Reflections on the DNP and an Alternate Practice Doctorate Model: The Drexel DrNP

In October 2004 the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) membership voted to require the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) as the entry level degree for all new advanced practice nurses by 2015. At the time of the October 2004 vote there was only one DNP Program in the country, but the AACN proceeded to align itself with this one degree model. Was this vote for the 2015 mandate hasty or perhaps bold? Was the DNP model so singly endorsed, embraced prematurely? This article discusses the broader context of why the DNP should not be the only practice doctorate degree model offered and why the clinical research Doctor of Nursing Practice (DrNP) degree at Drexel University should be a viable alternative. In development since 2000, the Drexel Model DrNP is a hybrid degree combining the professional practice doctorate and the academic research doctorate. Unlike the DNP, it includes a clinical dissertation that will prepare a ‘practitioner/researcher’ to help advance the evidence base of nursing.