DNP required soon?

Specialties Doctoral

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.

Specializes in Anesthesia.
Due to the culture that we live in saying doctor in any type of healthcare setting is misguided unless one has completed medical school, internship, residency and passed all the perscribed testing. I don't feel that the person that has completed a DNP, PharmD or PhD would be so bold as to think they would not be misunderstood. Most individuals that I know that have this title are very aware of what they do and don't know. This would then lead me to believe that they should understand why the title should be used with caution at different times. I also don't feel that the patient really cares what high degree goes after the name but more what kind of care is delivered. We all have examples of really educated people making mistakes. Yeah the whole human error thing.

I am slightly saddened by the idea that we(healthcare providers) have become more concerned about titles and not about what is best for the patient. Confusion on top of pain , nausea, fear, helplessness, and all the other things that happen when an ill or injured person comes to us is not needed. We are all a team and in most cases we all should have the same goal.

Interesting thouhts can you back up your statements with any valid study? Who is to say a nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, occupational therapist is going to cause deterimant to the patient or to the healthcare system. I could care less if you call yourself Dr. X your pharmacist or Dr. Y your nurse etc. Physicians don't have a monopoly on the title of Doctor.

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My favorite illustration of this is to watch what happens when a CNA introduces herself as a "nurse". You know we dont like that and we have NEVER liked that. What is happenning here is that your EGOs are getting in your own way. In a hospital or health care setting, to call yourself Doctor is a fraud; Ask why it so important for you to call yourself Doctor? Its because you are NOT a Doctor, in a health care setting...you should really worry less about your title and more about your patients. You do sound more like a bunch of burned out doctors that ARE worried more about their bottom line and THEIR egos than their patients...thats the way your headed. You never liked it when CNA's stepped on your toes...BE HONEST, its the only chance you have left.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
In a hospital or health care setting, to call yourself Doctor is a fraud; Ask why it so important for you to call yourself Doctor?

So, exactly who should be called a Doctor? Is it the just the physician with their MD/DO that should be called doctor, or the psychologist with their PhD, the Dentist, Podiatrist, Optometrist etc. Why is it okay for all those non-physicians to be called Doctor, but as soon as a nurse wants to be called doctor it is not okay. These other professions have been calling themselves Doctor for years without the healthcare world coming to an end. I don't see how it is going to cause any harm for a doctoral prepared nurse to be called doctor.

By the way a CNA is not a nurse. CNAs do not earn a degree/diploma that would let them take the NCLEX, and then pass the NCLEX. This a far cry from someone earning a Doctoral Degree and being called a Doctor. It would be wrong if a person that wasn't a physician called themselves a physician. Physicians don't have a monopoly on the use of the term Doctor.

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Exactly right wbtcrna. Earning a PhD and in addition to that degree, also all the hours of clinical and school for the FNP which would be necessary to practice and prescribe, certainly gives the right for a DNP to be called doctor. MD does not have a monopoly on the prefix of Doctor.

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My favorite illustration of this is to watch what happens when a CNA introduces herself as a "nurse".

I actually considered our tech's in the ICU nurses, just not RNs. They were very skilled, provided great personal care, many were studying to become RN's, and they were in fact part of the nursing department. So no, it wouldn't/didn't bother me a bit.

I suggest you take your own advise and not get so hung up on titles. If someone with a medical doctorate can be called doctor without even having a license to practice, then certainly a licensed registered nurse with a doctorate can also be called doctor.

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Specializes in CRNA.

certainly a licensed registered nurse with a doctorate can also be called doctor.

I don't disagree, but I don't think it is productive for APNs including CRNAs to introduce themselves to patients as Dr. I provide great care, and patients are happy with their care. I want them to know that a CRNA provided that care, it's the only way to gain some small recognition from the public. I wonder how many people they call on the phone and ask "Would you be safe with a nurse giving you anesthesia?" have had a CRNA give them an anesthetic. How many just don't realize that great person was a nurse and not a doctor? We shoot outselves in the foot by letting physicians take credit for our great care.

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I've just started in CRNA school, and will likely pursue the DNPA before I graduate, but I can't *imagine* ever introducing myself as "doctor". If I do get the DNPA it won't be because I like collecting letters after my name, and certainly not for the prestige that may or may not come attached to the title. I will be extremely happy just being a CRNA.

