Impact of Doctor of Nursing Practice Education in Shaping Health Care Systems for the Future

Abstract

The approval of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2004 and publication of The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice in 2006 promised significant benefit to nursing and to shaping health care systems. Currently, 229 DNP programs exist and more are planned. This article provides an overview of program types, graduates, and postgraduation placement, using Pennsylvania as an exemplar, to describe the potential impact of DNP education in health care systems. Nurse educators need to consider whether our current directions enable us to realize opportunities for shaping health care systems or whether we need to make course corrections. [