Reference no: EM133528185
Discussion Post
Read and suggest an additional perspective on what it means to be a nurse with a practice doctorate, offer support to the expectations with obtaining the degree that your colleague posted, or expand upon your colleague's post.
Post:
A practice doctorate in nursing is a Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP). Along the healthcare continuum, the DNP degree prepares nurses for nursing leadership and administration jobs in both clinical and non-clinical settings. According to Graves et al. (2021), a nurse who has earned a practice doctorate engages in advanced clinical practice and offers advanced levels of direct patient care. They use their specific knowledge and abilities to evaluate, identify, and treat complex health disorders. Nurses with practice doctorates are critical to leadership and collaboration in healthcare teams and systems. They work with physicians and other healthcare professionals to create and carry out care plans, enhance patient outcomes, and guarantee coordinated, all-comprehensive treatment.
Additionally, practicing nurses with doctoral degrees frequently work as educators and mentors, communicating their knowledge and experience into nursing students, other medical professionals, and colleagues of DNP nurses, who often fund one of their ideas and conduct research. Doctorly educated nurses must critically assess and apply theoretical frameworks to direct their practice and progress in nursing science. Although nurses with other degrees, such as the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) certainly contribute significantly to nursing practice, it is crucial to remember that doctoral degrees typically come with higher expectations for research, leadership, theoretical comprehension, and planning. DNP graduates are expected to exhibit outstanding leadership and professional abilities, while BSN graduates are expected to deliver safe and competent patient care. Second, whereas DNP graduates are expected to have knowledge and skills in strategies for quality improvement and healthcare innovation, MSN graduates are expected to have advanced clinical abilities and expertise in their chosen specialty, particularly in advanced managerial roles.
By earning a DNP, nurses can increase their knowledge and proficiency in a particular area. My motivation stems from the information I can apply to handle complex mental health challenges and enhance patient outcomes. Assessment and improvement of the quality of healthcare delivery are specialties of DNP nurses. I may recognize, plan, and implement improvement opportunities to improve patient safety, lessen health inequities, and produce better results (Harrison et al., 2021). DNP-holding nurses are in the right position to influence public policy and improve the healthcare system. So that I may support equity, open access, and patient-centered care, I can uncover systemic gaps, make adjustments, and advocate for those changes.
Some of my experiences in addressing a gap in practice within an organization include aligning education with the practice environment. According to Fawaz et al. (2017), it will be necessary for nursing schools, organizations, practitioners, and students to all develop coping mechanisms for handling the sudden entry of new knowledge, ideas, and abilities. In addition, technology significantly impacts how we live our lives and how we practice, educate, manage, and do research. Process-based learning, which could delay the efficient implementation of my practice, is now underemphasized in nursing school.