If you’re a new nurse graduating from nursing school, you probably want to start your career as soon as possible. Like many nurses, you may be coming to the profession as a second career; you’re probably counting on your nursing salary to support your family and improve your quality of life.
You may not see the point of spending several more years in school to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree after spending four to six years earning an ADN or BSN.
However, a DNP is definitely worth getting. The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree will make you an expert in nursing, on the same level as a physician or a psychiatrist. Your expertise will qualify you for more opportunities and a much higher salary, in addition to compelling other professionals to listen to your insights and advice.
If you do need to start earning a salary right away, don’t fret; you can go to school online for a DNP and advance your education while earning the paychecks you need.
Earn the Respect That Comes With the Title “Doctor”
When you earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice, you’ll earn the right to call yourself a doctor. You’ll have the same level of education, and the same level of expertise, as any physician, psychiatrist, or other doctorate-educated care provider. You’ll be able to practice independently in 18 states.
If you want, you can perform the kind of important research that changes patient care for the better. You’ll be able to offer your patients a higher level of care, because the DNP is a practice-focused degree. And if the American Association of Colleges of Nursing ever raises the barrier of entry for advanced practice nursing, you’ll be ready.
Help Relieve the Provider Shortage
The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortfall of between 12,500 and 31,100 primary care physicians in the United States by 2025. Part of the plan to relieve that shortage is to prepare more nurses for advanced practice.
With a DNP, you’ll be qualified to provide primary care to patients who don’t have access to a doctor. The Institute of Medicine wants to double the number of doctorate-prepared nurses in this country by 2020; you can answer that call when you enroll in a DNP program.
Expand Your Career Options
One of the biggest reasons many nurses decide to go for a DNP is the enhanced career options. With a DNP, you can provide primary care and even open your own practice. You can do research with a university, academic medical center, or other health care organization. You can influence public health care policy to improve care, expand access to care, and otherwise repair the shortcomings of the health care system.
You can even teach at the university level as a nurse educator. While it’s true that the DNP is more practice-focused than the Ph.D., nursing schools are experiencing a severe shortage of qualified, doctorate-educated nurse educators.
Nursing schools around the country are struggling to fill almost 1,000 open faculty appointments, more than 90 percent of which require a doctoral degree. Your clinical practice experience will be just as valuable to your potential nursing students as any Ph.D.-holder’s research experience.
Bring Home a Bigger Salary
Nursing salaries are already very reasonable, which is one of the things that attract so many to the profession. But when you decide to go back to school for the DNP, you’re setting yourself on the path to a six-figure salary.
DNPs earn an average salary of about $95,000 a year, but you can earn as much as $142,000 a year depending on your specific job and where you work. Some full-time nursing school faculty members make as much as $272,000 a year.
Earning a DNP doesn’t have to mean staying out of the workforce for several more years or racking up even more student loan debt. Online programs allow you to finish your degree coursework on your own schedule, while working as an RN or nurse practitioner. Your employer may be willing to reimburse some or all of your tuition costs. As a nurse, you may be eligible for student loan forgiveness, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
If you’re graduating from nursing school, you may want to consider earning your Doctor of Nursing Practice degree early in your nursing career. There’s a big need for doctorate-educated nurses to help relieve the primary care provider shortage and educate the nurses of tomorrow. Many DNP-educated nurses say that pursuing a doctorate-level education was the most fulfilling thing they’ve ever done; try it for yourself and find out why.
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