Advanced Degrees Vital as Nurse Practitioner's Role Grows in Importance

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The role of nurse practitioner combines the nurse’s skill in providing medical treatment with the attention to care innate to nursing, according to Dee White, an advanced practice nurse practitioner who is enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.

The college’s Eleanor Mann School of Nursing is observing National Nurse Practitioner Week from Nov. 9 through 15.

More than 192,000 nurse practitioners practice in the United States, and patients make more than 916 million visits to nurse practitioners every year, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Northwest Arkansas has 178 licensed nurse practitioners, according to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.

“Nurse practitioners are in the unique position of responding to the major health care challenges facing our country – the affordable care act, advanced technologies for patient care, and a tremendous need for primary care services,” said Pegge Bell, director of the nursing school. “With the top killers in most states continuing to be preventative conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and obesity, nurse practitioners encounter those affected all along the disease spectrum, and thus have the opportunity to educate patients and encourage behavioral changes that can enhance quality of life. To be truly effective, nurse practitioners need to practice to the full extent of their education and experience, just as the Institute of Medicine recommended in its 2010 document, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”

Dee White directs the Arkansas Heart Hospital’s Peripheral Vascular Institute, which is based in Little Rock and operates 10 outreach clinics across the state. She earned a diploma, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing.

White said the same motivation drove her each time she sought more advanced education throughout her career.

“Every time I achieved one level of practice, I saw I needed to do more to effect change so I educated myself,” she said. “The D.N.P. is the evolution of that. It is the future of nursing.”

White enrolled in the inaugural class of the Doctor of Nursing Practice that began in the fall of 2013. It is the first Bachelor of Science in Nursing-Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the state of Arkansas to prepare adult-geriatric acute care nurse practitioners. In their practice, nurse practitioners prepared at the doctoral level focus on using research and evidence, she said. That’s empowering for the nurse practitioner and improves quality of care for the patient.

Nurse practitioners are being recognized more as primary care providers, White said, and the nurse practitioner role gives nurses a large degree of autonomy.

“I can’t imagine anything else any better in the world than to be a nurse,” White said. “It’s an honor to participate in patient lives. It’s the coolest thing in the world to do.”

The U of A offers both the Doctor of Nursing Practice and the Master of Science in Nursing online with a clinical component. More information is available on the nursing school’s website, or visit the University of Arkansas Online website for more information about the online aspects of the Master of Science in Nursing program or the Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Deborah Shirey joined the faculty of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing at the U of A this fall. She is an advanced practice nurse practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Loyola University. She has been a registered nurse since 1988 and a nurse practitioner since 1999.

“Nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have attained advanced practice nursing degrees at the graduate level,” Shirey said. “We specialize in many areas including family practice, acute care, geriatrics, women’s health, pediatrics and mental health. In addition to our ability to diagnose illnesses and prescribe medications, we are competent providers of holistic care including health promotion and disease prevention. Many nurse practitioners practice independently, and in a 2010 Gallup Poll it was noted that nurses are viewed by Americans as the most ethical and honest of professionals.”

The U of A Global Campus supports the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing and other academic units in the development and delivery of online programs and courses.