Reply To: DNP recognition

[Erin]

I work as a faculty in an undergraduate program school of nursing. There is compensation in this role for earning a DNP which is equal to the pay increase for earning any doctoral degree (PhD, DNP, EDD etc). This isn’t a significant increase for the degree itself but does allow further opportunity for advancement. Once the degree is earned the DNP can advance in title to earn more money. At the master’s level the faculty can only be an assistant professor, once a doctoral degree is earned the DNP can advance to an associate professor or full professor. There are several paths to advancement which vary depending on the earned degree. A faculty with a PhD will advance on the research track and a faculty with a DNP will advance on the practice track. This has definitely been a point of contention as the PhD is seen as the traditional route for faculty advancement and the creation of the practice track was a contentious process. It was difficult to find balance between the practice focus of the DNP degree and the push for faculty to publish which has more of a research focus.