Five DNP Careers to Consider
The world needs far more nurses with doctoral degrees to be the nurse leaders, researchers, nursing faculty and advanced clinicians of tomorrow — which is a strong call from medical academies, nursing associations and nonprofit foundations who care deeply about maintaining and extending access to quality health care and advancing the nursing profession.
Earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree can be a rewarding option for nurses who want to deepen their expertise and pursue advanced roles. There are a variety of advanced careers for DNP graduates that can change the trajectory of health care for the better while still serving patients.
What Is a DNP?
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is a terminal nursing degree representing the pinnacle of clinical nursing practice. Its counterpart is a research doctorate (PhD) in nursing. The key difference is that PhDs conduct research in the nursing field, and DNPs apply that research and evidence to practice nursing at an advanced level.
Advancing a nursing career with a DNP degree can arm nurses with influence as well as expertise, according to Danielle McCamey, DNP and founder of the networking, mentoring and advocacy organization DNPs of Color.
As stated by Danielle McCamey in the American Nurses Association’s Innovation blog, “DNP prepared nurses influence healthcare outcomes through healthcare policy, organizational leadership, and translating nursing research into evidenced-based practice. Within nursing, having your doctorate means something. This level of knowledge puts us at different tables where decisions are being made, policies being created, and most importantly expanding one’s influence and impact in the nursing profession.”
What Can You Do with a DNP Degree? 5 Careers
What you can do with a DNP degree spans a wide range of nursing practice areas. DNP degrees can allow graduates to pursue careers that focus on specific patient populations, such as pediatrics, or on level of care, such as primary or acute. The following are five careers that can benefit from the DNP degree, their responsibilities, their key skills and their salaries.
1. Family Nurse Practitioner
Family nurse practitioner (FNP) is one of the DNP careers that is most similar to the role of a primary care physician. As our nation’s aging population grows and a physician shortage continues, FNPs are crucial to our ability to deliver accessible, quality healthcare.
Responsibilities
As primary care nurses for people of all ages, FNPs have major responsibilities that include:
- Performing health screenings
- Conducting physical exams
- Ordering and administering diagnostic tests
- Diagnosing diseases and conditions, in states with full practice authority*
- Prescribing medications*
- Providing referrals to specialists
- Monitoring patient treatment
- Maintaining patient records
- Educating patients on preventive care and healthy habits
*Note that these duties can depend on the practice authority of the FNP’s state.
Skills
Due to the similarities in scope and stature with a primary care physician, an FNP must possess critical thinking skills and effective communication in their practice.
Critical thinking
- Understanding how to respond in emergency situations
- Considering and interpreting different types of information when making clinical decisions
- Assessing and organizing conflicting priorities
Communication
- Positive and culturally sensitive communication with patients of all ages and cultures
- Translating complex medical jargon into understandable terms
- Coordinating clearly and collegially with other medical professionals
Salary
In March 2023, Payscale reported that family nurse practitioners earned a median annual salary of around $100,500. The top 10% of nurses in the role earned around $124,000 annually, according to Payscale’s data.
The job outlook for nurse practitioners, including FNPs, is extremely bright. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts growth for nurse practitioner roles in general to increase by 36% between 2021 and 2031, much faster than the average overall job growth.
2. Nurse Educator
This DNP career shoulders the weighty responsibility of shaping the next generation of nurses. Nurse educators educate, train and mentor students of nursing at the postsecondary level at colleges and universities and in clinical settings.
The spike in demand for nurses in the U.S. has spurred a call for nurse educators to train new students entering nursing programs and provide professional development and mentoring for novice nurses entering the workforce.
