DNP Public Health Nursing vs Population Health Nursing, thoughts?

[bsnorbust]

Hi all,

 

Currently, I am a certified school nurse and want to continue my education for some growth, autonomy and an increased salary, hopefully. I love the community health/public health aspect and started in outpatient and have been a school nurse for a couple of years. I am considering a DNP program in public health nursing or population health nursing, unsure of the major difference between the two tbh. There doesn't seem to be that much info online about whether this is a wise choice? My worry is that these at 60k-70k programs and I fear that I will end up with a useless degree. 

I am unsure where graduates end up. I have tried to research current positions that could apply to me after graduation but there is nothing specific I can find. How is this degree viewed? Any benefit of completing a nursing centered graduate degree in comparison to a MPH that may be cheaper with more availability of programs?

[Nimrodel, BSN, RN]

What do you want to do? You say you want increased growth, autonomy, salary; those could likely be obtained without a DNP. Rather than looking at it as "what can I do with a DNP", consider it as "how will a DNP (or other advanced degree) get me where I want to go?"

Specifically regarding public health vs population health...the content will be fairly similar, but the programs may be different (if they are at different institutions). Look up the classes/catalogues/degree requirements and see where they vary. Your career options would be close to identical as far as the degree label goes, but maybe different depending on the institution. "Public Health" is a bit more of a recognizable name, so there's that.

Do you want to stay in school nursing? If so, I highly doubt there's much room for a DNP there (and maybe not actually that much with an MPH either). Do you want to teach? DNP would definitely apply to teaching, and you might be able to brach out into a non-nursing academic role if interested (such as public health). Do you want to manage a health program in an administrator role? Depends on the health program, but the ones I've seen tend to only require an MPH.
Health policy? Research? Pediatrics? 

The DNP role remains not particularly well defined - particularly for RNs who are not in advanced practice. Also consider whether you want to stay within the role of nursing, or branch out to related fields. 

[bsnorbust]

Thank you so much for such a thorough response! I agree with you that Public Health is more recognizable and in some ways, I feel that nursing has done a disservice to itself when it comes to the DNP programs in the various specialties. I also agree that after national certification, which I am already working on, there is not much a graduate degree can offer if I stay in the school setting.

 

I would love to get into health policy related to public health and even possibly research. Do you have any suggestions on what I should focus on if health policy is my end goal?

I plan to do more digging as well. So far the answers I've gotten from DNP programs equate to your future role is what you make out of it and there is not a specific path. Although I love nursing and feel it's a big part of who I am, I almost feel like a traitor if I obtain an advanced degree in a related field. But these are good questions to ask myself as I truly want to pursue higher education that could ultimately lead to me promoting the health of others.