Practice scholarship satisfaction and impact as perceived by DNP-prepared nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice
• Health Systems Science
• Translational Science

Background:

• Health systems face complexity in delivering high-quality care and achieving optimal outcomes.
• Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-prepared nurses possess competencies to improve health systems through practice scholarship, science translation, and clinical inquiry.
• Practice scholarship involves implementing evidence-based practices and translating research to enhance healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-prepared nurses' satisfaction with their engagement in practice scholarship.
• To examine the relationship between satisfaction with practice scholarship engagement and its perceived impact on healthcare.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study surveyed 309 DNP-prepared nurses recruited from a U.S. national membership organization.
• An online survey was used to collect data on nurses' satisfaction and perceived impact of practice scholarship.
• Usable data was obtained from 269 participants.

Main Results:

• 81% of DNP-prepared nurses reported moderate to high satisfaction with their time spent on practice scholarship activities.
• 19% of participants expressed minimal satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their engagement in practice scholarship.
• A significant, moderate positive correlation was found between the perceived impact of practice scholarship and satisfaction with the time spent on these activities.

Conclusions:

• Unclear roles and inadequate objective measurement of practice scholarship impede DNP-prepared nurses from fully utilizing their education and scope of practice.
• Further research is recommended to develop tools for measuring the impact of DNP-prepared nurses on quality, safety, policy, and population health.
• Developing processes to quantify the value of DNP-prepared nurses' contributions is crucial for advancing healthcare systems.