Reply To: The Discouragement Received From Nurse Colleagues When Pursuing DNP

[HIERONIMUS E. SOLO]

Hi Avery,
Thank you for asking this question/concern, I believe this has been one of the most common thing most of us DNP pursuers encounter when planning on or starting our graduate school. In my opinion, DNP level of nursing hasn’t been around for so long, thus not very many people truly know and understand the role of DNP nursing, thus it often seem like a glorified nursing title with a sprinkle of Doctorate title on top. Little did they know that DNP nursing are so much more than that; often times in a certain settings such as urgent care, primary care, or clinics, have overlapping duties with physicians. I believe one of the best ways to respond to these discouragements is to be confident and sure about the path you’re choosing, educate yourself about the role, job growth, and demand of DNP nursing in the healthcare today, and calmly educate them. However, the one thing that confuse me the most is when fellow nurses are the ones who are giving the negative responses. I understand the importance of having solid experience in their specialties, but the way the graduate school is designed, it is entirely possible for nurses to work full time while enrolling in a DNP program. For example, if one starts to take 1 or 2 core classes as soon as he/she earned their BSN license while working and gaining experience, he/she would have finished all of the needed basic requirements in 2-3 or more years and then start the clinical portion of the DNP program with about 3 years experience already in hand. Plus, such nurses who are young, driven, and goal oriented are likely to be driven to try harder in their school and workplace. In my opinion, there is absolutely no issue to start a graduate program as early as possible if you know you are an open minded, a quick learner, and a motivated person.