According to Smith (2013), the professional doctorate is a doctoral route for senior practising nurses who have prior professional experience and who wish to develop and utilize research both from and for the practice setting, while the doctoral degree entails the pursuit of research for academic career development. Based on the definition of the European University Association, professional doctorates are doctorates focusing on reflectively embedding research in professional practice.
The expectations associated with this degree include the elevated level of professional nursing, productivity in clinical scholarship, and high level of respect and credibility within the healthcare community. It is expected that as educators DNP holders will maintain active nurses and educators at once.
These considerations have only made my motivation to pursue a doctoral stronger because I learnt about many opportunities for the DNP holders who graduated from professional doctorate. One of them is the part of a teaching faculty whereas the other one a part of the professional staff with a very high level of performance. Even though DNPs have not thought to be eligible for tenure tracks, the situation has changed of late (Smith, 2013). A research-based degree is related to doing research, doing experiments, and translating research into practice. In particular, teaching within DNP is viewed as a practice-based process with research and practice going hand in hand. Also, I was attracted by the statement that DNPs can influence social processes and contribute into effectively helping patients. In addition, my grown personal confidence, empowerment, and self-affirmation, which are the outcomes of the program, could help me evolve as an expert and as a person (Bender et al., 2016). Another part of motivation comes from my understanding of how clinical nurse leadership develops through nurturing the principles of research needed to complete a DNP. Also, I need a boost in my academic qualities and my research potential, and DNP can give this to me.
- Bender, M., Williams, M., Su, W., & Hites, L. (2016). Clinical Nurse Leader Integrated Care Delivery to Improve Care Quality: Factors Influencing Perceived Success. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 48 (4), 414-422.
- Smith, N. (2013). Professional doctorates and nursing practice contribution: a systematic
literature search and descriptive synthesis. Journal of Nursing Management, 21 (2), 314-
326.
