Scholarship and research are the hallmarks of doctoral education. Although basic

research has been viewed as the first and most essential form of scholarly activity, an

enlarged perspective of scholarship has emerged through alternative paradigms that

involve more than discovery of new knowledge (Boyer, 1990). These paradigms

recognize that (1) the scholarship of discovery and integration “reflects the investigative

and synthesizing traditions of academic life” (Boyer, p. 21); (2) scholars give meaning to

isolated facts and make connections across disciplines through the scholarship of

integration; and (3) the scholar applies knowledge to solve a problem via the scholarship

of application (referred to as the scholarship of practice in nursing). This application

involves the translation of research into practice and the dissemination and integration of

new knowledge, which are key activities of DNP graduates. The scholarship of

application expands the realm of knowledge beyond mere discovery and directs it toward

humane ends. Nursing practice epitomizes the scholarship of application through its

position where the sciences, human caring, and human needs meet and new

understandings emerge.

Nurses have long recognized that scholarly nursing practice is characterized by the

discovery of new phenomena and the application of new discoveries in increasingly

complex practice situations. The integration of knowledge from diverse sources and

across disciplines, and the application of knowledge to solve practice problems and

improve health outcomes are only two of the many ways new phenomena and knowledge

are generated other than through research (AACN, 1999; Diers, 1995; Palmer, 1986;

Sigma Theta Tau International, 1999). Research-focused doctoral programs in nursing

are designed to prepare graduates with the research skills necessary for discovering new

knowledge in the discipline. In contrast, DNP graduates engage in advanced nursing

practice and provide leadership for evidence-based practice. This requires competence in

knowledge application activities: the translation of research in practice, the evaluation of

practice, improvement of the reliability of health care practice and outcomes, and

participation in collaborative research (DePalma & McGuire, 2005). Therefore, DNP

programs focus on the translation of new science, its application and evaluation. In

addition, DNP graduates generate evidence through their practice to guide improvements

in practice and outcomes of care.

The DNP program prepares the graduate to:

1. Use analytic methods to critically appraise existing literature and other evidence

to determine and implement the best evidence for practice.

2. Design and implement processes to evaluate outcomes of practice, practice

patterns, and systems of care within a practice setting, health care organization, or

community against national benchmarks to determine variances in practice

outcomes and population trends.

3. Design, direct, and evaluate quality improvement methodologies to promote safe,

timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered care.

4. Apply relevant findings to develop practice guidelines and improve practice and

the practice environment.

5. Use information technology and research methods appropriately to:

• collect appropriate and accurate data to generate evidence for nursing

practice

• inform and guide the design of databases that generate meaningful

evidence for nursing practice

• analyze data from practice

• design evidence-based interventions

• predict and analyze outcomes

• examine patterns of behavior and outcomes

• identify gaps in evidence for practice

6. Function as a practice specialist/consultant in collaborative knowledge-generating

research.

7. Disseminate findings from evidence-based practice and research to improve

healthcare outcomes