A Nurse's Emotional Journey through Grad School

The Melanin Initiative's Podcast

Welcome everyone to the Melanin Initiative!
Today we're talking to special guest, Demetrius Kirk, DNPc, about his journey to pursuing graduate education as we begin a new series called: Becoming: Doctor of Nursing Practice. We're going to follow his journey to becoming a doctorally prepared nurse leader. Each semester he will return to share his experience as we watch his career, vision, and practice evolve.
The changing demands of the nation's complex healthcare environment require that nurses serving in specialty positions have the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise possible. Some of the many factors which are accelerating momentum for change in nursing education at the graduate level include: the rapid expansion of knowledge underlying practice; increased complexity of patient care; national concerns about the quality of care and patient safety; shortages of nursing personnel which demands a higher level of preparation for leaders who can design and assess care; shortages of doctorally prepared nursing faculty, and increasing educational expectations for the preparation of other health professionals.
The National Academy of Medicine (Institute of Medicine), Joint Commission, National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, and other authorities have called for reconceptualizing health professions education to meet the needs of the healthcare delivery system. Nursing is answering that call by moving to prepare APRNs for evolving practice.
DNP curricula expands learning essential to preparing expert clinicians and nurse leaders, including coursework focused on evidence-based practice, quality improvement, leadership, policy advocacy, informatics, and systems thinking. The transition to the DNP will better prepare APRNs for their current roles given the calls for new models of care delivery and the growing complexity of health care.
The DNP is designed for nurses seeking a terminal degree and offers an alternative to research-focused doctoral programs. DNP-prepared nurses are well-equipped to fully implement the science developed by nurse researchers prepared in PhD and other research-focused nursing doctorates.
The title of Doctor is common to many disciplines and is not the domain of any one health profession. Many APRNs currently hold doctoral degrees and are addressed as doctors, which is similar to how clinical psychologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other experts are addressed. Like other providers, DNPs are expected to display their credentials to ensure that patients understand their preparation as nursing providers.
Nursing and medicine are distinct health disciplines that prepare clinicians to assume different roles and meet different practice expectations. DNP programs will prepare nurses for the highest level of nursing practice.
https://www.aacnnursing.org/our-initiatives/education-practice/doctor-of-nursing-practice/about-the-dnp
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Connect with Demetrius Kirk, DNPc, MBA,MSN, RN, LNHA, LSSGB, PAC-NE, QCP
Email: [e-mail]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aservantleader/
Resource mention in the show:
-DNPs of Color https://www.dnpsofcolor.org/
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