DNP Role Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice, Second Edition

(Nandana) #1

490 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE


differentiates the applicants. Thus, having a DNP degree should trump an MSN degree
if all other qualifications are equal. Graduates of practice doctorate programs are in the
marketplace across the nation.


AN IMPORTANT EVOLVING ROLE OF NPs WITH DNP


DEGREES: ACADEME


During the 20th century, the NP role transformed nursing practice and education, thus
leading to increasing numbers of NPs assuming faculty positions and engaging in full
tripartite activities in teaching, practice, and scholarship (Buchholz, Bloch, Westrin, &
Fogg, 2015). The evidence is clear that NPs who have DNP academic degrees are filling
an important professional role as clinical educators (Auerbach et al., 2015). Despite the
fact that the DNP degree was never explicitly designed to prepare NP educators, it is a
documented reality that DNP graduates are actively being hired into NP faculty posi-
tions. The market demand is strong.
AACN’s (2006) eight essentials for DNP education guide curriculum that prepares
advanced practice nurses to practice at the highest level. But, DNP curricula are pur-
posely designed not to prepare nurse- educators, despite the fact that many NPs are
eligible to teach in collegiate nursing programs after obtaining a terminal degree in the
discipline of nursing (AACN, 2015). Considering that there is a strong need for NP Nurse
Educators, it behooves the NP- DNP student to garner some educational experiences
during their DNP program, if possible. Remember, opportunities to self- direct clinical
experiential learning experiences exist, so clever ways to incorporate such should be
possible. The NP- DNP student can carve out ways to incorporate clinical hours that can
bridge practice and academia in innovative ways. Just think out of the box!


ROLE OF DNP AS SCHOLAR


DNPs, like PhDs, have professional responsibilities as scholars. One intense debate is
whether the DNP degree prepares the scholars to generate new knowledge. AACN
(2015) clearly states that it does, and furthermore, provides some guidance to distin-
guish between research- focused and practice- focused scholarship:


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 settings. This new knowledge is considered transferrable
but is not considered generalizable.
What does the preceding statement by AACN (2015) really mean? In reality, dwell-
ing too much on interpreting what the statement means and how to differentiate DNPs
from PhDs may be missing the mark by distracting from the real work needed by DNPs
and PhDs. Nonetheless, it is an important question that many are asking. Key messages

Free download pdf