What Can You Do With a DNP?

Pursuing graduate-level nursing can be a great way to position yourself to potentially advance your career within the healthcare field. With an advanced degree such as a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), you can take your passion further by exploring specialized knowledge in the nursing field.

This terminal degree can prepare you for many different careers and responsibilities in the healthcare profession. Keep reading to learn about the careers you can pursue with a DNP.

In This Article:

• What Is a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)?
• What Can You Do With a Doctorate in Nursing?
• Make a Positive Impact With a Doctor of Nursing Practice
• Advance in the Nursing Field
• Start Your DNP Journey Today at GCU

What Is a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)?

The DNP is a terminal degree that guides nurses in applying current research to their practice. This is achieved through peer discussion and in-depth application-based activities in which learners integrate didactic concepts into their current or future practice environments. These practices are designed to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills suitable for the highest level of nursing practice.

Students in this nursing degree program can examine a range of topics, such as healthcare information technology, emerging areas of human health, data analysis and population management. It can allow graduates to pursue specialization.

What Can You Do With a Doctorate in Nursing?

There is a range of career possibilities for nurses to consider, including those below:

Nurse Educator

What can you do with a doctorate in nursing if you’re interested in academics? One DNP career option is becoming a nurse educator.¹ As a nurse educator, you would teach students who are preparing to enter their own nursing careers. For this profession, finding a DNP educational leadership program that emphasizes education would be wise.

A nurse educator can find opportunities in a variety of settings. For example, they may decide to work at a university or college in a classroom setting. Alternatively, nurse educators may become clinical instructors who work in clinical practice.¹ This career choice may be a good option for nurses who aspire to empower others to join the profession and to inspire the next generation of nurses to provide excellent patient care.

Healthcare Executive

A DNP can also help to prepare you to work in a leadership role within the healthcare field. This can include a variety of roles within a hospital, including becoming a nurse manager or a nurse executive.² As an executive, you will need to lead others and work toward smooth, organized institutional operation to ensure patients are receiving high-quality care.

You will also have a variety of specific tasks that can include maintaining the hospital’s budget and designing standards of patient care. You will need a variety of skills to thrive in an executive or management role, such as strong communication, prioritization, change management and advocacy.³ These skills will help you to collaborate with other departments and make decisions to benefit the facility and its patients.

Advanced Practice Registered Nurse

If you prefer the patient care aspect of the nursing field, consider using your DNP to pursue a career as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN).⁴ Often, medical facilities require nurses with the specialized training and skills found in a doctoral nursing program, such as developed core competencies in nursing science and knowledge of ethical issues in healthcare research.

There are four main jobs for DNP nurses who are APRNs:

• Certified nurse midwife (CNM)
• Clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
• Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
• Nurse practitioner (NP)

Certified Nurse Midwife

A certified nurse-midwife (CNM) is a specialization option for advanced practice nurses who, as the name suggests, care for pregnant women throughout the pregnancy, birth and aftercare process.⁴ These professionals aim to provide high-quality care from pre-conception to postpartum recovery. 

CNMs accompany women and their families through this journey by providing a variety of services, including health evaluations, pre-and post-natal care and helping to plan birthing services. A CNM must be a strong decision-maker, as different patients could require vastly different care.

A CNM not only provides this care to families but also helps to educate them on how best to continue caring for their babies and themselves. The information a DNP program can provide is a great way for aspiring CNMs to gain confidence in their knowledge and learn how to communicate it effectively to their patients.

Nurse Informaticist

There are also jobs for DNP nurses in information technology.⁵ The role of a nurse informaticist, while not a clinical role, is extremely important to providing and improving patient care. If you enjoy working with data and developing practical solutions to problems, this career may be a good fit. A nurse informaticist must integrate information technology (IT) with healthcare organizations and often deal with the analysis of health data and records.

