DNP required soon?

Published

"The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has recently released a position statement calling for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree to be the terminal degree awarded for advanced practice nurses."

I've been reading some articles about the recent changes to the terminal degree for a CRNA. Does this basically mean that by 2015 many CRNA programs will be DNP instead of the Masters? What will happen to all those MSN program grads...will they have to go back for the DNP? Thanks in advance for any input.

hanni,

i agree with you for the most part. but, is it fair if you introduce yourself to a patient as doctor, and they of course will be thinking medical, and you don't clarify, aren't you misleading them? that in and of itself would be liable to suit. now, that being said, i have worked with and under many PhDs who at bedside do NOT introduce themselves as doctor but by first name. clarity is the issue most of the time. a dentist is a doctor but not an MD, yet they are called doctor. i do agree that anyone that has earned a degree of doctor should be entitled to receive such salutation, however, there is a place for such... in my opinion anyway.

Dentists at my institution introduce themselves as "Doctor" if they are visiting a patient on consult in CICU. Are they misleading patients?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency.
Dentists at my institution introduce themselves as "Doctor" if they are visiting a patient on consult in CICU. Are they misleading patients?

nope. not as long as they clarify dental doc.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
hanni,

i agree with you for the most part. but, is it fair if you introduce yourself to a patient as doctor, and they of course will be thinking medical, and you don't clarify, aren't you misleading them? that in and of itself would be liable to suit. now, that being said, i have worked with and under many PhDs who at bedside do NOT introduce themselves as doctor but by first name. clarity is the issue most of the time. a dentist is a doctor but not an MD, yet they are called doctor. i do agree that anyone that has earned a degree of doctor should be entitled to receive such salutation, however, there is a place for such... in my opinion anyway.

I am a nurse with a PhD. Generally, I introduce myself to people with just my first and last name because I work in a hospital where that is the norm. However, I have no qualms about using my "doctor" title when it suits the situation.

All professionals -- regardless of their discipline -- have an obligation to explain their role in the patient's care when they introduce themself. That goes for physicians as well as for nurses of for anyone else. A resident should not pass himself (or herself) off as the head honcho physician, and the head honcho attending physician should indicate his/her supervisory capacity when introducing himself/herself to the patient. Similarly, as a nurse, I have an obligation to explain my role when I introduce myself to a patient. If we all did that properely, there would be no problems.

For example: "Hello, I am Dr. XYZ and I am the nursing instructor supervising the nursing students on this unit today." "Good morning, I am Dr. ABC and I am the medical resident assigned to your case. I'm here to ask you a few questions about ..." Etc. etc. etc.

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nope. not as long as they clarify dental doc.

So you conclude nurses may use "Doctor" as well?

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I am a nurse with a PhD. Generally, I introduce myself to people with just my first and last name because I work in a hospital where that is the norm. However, I have no qualms about using my "doctor" title when it suits the situation.

All professionals -- regardless of their discipline -- have an obligation to explain their role in the patient's care when they introduce themself. That goes for physicians as well as for nurses of for anyone else. A resident should not pass himself (or herself) off as the head honcho physician, and the head honcho attending physician should indicate his/her supervisory capacity when introducing himself/herself to the patient. Similarly, as a nurse, I have an obligation to explain my role when I introduce myself to a patient. If we all did that properely, there would be no problems.

For example: "Hello, I am Dr. XYZ and I am the nursing instructor supervising the nursing students on this unit today." "Good morning, I am Dr. ABC and I am the medical resident assigned to your case. I'm here to ask you a few questions about ..." Etc. etc. etc.

I agree with you 1000%....... The problem comes when people do not explain their roles to the patient as explicitly as they should.....There was a CRNA that I worked with that had a PhD in Sociology and would introduce herself as Doctor So and So.....I know she knew what the patient was thinking and she also knew what SHE was doing. She was told not to do that anymore:nono:...Thats where I think the line gets fuzzy...In her defense, I understand that she wanted to be recognized for the work that she had done to GET her PhD...and her position as a CRNA did not allow her to do that.. but there is a time and place for everything.......

