I have both a Masters and Post masters cert from my state Uni. I have both a FNP and PMHNP license. Practicing Psych I looked into completing a DNP which all seem to be quality improvement projects. Any options for doctoral degrees tied to Psych and practical patient care? For example, I taken classes at the Beck Institute since I do therapy, but they are not degreed. Accreditation is also not relevant since my masters qualify me for licensing/practice. I am thinking something along the counseling route. I even looking into Christian Counseling. MY goal here is complete the terminal degree while learning something applicable on the patient care side Thank you
TiffyRN, BSN, PhD 2,315 Posts Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research. Has 30 years experience. Mar 25 "MY goal here is complete the terminal degree while learning something applicable onthe patient care side" There really aren't too many options for a terminal degree unless you want to start an entire new course of study (PsyD). If you want to enhance your patient care skills, the world of literature is out there! Then design either an EBP or research project to implement or further explore your new found patient care knowledge. You are correct that PhD/DNP aren't designed to further clinical skills unless it's something like BSN to DNP. If you want a terminal degree, there aren't too many options. Those degrees are research-focused in order to help the graduate further (or translate) the field's knowledge.
dancewithme1 6 Posts Mar 27 Replying to my own post. 🙂 For those interested, Vanderbilt does have a post masters DNP that is practice based. "The Doctor of Nursing Practice program, advanced clinical practice track is for applicants who have completed an MSN degree in advanced clinical nursing practice" https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/DNP/advancedclinicalpractice.php
TiffyRN, BSN, PhD 2,315 Posts Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research. Has 30 years experience. Mar 27 Well, I have learned some about this topic. It does seem that at Vanderbilt, they will integrate 500 hours of clinical practice so that no DNP grad has only 500 hours. That is the only mention of additional clinical hours I see for MSNs with prior APRN certification; unless you want to add an additional certification, say CNM. The course of study for DNP does not seem to include clinically-focused courses (advanced counseling, pscycho-education); instead it is more what I think of as typical for DNP: policy development, advanced informatics for data extraction, scholarly writing, evidence translation, and of course, the scholarly project. https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/DNP/dnp_curriculum.php If your goal is to complete a terminal degree and learn something on the side, that can be done through PhD and DNP. But it will be more self-directed. I LOVED the freedom of being given flexible assignments that I could focus on the topics of interest to me (with few exceptions). You will have electives and practicums that should be very flexible as far as topics.
Althea McLeish, MSN, RN 5 Posts Specializes in Nurse Writer, Nurse Leader, ER, Peds, HH & Hospice. Has 37 years experience. May 15 I'm working on the final phases of my DNP project with Aspen University and there's a lot of self direction and flexibility involved. Initially, I looked for a program focused on counseling or palliative care but did not find one. So I settled for the general DNP. Post grad certs are available to fulfill any need for more specialized study.
