DNP-prepared nurses bring a blend of clinical, leadership, economic, and organizational skills that puts them in a unique position to incisively critique nursing practice and design patient care programs that are economically feasible, locally acceptable, and that significantly impact healthcare outcomes. Nursing practice for DNP nurses can include both:

• Direct patient care in an APRN role (nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist) and patient population focus (family/individual across the lifespan, adult-gerontology, women’s health/gender specific, neonatal, pediatrics, psychiatric/mental health)
• Aggregate/Systems/Organizational role (public health, healthcare policy, nurse education, executive leadership/ administration, informatics)

This means DNP nurses are prepared to perform nursing interventions that influence healthcare outcomes for individuals or populations by:

• Providing direct patient care
• Managing the care of patients and patient populations
• Administrating in nursing and healthcare organizations
• Developing and implementing health policy

The Value of the DNP Unlike the PhD, the research-focused doctorate, the DNP is designed for nurses seeking a terminal degree directly related to nursing practice and is chosen by nurses seeking some of the highest level positions in clinical nursing leadership, administration, and management. Since May 2018, after publishing a white paper entitled The Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree: Entry to Nurse Practitioner Practice by 2025, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) has been the organization carrying the torch in support of the DNP becoming the minimum education requirement for NPs and championing the campaign for universities to migrate MSN programs for APRNs to the DNP level. But this kind of support for the DNP is actually nothing new. In fact, more than 15 years ago, in 2004, AACN member organizations voted in support of the Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing. The gist of the AACN’s official statement is that the nation’s changing healthcare environment increasingly requires advanced practice nurses with the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise to ensure optimal outcomes and patient safety as healthcare itself becomes more complex and technical in nature. Amid a growing physician shortage, many also see this as the best and only way to improve access to high-level primary and preventative care comparable to what people get from MDs. Some of the factors behind AACN and NONPF support of advanced practice nursing education at the doctoral level include:

• The rapid expansion of nursing practice knowledge
• The increased complexity of patient care
• National concerns about quality of care and patient safety
• A shortage of nursing personnel, which demands doctoral-educated leaders who can design and assess care
• A shortage of doctoral-prepared nursing faculty
• Increasing expectations for the preparation of other members of the healthcare team