Doctor of Nursing Practice

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a terminal professional degree in nursing practice, an alternative to the research focused doctoral degree. The curriculum for the DNP degree builds on traditional master's programs by providing education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and systems leadership. Furthermore, the DNP is intended to be a parity degree with other health care doctorates such as psychology, medicine, and dentistry. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) include the nurse practitioner (NP), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified nurse midwife (CNM), and the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and are prepared in master's-degree programs that often carry a credit load equivalent to doctoral degrees in the other health professions. Although approximately 52% of nurse anesthetist programs will award the DNP, the remaining 48% may use the title Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP).