The Impact of the Role of Doctor of Nursing PracticeNurses on Healthcare and Leadership

ced nursing roles that include clinical practice and leadership. These individuals are well positioned to meet the Institute of Medicine’s mandate for nurses to add their unique perspective to the interprofessional efforts to improve health care. This article demonstrates how DNP graduates design, evaluate and create innovative patient care models, evaluate the cost effectiveness of patient care strategies and influence health policy at multiple levels. The DNP project is the culmination of the educational process where core competencies and the clinical scholarship of the graduate become evident. A discussion of projects is included. Nurses who have completed the DNP are making significant impact on quality, efficiencies, and effectiveness of health care systems through their contributions in clinical practice, advocacy in health policy, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practice, and contribution to nursing education.