Master's In Nurse Practitioner Education

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Advantages and Disadvantages of the Master’s in Nurse Practitioner Education Track The nurse who has prepared for practice by obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nursing can continue her education through advance studies. A 2010 Institute of Medicine report noted the importance of continuing education for nurses. The report recommended that nurses must practice nursing to the complete extent of their education and training. Typically, barriers to this notion have been historic, regulatory and policy driven. The report emphasized the importance of bachelor prepared nurses to continue to higher levels of nursing education in order to fill the national need for Advance Practice Nurses. The question for the bachelor prepared nurse considering…show more content…
The master’s in Nurse Practitioner allows the nurse new job prospects in fields with more autonomy in providing ideal patient care. The Nurse Practitioner degree affords the nurse financial rewards for the specialized theoretical and clinical knowledge that has been obtained. The NP can role model evidence based practice that lead to optimal patient outcomes to other nurses and clinicians. Therefore, the NP has a generalized set of nursing skills honed through evidence-based clinical practice that has been focused on specialized knowledge in a particular field. The NP has gained comfort level with research-based findings implemented into clinical practice as well as the technical knowledge necessary to care for a high acuity patient population with safe, quality care (Gerrish, 2013, et al.). By obtaining the master’s in Nurse Practitioner, the nurse has started the educational journey that allows for the acquiring of a…show more content…
There has been a strong trend in the nursing programs in the country to offer a DNP (Joel, 2013). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recommended that beginning in 2015, the final degree for Advanced Practice Nurses be the DNP. A 2015 AACN statement notes some of the factors what have aided the effort for change to the DNP as the entry level for Advance Practice Nursing in nursing education at the graduate level include: the swift growth of the knowledge base that underlies clinical practice; the higher levels of acuity of patients receiving care; general apprehension about the quality of care and patient safety; shortages of nursing personnel that can prepare nurse leaders who can plan and assess care; and increasing educational expectations for the preparation of nursing health care professionals. Joel (2013) counters that a critical question that underlies this surge is whether the DNP will become entirely recognized by the general public and the health care market. The rapid growth of the DNP programs does not necessarily mean that this is ideal for advance practice nursing. Regardless of the degree, the need for evidence based clinically competent well trained APNs remains a high priority in the health care needs of the country.

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