Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Research-Focused Doctorate versus the Practice-Focused Doctorate

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is defined as a "practice focused" doctorate terminal degree in nursing (Chism, 2010).  So what is the difference between this DNP degree and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree?  The two are compared below:

                                DNP                                    PhD                     
Program               prepares for advanced practice               prepares for nurse research     

Competencies     AACN Essentials                                        Indicators of Quality in
                                                                                                    Research-Focused 

Students              Oriented towards improving                  Oriented towards developing
                              outcomes                                                    new knowledge

Faculty                High level of expertise in                         High level of expertise in
                             speciality area                                            research 

Resources         Access to diverse practice                         Access to research settings;
                            setting; financial aid                                   dissertation support dollars

Program            Health care improvements                     Health care improvement via
Assessment       via practice, policy change                        development of new knowledge
                      
Reference
Chism, L. A. (2010).  The doctor of nursing practice: A guidebook for role development and professional issues. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

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