Nursing Education and Doctoral Education
What is Doctor of Nursing Practice,Descent Trends in Doctoral Education,Task Force for Doctoral Education,Institutes Offering Doctoral Education.
What is Doctor of Nursing Practice
Doctor of nursing practice (DNP) is defined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) as the terminal academic degree for nursing practice (AACN, 2006, p. 8).
Descent Trends in Doctoral Education
Enrollment of DNP students has increased to 95% from 2006 to 2011 ( Eglehart 2013, p. 1937). Graduates of the DNP program are expert clinicians who can assess evidence and translate it into practice (Reed & Crawford, 2011, p. 37). The rapidly changing health care system requires the DNP student to be educated in leadership, client-centered care, quality improvement, multidisciplinary care provision, scientific inquiry, and evidence-based care (AACN, 2006, p. 6).
The goal of DNP programs is. to educate advanced practice nurses to be academic leaders and educators who also maintain a clinical practice, thereby bridging the gap between nursing education and nursing practice (DNP; Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee, 2012). The DNP graduate is expected to function as a leader, policy maker, clinical expert, researcher, and educator (Mason et al., 2012).AACN delineated The Essentials for Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice in 2006. There are 13 essentials: 8 apply to all DNPs and 5 define specialty roles of advanced practice. One thousand post-baccalaureate clinical hours also are recommended (AACN, 2006).
Task Force for Doctoral Education
In 2002, the AACN established a
task force to evaluate the practice focused doctorate degree to meet the need
for curriculum changes. In 2004, the AACN voted that the educational
requirement for advanced practice nurses be at the doctoral level by 2015. A
task force was established for creating guidelines for curriculum. and in 2006,
The Essentials for Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice was adopted
and nursing education began its transformation.
Institutes Offering Doctoral Education
AACN recommends that educational institutions offering DNP programs should have faculty with doctoral preparation once there is a larger population of DNP-prepared nurses DNP-prepared faculty, through their practice experience, will exemplify rapid translation of new knowledge into practice and demonstrate to students the process of knowledge dissemination (AACN, 2006, p. 21). Nursing education will continue to evolve as the health care system changes with the continued implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act. DNP leaders need to continue to pursue policies that remove practice barriers, and allow the DNP graduates to practice to the full extent of their preparation (Glazer & Fitzpatrick, 2013).
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