Getting a Doctorate in Nursing
Just as nurses can get baccalaureate degrees and master's degrees, so they can also get doctorates in nursing. This is an area, however, that is in transition, as nurses and nursing schools try to decide exactly what a doctorate in nursing should mean.
There have been doctorates of nursing (DN) for many years, and there are nurses that have earned that degree. There have also been doctorates of nursing practice (DNP) which focused more on advanced nursing practice and not science or research. There has been a doctor of philosophy (PhD) given in nursing, and a doctor of nursing science degree. There has been a lack of standardization of these programs from school to school and across the United States.
Professional nursing groups and educators believe that there should be doctorates available for nurses, keeping them in line with other health care professionals who earn doctorates, including medical doctors, pharmacists, dentists, and psychologists. All these professionals earn a doctorate as their highest level degree.
Nursing groups that assembled to make policy on the subject of doctoral degrees seem to have come to an agreement that there need to be such programs, and that there need to be at least two different areas, a doctorate in nursing science, with a research emphasis, and a doctorate of nursing practice, which is more focused on nursing practice, research as it applies to practice, and leadership.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) developed the "Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing" in 2004, and its members voted to implement it in 2006. It requires that all training programs for advance practice registered nurses be doctorate level and not master's programs by the year 2015. The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists is requiring the same thing, a DNP degree for nurse anesthetist programs by the year 2025. Nurses already in advanced practice will not be required to go back to school to get another degree.
As of July 2009, at least 84 programs offered the DNP programs. Some of the schools that offer the degree are Johns Hopkins, Purdue University, Creighton University, and many other large universities. More than 50 more schools are looking into offering the DNP degree in the future. In California, where there is a nursing shortage, just as there is in the rest of the country, a bill was passed by the Assembly allowing California State schools to offer the DNP once it is also passed by the State Senate. The California State University system is the largest public university in the country and would be able to offer many students a DNP degree.
There are still differences between programs and schools. Requirements vary. Some schools allow people with baccalaureate degrees not in nursing to enter MSN programs and ultimately get a DNP. There are even some schools, like the University of Phoenix, offering doctorate nursing degrees online.
There will most likely be at least two or three doctorates of nursing in the future, one in nursing practice, the DNP, and perhaps two in science and research, the doctorate in nursing science and the PhD in nursing.
If this is confusing, it may be less so in the future. If you are an advanced practice nurse and you wish to advance to the final nursing degree, it will be a DNP. If you have a master's degree and an RN and you want further training in order to do research, either a PhD in nursing or a Doctorate in Nursing Science may be the right program for you.
Take a look at all your options, consider the time involved, the cost, and what your career goals are. Remember that by 2015, all nurse practitioners will be getting doctoral degrees.
Published: 2009-10-14