Being a middle aged male ICU nurse, I frequently got (especially older) patients asking if I'm a doctor. This was in spite of the huge white on blue letters "RN" hanging below my badge. I usually jokingly tell them "No, I'm not a doctor. I work for a living!" :)

BG

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
I've just started in CRNA school, and will likely pursue the DNPA before I graduate, but I can't *imagine* ever introducing myself as "doctor". If I do get the DNPA it won't be because I like collecting letters after my name, and certainly not for the prestige that may or may not come attached to the title. I will be extremely happy just being a CRNA.

Being a middle aged male ICU nurse, I frequently got (especially older) patients asking if I'm a doctor. This was in spite of the huge white on blue letters "RN" hanging below my badge. I usually jokingly tell them "No, I'm not a doctor. I work for a living!" :)

BG

FYI: It is a Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice or DNAP not a DNPA.

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FYI: It is a Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice or DNAP not a DNPA.

Sorry, fubmle fingres... DNAP is harder to type than DNPA (that's my story anyway) :)

BG

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Almost all CRNAs are not happy with the move to DNAP or whatever it is called.

The move to this was a result of the AANA moving closer to nursey nurse organizations. CRNA school is, at the masters level, more clinical and disdactic hours than any other APN program..the doctorate adds NOTHING to the profession. It was driven by nurses who like alphabet soup after their names.. you know..xxxx.x.xxxx ADN BSN MSN CLP CMA CCRN BFD EIEIO.

We need to distance ourselves from such trivial concerns... we are the oldest, most respected, highest paid and most independent of all nursing subspecialities... by a long shot. we should not let the rest of the nursing community drag us into silly ego concerns.

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

A dentist introducing himself/herself as "doctor" is not misleading patients. Not even remotely.

There's a huge difference between dentistry and nursing that you're not taking into account.

The practice of dentistry, like the practice of medicine, is always practiced at the doctorate level. It is simply not possible to practice dentistry without a doctoral degree. Similarly, it's not possible to practice medicine without a medical degree. (PA's can "practice medicine", but only under the supervision of someone with a doctoral degree). And someone practicing medicine, dentistry, podiatry, or optometry is, without exception, a doctor in that particular field.

Nursing, in contrast, is not a doctorate-level profession. The DNP degree is, for lack of a better word, an enhancement of the nursing degree. But DNPs are still nurses. Hence, a DNP introducing himself/herself to patients as "doctor" will lead the patient to believe that they are a doctor of some sort.

I mean, let's face it. Being a "doctor of nursing" is rather odd. And no patient, at least not now, is going to understand what this means. They are going to assume that the DNP introducing himself/herself as "doctor" is actually a doctor, and not a nurse.

So, to sum it up, a physician is a doctor. A dentist is a doctor. A podiatrist is a doctor. An optometrist is a doctor. A nurse with a doctoral degree in nursing practice is not a doctor.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

So, to sum it up, a physician is a doctor. A dentist is a doctor. A podiatrist is a doctor. An optometrist is a doctor. A nurse with a doctoral degree in nursing practice is not a doctor.

No a physician is a physician, a podiatrist is a podiatrist, and an optometrist is an optometrist. Anyone can have a doctorate it is degree nothing more nothing less. I work with surgeons, podiatrists, and dentists sometimes all in the same day. How is a patient to know which "Dr." is which unless the individual explains it to the patient. It is up to the individual to identify themselves and their profession i.e. Hi, I am Dr. Smith your Surgeon/Dentist/Podiatrist or if a nurse has earned their doctorate and chooses to be called "Dr." then it is up to him or her to identify themselves as "Dr. Smith your nurse".

How many patients do you actually think know and understand that podiatrists and optometrists didn't goto medical school, but that is okay if patients think they are physicians when they call themselves Doctor?

Heaven forbid that a physician actually has to introduce themselves as a physician since there is now pharmacists, OT, ST, PT, psychologists, Dentists, and Nurses that all have their Doctorates now. Despite what some physicians think they don't have a monopoly on the title Doctor.

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