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency.
So you conclude nurses may use "Doctor" as well?

see biotechnology's and llg's post...

that's what my point was, and is ~

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this is a bad idea. it will allow AAs to gain a greater foothold into anesthesia because there will be less CRNAs. its ridiculous, I dont think it will improve care, or our situation. Im totally against it

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Specializes in SICU.
I agree with you 1000%....... The problem comes when people do not explain their roles to the patient as explicitly as they should.....There was a CRNA that I worked with that had a PhD in Sociology and would introduce herself as Doctor So and So.....I know she knew what the patient was thinking and she also knew what SHE was doing. She was told not to do that anymore:nono:...Thats where I think the line gets fuzzy...In her defense, I understand that she wanted to be recognized for the work that she had done to GET her PhD...and her position as a CRNA did not allow her to do that.. but there is a time and place for everything.......

that was quite low. If she wants to be referred to doctor she needs to get a job in the humanities dept. of a local college. This chick sucks.

a PhD in biochemistry is one thing, but sociology? Seriously. For the record, i don't think anyone should refer to themselves as Dr. in a hospital setting unless they are amongst peers in a professional presentation and people know they have a PhD.

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this is a bad idea. it will allow AAs to gain a greater foothold into anesthesia because there will be less CRNAs. its ridiculous, I dont think it will improve care, or our situation. Im totally against it

It will also potentially lower our reimbursement just as full independence will. Not because the AA's will gain a greater foothold butbecause it will make anesthesia a nursing profession potentially. Once anesthesia becomes a nursing profession reimbursement will drop markedly. We will be looking at

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
It will also potentially lower our reimbursement just as full independence will. Not because the AA's will gain a greater foothold butbecause it will make anesthesia a nursing profession potentially. Once anesthesia becomes a nursing profession reimbursement will drop markedly. We will be looking at

Nurse anesthesia/anesthesia has always been a nursing profession. Nurses have been doing anesthesia from the beginning. Nurses were the 1st professionals to do anesthesia as a full time practice in this country. Also, it is considered the first nursing speciality. http://www.aana.com/AboutAANA.aspx?ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetID=39&ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetType=1&ucNavMenu_TSMenuID=6&id=354

I have hard time believing that more nurse autonomy/independence or continuing to keep nurse anesthesia as a nursing profession will decrease the average income for CRNAs. I don't think anyone would endure nurse anesthesia school if the salaries dropped dramitically.

I know personally I am taking 7 classes in a front loaded program this semester....physiology, neuro, biochem, anesthesia I, research, theory, & ethics.

It would be interesting to see if there have been any studies to back up your statements. Advanced practice nurses salaries have generally been on the rise just as the amount of autonomy has. That would seem to directly contradict your statements.

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Nurse anesthesia/anesthesia has always been a nursing profession. Nurses have been doing anesthesia from the beginning. Nurses were the 1st professionals to do anesthesia as a full time practice in this country. Also, it is considered the first nursing speciality.

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I took the post to mean that when physicians got (heavily) involved in anesthesia is when the salaries started to climb--even for nurse anesthetists.

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Fascinating thread...we seem to have a self image problem don't we!

My view is that there is nothing wrong with introducing yourself by saying something along the lines of "Hi I'm Dr Death, your nurse anesthetist". Its about time that advanced practice nurses are recognized with the professional status that other professionals enjoy. I think this is particularly appropriate for the DNP or DNAP since these ARE clinical degrees rather than academic. However there's nothing wrong with PhD's

Its already been pointed out that dentists, pharmacists and chiropractors use their titles, add to that list podiatrists (who really are medical doctors of the foot/ankle) and doctorate holding psychologists. In law school, the JD is considered the entry level degree and a Master of Laws the advanced degree. Attorneys tend not to use the word Doctor mostly because they are afraid of getting sued.

I think if you have earned an advanced degree and you want to refer to yourself by incorporating it into your presentation to the public then do it!

I've always been the most impressed with someone who holds a doctorate in whatever field they're in, be it biology, nursing or medicine, who introduces themselves with just their name.....

My lengthy 2 cents.....

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