PhD vs DNP

Nursing Students Post Graduate

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I was just accepted to Walden's PhD program and while I have read the side by side comparisons of PhD vs. DNP I still wanted to get the opinions of my colleagues who I have been bouncing questions off of since before I even became an RN.

I have my MSN in Nursing Education now and my goal most of my career has been to teach ONLINE nursing classes. RN-BSN etc. I received the MSN in 2012 and have had a really tough time finding online teaching jobs. I know the push is for Doctorates. With my goal in mind which degree do you believe online schools would be most interested in their applicants having the DNP or the PhD?

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I am enrolled in a DNP specifically for academic educators at Touro University Nevada. The program director of Indiana's HUGE community college nursing program just completed this degree. For every one Phd in nursing that graduates, there are 14 DNPs. Most listings I see are for a 'terminal degree'. DNP is a terminal degree. I already have a job lined up when i graduate.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I received the MSN in 2012 and have had a really tough time finding online teaching jobs.
If your MSN-nursing education degree was conferred by an investor-owned school (read: University of Phoenix, Kaplan, Walden, South University, Chamberlain, Capella, Colorado Technical University, American Sentinel, Aspen, etc), this might be the reason for your inability to secure a teaching job.

In the realm of academia, institutions of higher learning prefer to hire those who graduated from state universities or private nonprofit colleges. If you've enrolled in Walden's PhD program, I suspect you may have also earned the MSN from another investor-owned school, which may be limiting your options.

Have you applied for online teaching positions at schools such as ITT Technical Institute or Kaplan? Good luck to you.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

This thread has been moved to the Post-Graduate Nursing Student forum with the goal of amassing more responses from the wise membership. Good luck to you.

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