Deck 3: The Essentials of the Doctor of Nursing Practice: A Philosophical Perspective

Question 1

How did the first nursing doctorate offered by Columbia University in 1924 differ from the various practice-based degrees that were developed during the 1970s?

A) It was a PhD degree focused heavily on nursing theory rather than nursing practice.
B) It was practice-focused but did not have a well-defined curricula that was widely accepted.
C) It was a nursing-related EdD degree intended to prepare nurses to teach at the college level.
D) It was a PhD degree based in maternal-child nursing that emphasized the importance of clinical research.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which event or series of events led to the eventual replacement of the DNS degree by the ND degree as the practice-focused nursing doctorate?

A) The shift in curricula from a practice focus to a theory focus that made the DNS similar to a traditional PhD.
B) The introduction of the "nurse as social engineer" philosophy that created a rift between academia and the AACN.
C) The failure to establish uniform curricula for the DNS that led to widely divergent programs around the country.
D) The creation of the AACN task force to evaluate the current status of practice doctorates in nursing.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which aspect of the AACN's Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate has impacted nursing education the most?

A) The provision for the establishment of the University of Kentucky's DNP program under the direction of the AACN president.
B) The proposal of a curriculum model based on eight essentials of advanced nursing practice.
C) The recommendation that the DNP become the terminal practice-focused degree for nursing by 2015.
D) The requirement that all DNP, ND, and DNS programs seek accreditation by the AACN in order to ensure uniform curricula.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which documents outline the curriculum standards for all DNP programs?

A) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice and Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate
B) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice and Practice Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Entry-Level Competencies
C) Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate and Practice Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Entry-Level Competencies
D) Practice Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Entry-Level Competencies and Middle-Range Theory in Principle and Practice

Question 5

Which "essential" is primarily concerned with the scientific foundations of nursing practice?

A) Essential I
B) Essential III
C) Essential IV
D) Essential VI

Question 6

How does Essential V pertain to advanced practice nurses?

A) Interprofessional collaboration in a multitiered healthcare environment
B) Evaluation, integration, translation, and application of evidence-based practice
C) Analysis of environmental data in the evaluation of population health
D) Involvement in healthcare policy and advocacy

Question 7

Essential II describes preparation of the DNP nurse in organizational and systems leadership. Which two other Essentials involve utilization of the leadership concepts presented in Essential II?

A) Essential III and Essential IV
B) Essential III and Essential V
C) Essential V and Essential VI
D) Essential V and Essential VIII

Question 8

How is focusing on the scientific underpinnings of nursing practice paradoxical in terms of discipline development?

A) It requires practitioners to adopt practice values of other disciplines rather than the unique knowledge of their specialty.
B) It requires nursing to emerge from other academic disciplines rather than from its own professional discipline.
C) It requires nurses to adopt the logical positivist viewpoint in their study even though the must adopt a humanistic viewpoint in their practice.
D) It requires collaboration with professionals in other discipline rather than relationship building within nursing itself.

Question 9

Middle-range theories in nursing can best be described as:

A) simplistic and general in focus.
B) abstract and broad in type.
C) concrete and narrow in scope.
D) didactic and restrictive in practice.

Question 10

Why is the application and integration of interdisciplinary theories by advanced practice nurses problematic for the discipline from a philosophical standpoint?

A) It promotes a pluralistic view of the discipline that does not necessarily align with the accepted worldview of the profession.
B) It dilutes nursing's uniqueness and makes it difficult to differentiate as its own discipline.
C) It leads to an overemphasis on logical positivist-based science at the expense of postmodern ideals.
D) It lessens the importance nursing's human and social focus by introducing other ideological focuses.