514 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
DNP faculty member poised to lead academic programs and units. The post-master’s
DNP graduates from SHU are quite accomplished having peer-reviewed publications
and presentations applying and extending their research in real time. They have gained
confidence and increased competence and many have been selected for new positions
in nursing administration, academia, and clinical practice.
Challenges
The DNP expert clinician who is in a program director, chair, associate dean or dean
role has unique challenges to overcome. Juggling teaching, administration, scholarship,
and practice are not easy. Having an organizational structure that builds clinical prac-
tice into the faculty workload may be one solution to the retention of talented help and
reduction of burnout. SHU CON currently does not have a model that supports faculty
practice so that advanced practice faculty who are in administrative roles have to add
clinical practice on top of an already heavy workload. The individual trying to maintain
clinical proficiency and develop as an academic administrator can be put in a precari-
ous position and can be forced to choose one over the other. Keeping abreast of AACN,
NONPF, American Association of Nurse Executives (AONE) as well as other national
organization’s position statements, curriculum, and accreditation guidelines is essential
in being able to lead academic units and nursing faculty. Developing strategic relation-
ships, fund-raising, creating a vision for a contemporary nursing curriculum, and pro-
ducing revenue for the university are within the purview of the academic administrator.
However, when that academician is nationally certified in an area of clinical expertise
it can become difficult to maintain rigorous continuing education, licensure, and board
certification requirements and minimum clinical practice hours. Although the scholar-
ship of teaching, practice, and integration is what the DNP-prepared nurse educator is
poised to accomplish, they often find themselves having to mature into and sustain the
same scholarship agenda as their research-prepared colleagues.
■ CASE STUDY: DNP Graduate as an Associate
Dean of NursingDr. Audrey Beauvais BSN, MSN, MBA, DNP joined Fairfield University as the
associate dean for undergraduate programs in the SON in 2014. She has more
than 25 years of experience in academic and hospital settings as well as in the
insurance industry. She earned her DNP degree from Case Western Reserve
University in 2009. Although her formal educational preparation in the DNP
program was invaluable, she had many work–life experiences that prepared her
for her current administrative role. As she states all of those experiences have
been “transferable” to her new position. Immediately before taking her current
associate dean position, Dr. Beauvais began her career in academia as an assistant
professor of the undergraduate nursing program at SHU. While she was a teach-
ing faculty member she pursued her DNP degree and took both nursing educa-
tion and leadership electives that enhanced her teaching methods and further
developed her leadership skills. Her transition into an academic leadership role
was challenging yet energizing. Her first academic leadership position was the(continued)