NURS 8100 Week 1 Discussion The Doctoral Degree and Professional Nursing Practice

NURS 8100 Week 1 Discussion The Doctoral Degree and Professional Nursing Practice

The healthcare delivery system is always evolving. It is the opinion on many, that nurses are at the forefront of delivering healthcare. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2006), many nurses seek a doctoral degree in response to healthcare need for experts in knowledge in the clinical setting, academia, and leadership role. Moreover, knowing that nurses are a vital part of the healthcare delivery system, nurses need to stay up to date on literature as well as best practice in the clinical setting. The forever growing healthcare delivery system urges advanced prepared nurses to seek the highest level of education in the field of nursing. This urgency sparks the desire of many nurses to obtain a doctoral degree. There is a great sense of leadership responsibility embedded in obtaining Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.). It is widely known DNP prepared nurses focus on delivering evidence-based practices (EBP) in the clinical setting and Ph.D. prepared nurses focus on conducting research to advance science and the practice of nursing (Zaccagnini et al., 2021). Although the degree paths of a nurse prepared with a DNP or Ph.D. are rooted in different areas of nursing, the ultimate goal is the same. The ultimate goal of each degree path is to create nurses who are leaders and strive to improve healthcare. 

Nurses prepared at the doctoral level are weighted with a greater sense of responsibility compared to nurses prepared at lower educational levels. Nurses that are not doctorally prepared are groomed to focus solely on providing safe patient care.  Doctorally prepared nurses are placed in the spotlight  due to the expectations of leading others and urging those alike, in the healthcare arena, to increase their knowledge of research and use EBP when implementing patient care and determining the expected outcome.

As we all are aware, the world is enduring a global crisis also unknown as a pandemic. At this time, it is vital to be  up-to-date on  research as well as implement best practices in the clinical setting. The current pandemic is affecting every aspect of healthcare without regard to the setting. I have chosen to pursue a doctoral degree to increase my knowledge of best practices in the clinical setting. By increasing my knowledge, I can share what I have learned with others and hopefully improved the healthcare delivery system, and ultimately increase the chance of patients achieving desired outcomes.

References 

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced nursing practice. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.aacnnursing.org/DNP/DNP-Essentials

Zaccagnini, M. & Pechacek, J. M. (2021). The doctor of nursing practice essentials: A new model for advanced practice nursing (4th ed.).  Jones & Bartlett.