Responsibilities
Nurse educators are responsible for imparting nursing skills to the faculty of colleges and universities and in hospital nursing programs, in addition to teaching continuing education programs for post-graduate nurses. They often continue to work in clinical settings. Their responsibilities include:
- Designing academic programs
- Teaching the nursing students in their programs
- Evaluating the effectiveness of programs
- Supervising nursing students practicing basic tasks, such as catheter insertion
- Coaching nursing students to help them gain confidence and expertise
- Mentoring students by giving feedback and advice
- Performing research and presenting research results
Skills
As instructors, mentors and coaches who nurture and train students entering the profession, nurse educators should have the following key skills:
Leadership
- Creating a collaborative educational environment for all students
- Effectively resolving conflicts or misunderstandings
- Setting clear and reasonable expectations
Communication
- Educating and mentoring with empathetic, culturally sensitive communication skills to reach diverse student populations
- Conveying clear and constructive feedback to students
- Coaching nursing students with clear instructions and empathetic listening skills
Salary
As of May 2021, nurse educators earned a median annual salary of around $77,440, according to the BLS. The top 10% of nurse educators earned $125,930 as of May 2021, the BLS reported.
3. Nurse Midwife
Pregnancy, labor, delivery and infant care can be both thrilling and terrifying for new parents. Fortunately, they can turn to nurse midwives, a role that can greatly benefit from a DNP degree and focuses on prenatal and postnatal care that meets their physical and emotional needs.
Responsibilities
Depending on the state practice environment, nurse midwives may be responsible for delivering babies on their own; or, they may be present at delivery or aid the obstetrician during delivery. A nurse midwife’s responsibilities include:
- Helping pregnant people stay healthy before and after delivery
- Coaching parents on preparing for labor
- Creating birthing plans
- Providing emotional support
- Helping ensure a safe delivery experience
- Giving advice on healthy eating and exercise
- Teaching new parents infant care techniques
Skills
Nurse midwives participate in ushering new lives into the world. Certain key skills help them fulfill this delicate mission, including:
Leadership
- Coordinating patient care by using sound decision-making when evaluating potential risks
- Organizing and overseeing patient care from initial evaluation to postnatal care
- Serving as a guide and coach to lead pregnant people through pregnancy and delivery
Communication
- Inspiring trust through empathetic communication with patients so all concerns can be addressed openly
- Providing feedback and answering questions so that a pregnant person’s fears are addressed
- Communicating clearly and appropriately with the patient and their family, the obstetrician and other members of the caregiving team
Salary
As of May 2021, nurse midwives earned a median annual salary of around $112,830, according to the BLS. The BLS reported it expects job growth for the nurse midwife role to increase by 7% between 2021 and 2031.
4. Clinical Nurse Specialist
Another noteworthy DNP career is clinical nurse specialist (CNS), a type of advanced practice registered nurse. These APRNs go deep — their education and expertise allow them to focus their nursing practice on medical care specialties, such as cardiac care, oncology, wound care and pharmacology.
Responsibilities
A clinical nurse specialist applies management practices to their expertise in nursing with the aim of advancing the nursing field and improving ways to deliver patient care. These change-makers work to develop and refine quality clinical care by taking on duties that include the following:
- Delivering direct patient care
- Applying evidence and research to improve the quality of care
- Training other nurses
- Managing nursing teams
- Participating in nursing and medical research
- Evaluating patient care plans
- Developing and implementing evidence-based practices
- Improving nursing care and patient satisfaction in their clinical department
- Reducing complications associated with certain medical procedures
Skills
A clinical nurse specialist (CNS) applies high-level critical thinking and management skills to their important role — overseeing and improving care delivery and patient satisfaction in their specialty. The primary skills of a CNS are:
Clinical acumen
- Understanding the core research and informatics processes
- Analyzing patient results and applying them to future practice to solve care inequities
- Initiate and lead nursing and medical research studies and evidence-based practice
Leadership
- Serving as a role model, mentor and educator to nurse colleagues and the broader healthcare team
- Manage the care delivered by nurse teams in the department of their specialty
- Developing departmental policy and procedures based on the best evidence and aimed at achieving the highest quality care
Salary
In February 2023, Payscale reported that clinical nurse specialists earned a median annual salary of around $96,100. The top 10% of nurses in the role earned around $124,000 annually as of February 2023, according to Payscale.
5. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
The certified registered nurse anesthetist is an advanced practice nursing specialty. Certified registered nurse anesthetists, often called CRNAs or nurse anesthetists, administer anesthesia safely to patients.
Professionals in this DNP career may either work as part of a care team or independently, without the supervision of a physician.
Responsibilities
Anesthesiologists keep patients stable during and after surgery, manage patient pain and strive to ensure positive patient outcomes. To help them achieve these crucial goals, a nurse anesthetist’s many important responsibilities include the following:
- Examining patient history to inform anesthesia administration
- Considering patient allergies and other sensitive health care issues
- Manage patient airway
- Manage pain management for both acute and chronic pain
- Advising patients on the process they’re about to undergo
- Administering anesthesia via epidural or other means
- Monitoring patient during and after anesthesia
- Coordinating throughout the process with physicians, nurses and staff
Skills
A certified registered nurse anesthetist is at the vanguard of patient care during serious medical procedures. Whether they work independently or in conjunction with an anesthesiologist, CRNA skills matter. Primary skills they bring to their role include the following:
Communication
- Simplifying medical jargon and explaining medical processes in terms patients can follow
- Communicating collaboratively with anesthesiologists and colleagues about patient care
- Communicating with patients in ways that inspire trust, establish rapport and clarify information
Clinical acumen
- Analyzing patient medical history and strategizing a tailored anesthesia plan
- Problem-solving when urgent issues, including life-threatening situations, arise
- Strategically monitoring patients before, during and after surgery, anticipating potential problems while ensuring safe anesthesia administration
Leadership
- Making authoritative decisions about patients’ anesthesia care, monitoring patient experiences and ensuring positive outcomes
- Leading compassionately by embodying trustworthiness, addressing patients’ fears and helping them feel secure
- Showing decisiveness and teamwork with care teams in critical situations
Time management
- Keeping track of multiple individual patient anesthesiology consultations and procedures each work day
- Making time-sensitive decisions, either independently or with guidance, during ongoing procedures
- Managing time optimally when administering and monitoring the anesthesia process
Salary
CRNAs are highly paid. As of May 2021, nurse anesthetists earned a median annual salary of around $195,610, according to the BLS.
Job growth for nurse anesthetists is projected to increase significantly, by 12% between 2021 and 2031. This growth is faster than the average for all occupations, per the BLS.
Find the Right DNP Career
A successful DNP inspires and empowers patients and colleagues and uplifts the health care profession. With the option to choose from a host of DNP careers, these advanced nurses can proudly represent the good work nursing does for society.
If you are eager to join their ranks, advance your nursing career with Walsh University’s Online Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. At Walsh, you can develop leadership and advocacy skills to drive quality improvement in your organization, work with a dedicated clinical placement coordinator and start changing health care for the better.
Click here to learn more and download a brochure today:
Recommended Readings
- 10 Tips for Nurses to Maintain Worklife Balance
- Building Strong Nursing Teams
- The Importance of Leadership in Nursing
Sources:
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing, DNP Education
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Fact Sheet—DNP
- American College of Nurse Midwives, “Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice”
- American Nurse, “PhD vs. DNP”
- American Nurses Association, “Types of Nurse Practitioner Specialties”
- Global Health, “The Role of Nurse Educators”
- Houston Chronicle, “What Are the Duties of a Nurse Educator?”
- Indeed, “Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS): The Path to Become One”
- Indeed, “How to Become a Midwife (Primary Duties and Essential Skills)”
- Indeed, “Learn About Being a Nurse Anesthetist”
- Indeed, “13 Doctorate in Nursing Practice Jobs You Can Pursue”
- Indeed, “What Does a Midwife Do? (With Definition and Skills)”
- Nursing World, “DNPs of Color: Changing the Game and Forging New Paths”
- Payscale, Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Salary
- Payscale, “Family Nurse Practitioner (NP) Salary”
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives and Nurse Practitioners
- U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary
- WebMD, “What Is a Nurse Anesthetist?”