The primary goal of a nurse informaticist is to evaluate the data and identify steps for improving healthcare outcomes. While not all employers may require it, graduate-level nursing education, such as a DNP, may make you eligible to sit for the Informatics Nursing Certification (NI-BC™).⁵

Healthcare Lobbyist

If you have both a passion for policy and a heart for healthcare, consider becoming a healthcare lobbyist. While a healthcare lobbyist is not required to have a DNP, many do have terminal degrees or at least graduate degrees.⁶ As a healthcare lobbyist, you can work in a variety of settings, such as nonprofit organizations.⁶ In this role, you stay up to date on the latest news and trends in healthcare and represent the interests of your organization to legislators.

Your DNP can help you to properly utilize and communicate industry terms to legislators, reinforcing the strong communication skills necessary for this career.⁶ Additionally, a healthcare lobbyist must be passionate about the healthcare field to help instill positive change in it.

Psychiatric Mental Health (PMH) Nurse

A psychiatric mental health nurse specializes in caring for those with mental health disorders. They can conduct intake and screenings, provide crisis intervention services, develop care plans and administer psychobiological treatments. PMH nurses can work within interdisciplinary teams, coordinating care and developing policies.

A PMH nurse is a type of APRN that falls into the category of nurse practitioner (NP). In other words, PMH is a specialization option for NPs. Earning a DNP can provide a pathway toward becoming a PMH nurse.⁴

Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)

Another type of NP, FNPs deliver primary and preventive care to individuals across the lifespan. They can diagnose and treat a wide range of medical conditions, perform physical exams, prescribe medications, treat chronic illnesses and deliver patient education.

Because family nurse practitioners are a type of APRN, earning a DNP is one way to work toward this career option. You’ll also need to obtain the FNP certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).⁴

Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP)

This role of DNP nurses centers on the needs of adult patients. While they primarily care for patients with acute conditions, these nurses can also provide preventive care. An AGACNP can work with patients who have complex health issues and who may be at risk of complications.

Another type of APRN, aspiring AGACNPs may earn a DNP before obtaining the certification necessary to apply for this type of job.⁴

Neonatal CNS

If you’re passionate about working with newborns, then perhaps a career as a neonatal nurse could be the right choice for you. A neonatal clinical nurse specialist (CNS) works with newborns suffering from a wide range of health complications, including birth defects, infections, cardiac malformations and premature birth.

If you aspire to be a neonatal CNS, you’ll need to meet the requirements to become an APRN, such as by earning a DNP. You’ll also need to obtain board certification from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).⁴

Make a Positive Impact With a Doctor of Nursing Practice

Nurses who earn their Doctor of Nursing Practice can use current research to improve patient outcomes. You may have the opportunity to expand current theoretical and scientific foundations of healthcare practice, including the discipline knowledge base, the design and evaluation of clinical solutions as well as clinical and organizational change leadership.

There are some important benefits you can receive while earning a DNP degree, including the following:

• Advanced skill development: Getting a DNP degree can benefit nurses by teaching them advanced skills. In addition, the curriculum allows them to experience tasks they will be accomplishing in their future careers. Other skills you can examine include healthcare-related business competencies, such as finance skills.
• Leadership skills: The DNP program can prepare you to potentially pursue advanced positions that oversee nursing staff or run operations within a healthcare facility. By having opportunities to become a strong and capable leader, you may be able to motivate other nurses to benefit the outcomes of patients.
• Mentorship skills: Providing guidance to less experienced nurses can be very rewarding. These qualities can improve your reputation and performance as a nurse and, most importantly, allow the best care and treatment of patients throughout the field.
• Career opportunities: When you earn a DNP degree, you may consider a range of career possibilities, including executive healthcare positions.²
• Research: Research projects are a significant component of the DNP program. Graduates are expected to translate existing research into solutions to improve outcomes and promote change leadership in healthcare organizations. They can become the driving force behind positive changes made to the healthcare system.

Advance in the Nursing Field

Nurses who earn their DNP may work in a clinic or hospital as nurse executives, continue their practice as advanced practice registered nurses, or serve as nurse educators with further training.^1,2,4 They are prepared to become leaders in the field, making a positive difference in the lives of others.

Start Your DNP Journey Today at GCU

Grand Canyon University aims to provide an exceptional academic experience for every student. Visit the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions to find more information about our graduate nursing programs, such as the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).