I figured out one way to ruin a conversation at the family Easter dinner: talk a nurse practitioner student's ear off about the doctorate of nursing practice.
The poor student I was probably cornering agreed with me that the doctorate shouldn't be required, but I think they were taken aback by how much I thought it was unnecessary. I felt kinda bad, because I don't usually declare a position on anything in casual conversation; let alone things that don't directly affect my immediate life. Maybe I'm just being nuts about it.
I think I should modify or clarify my position. I think a doctorate-level position is fine, possibly unnecessary or inefficient in today's (or any) market, but I'm also not "there", not at that level, and I don't know what the extra classtime and clinical orientation adds to the table.
I still think the American Academy of Colleges of Nursing looks like a lobby for expensive academic institutions, and I don't like how they're trying to squash the more efficient, less costly associate-level nursing colleges. I still think this is mainly driven by a spirit of competition with, or a desperate need for respect from, medical doctors. And that's obviously ridiculous.
I still think this has the potential to dry up the supply of potential nurse practitioners, anesthetists, and APNs. Why bother? The only benefit to this academic route over, say, medicine, will be if you already have a nursing degree and can continue along that route. That means not much new blood from high schools or colleges, from people outside of nursing.
In other news, Happy Easter!![]()
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The poor student I was probably cornering agreed with me that the doctorate shouldn't be required, but I think they were taken aback by how much I thought it was unnecessary. I felt kinda bad, because I don't usually declare a position on anything in casual conversation; let alone things that don't directly affect my immediate life. Maybe I'm just being nuts about it.
I think I should modify or clarify my position. I think a doctorate-level position is fine, possibly unnecessary or inefficient in today's (or any) market, but I'm also not "there", not at that level, and I don't know what the extra classtime and clinical orientation adds to the table.
I still think the American Academy of Colleges of Nursing looks like a lobby for expensive academic institutions, and I don't like how they're trying to squash the more efficient, less costly associate-level nursing colleges. I still think this is mainly driven by a spirit of competition with, or a desperate need for respect from, medical doctors. And that's obviously ridiculous.
I still think this has the potential to dry up the supply of potential nurse practitioners, anesthetists, and APNs. Why bother? The only benefit to this academic route over, say, medicine, will be if you already have a nursing degree and can continue along that route. That means not much new blood from high schools or colleges, from people outside of nursing.
In other news, Happy Easter!