural awareness and proficiency,
implement, and evaluate interventions to address health promotion/ disease pre-
vention, and to evaluate health care delivery models and/ or strategies (AACN,
2006). The final practice inquiry project is a synthesis of theoretical concepts for