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Discussion

DNP Fluff

Just from comparing nurse practitioner DNP vs MSN course lists I felt these were fluff classes. I recently started the first semester of a DNP program and my opinion is evolving. Currently, I think the extra classes add some value. However, spending hours comparing various leadership frameworks, exploring personal ethics, contemplating system structures, and stressing the OCD qualities of an APA paper seems a huge misuse of time. I see no reason these topics could not be covered through a series of seminars.

In the first year, my class will spend 5x more time working on topics like this than learning something I find interesting like pathophysiology. I know many of my classmates have expressed disappointment in the agenda for this first year. Personally, I can feel a moral dip as I turn the page to another topic unrelated to learning how to diagnose and treat patients.

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    I hate APA. Then I remember the association that designed it. Enough said.

    I hate APA. It's the sole reason I do not want to get my BSN. The entire reason.

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    OP- being a nurse and being an NP is NOT just about the daily taskwork. It is much more. The so-called 'fluff' is useful even if it doesn't align with the topic at hand.

    And APA is easily conquered using MS Word features. Seriously, so many people do not know about this feature. YouTube it and see!

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    Moved to the DNP forum for more feedback.

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    Thankfully MS Word now has an APA template, which I use all the time. Thankfully nurse practitioners at my university get close to 1,000 hours of actual clinical time, but the fluff takes away valuable time that could be spent in actual practice. Nurse anesthestist students get 2,000+ hours come hell or high water, but the fluff is still less valuable. For me, in a non-clinical specialty, I find it very hard to relate to anything taught in the fluff classes, either in my current practice or my future practice.

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    i hate writing papers lol. only had to write a few in np school so it wasn't so bad. the DNP program at the school has to write a bunch though. blehhhhhhhhhh. Time better spent doing clinical and reading medical information.

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    At the end, you will be a doctor and that's the whole purpose of the degree.

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    Some of the fluff you just have to grin and bare it! I could gladly go the rest of my life without every hearing another nursing theory, by far the most useless nonsense ever created. Do not get me started on nursing care plans - ugh!

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    Speaking as one who completed my DNP and am both a CRNA, FNP and ENP. Most of the DNP classes are totally worthless and are of absolutely no help in clinical practice. The reason the educators do this is because it makes money for the school and is easy to deliver online. That's the bottom line.

    There are so many clinically oriented classes that could be given to make NPs stronger yet they don't.

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    At the end, you will be a doctor and that's the whole purpose of the degree.

    Doctor means "master" or "teacher". I don't want to be part of a profession that actively led to the demise of that definition.

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    • Experts
    Speaking as one who completed my DNP and am both a CRNA, FNP and ENP. Most of the DNP classes are totally worthless and are of absolutely no help in clinical practice. The reason the educators do this is because it makes money for the school and is easy to deliver online. That's the bottom line.

    There are so many clinically oriented classes that could be given to make NPs stronger yet they don't.

    I love that you are speaking from the perspective of been there done that, thank you for posting. I am all for making money however the lows universities, even the reputable ones, are sinking to with the strategy of retaining their undergraduate students and encouraging them to continue paying tuition and become NPs who prescribe medication to children, elderly and other unsuspecting members of society with usually only 1 or 2 pharm courses without ever having practiced a day as a nurse is horrifying imo.

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    I just never could understand the benefit of paying money to write papers. Doesn't sound fun or useful

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