22: ADVISING DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE “CLINICIANS” ■ 487number of schools that offer DNP programs continues to expand. Moreover, there
is quite a robust demand for the DNP by APRNs for many are seeking DNP degrees
(Auerbach et al., 2015).
■ WILL THE PRACTICE DOCTORATE EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO CHANGE
THE CLINICIAN ROLE?The DNP is an academic degree, not a specific prescribed clinical role. At the current
time, it is designed to build on former academic nursing degrees to enhance and pro-
vide knowledge above and beyond that provided at the MSN and bachelor of science in
nursing (BSN) levels. With a practice doctorate, however, it is anticipated that current
advanced practice clinical nursing roles will be enhanced so that doctoral advanced
practice nurses can apply new knowledge and skills to improve health outcomes and
health care systems. The AACN’s (2006) aforementioned key document, The Essentials
of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice , outlines and defines eight founda-
tional outcome competencies for graduates of practice doctorate programs. These eight
foundational competencies were previously cited in Chapter 4 and throughout this text.
Educators consider these competencies as the key roadmap to creating innovative and
integrated curricula to meet these competencies.
With critical evaluation of these competencies, one should be able to identify that
there are developmental components that are woven throughout nursing curricula from
undergraduate to doctoral levels. For example, at the undergraduate level, the required
basic science courses introduce BSN students to scientific underpinnings of practice,
and clinical rotations based in hospitals introduce BSN students to complex systems.
Yet, professional roles differ developmentally. At the baccalaureate level, professional
role development requires understanding the role of the nurse. Upon graduating with a
MSN degree, the professional role is developmentally focused on their “new” advanced
nursing practice role, a role different from their BSN nursing role.
The problem for nursing leadership and advancement in today’s complex health
care systems is that the current curricula for master’s educational programs are filled to
capacity with little room for additional courses or content (Newland, 2010). Therefore,
the practice doctorate is a natural next step for clinicians who want more from their
professional role. Thus, DNP curricula, by design, include higher level and expanded
content. Dr. Jamesetta Newland, the editor- in- chief of The Nurse Practitioner: The
American Journal of Primary Healthcare and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse
Practitioners (FAANP), justified the need for additional education with the formation
of a practice doctorate. She argued that leadership skills must be part of the curricu-
lum, and not dependent on acquisition of these skills as “on the job training” often
“under fire.” To meet the extensive learning objectives for today’s practice as an APRN,
the typical length of an MSN nursing program is insufficient to provide the requisite
knowledge for NPs to grow into leadership positions that can really maximally impact
improvements in health care systems. In addition, the need for professional parity was
at the forefront of all DNP discussions. Newland (2010, p. 5) summed this up in her fol-
lowing statement:
Why should nursing not have a practice doctorate as do other major health
care professions?... The DNP is a practice doctorate conceived to prepare
advanced clinical leaders in developing the skills necessary to bring about