RESPONSE DISCUSSION

Collaborative practice as DNP prepared nurse is not only valuable but necessary since many DNP nurses hold roles where they may have peers or direct reports from different backgrounds on their team (Laureate Education, 2011d). Different perspectives can add value, for example in exemplar 9-1 (Zaccagnini & White, 2017 p. 220) Katie Alfredson speaks about her experience with her DNP project team, and how after speaking to the interdisciplinary team she realized her project which originally was only going to track one part of the team, needed to include the whole team in her project.

According to IOM (2011b), nurses are required to increase education as patient needs become more complicated. Needs in leadership, health policy, system improvement, research and evidence-based practice, community and public health (IOM, 2011b). Intra-professional collaboration can be achieved by nurses with different backgrounds and expertise teaming up together for initiatives. For example, I have two peers I work with in similar roles, but all three of us have a slightly different background. One of the peers has a clinical nurse specialist background, the other has an education background, and I have a nursing informatics background. All three of us within our roles bring our unique perspective, and when working on projects are able to provide feedback from many different angles. When teaching new nurses typically I will teach the electronic medical record while my two colleagues will help with lecture and skills. Another example of intra-professional collaboration is working on tasks such as Joint Commission (JC) preparation. In my organization, management will take care of environmental rounds while the nurse specialists take care of testing nurses on knowledge, and education ensures orientation maps as well as any other paper validations are on file.

As I look within my organization, many DNP graduates have been promoted into various positions where they work with the CEO of the hospital, as well as at the healthcare network level. Some DNP nurses are teaching, some are leading departments with various members of the interdisciplinary team.

References

Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2010b). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health[Report brief]. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150203150734/http://iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Report%20Brief.pdf

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011d). The professional role of the DNP-prepared nurse [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Zaccagnini, M. E., & White, K. W. (2017). The doctor of nursing practice essentials: A new model for advanced practice nursing (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.