Nursing Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Nursing, including details on health care, hospital staff, professional care.

Advancing practice inquiry: research foundations of the practice doctorate in nursing.

Magyary D, Whitney JD, Brown MA

Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. magyary@u.washington.edu

The University of Washington Doctor of Nursing Practice program entails 3 curricular dimensions: advanced practice, leadership, and practice inquiry. In this article, the practice inquiry dimension is discussed and defined as a type of clinical investigation that closely aligns with the realities and complexities of everyday practice by advanced practice nurses (APNs). The advancement of APNs' practice inquiry competencies is timely for its interfaces with the national scientific agenda's emphasis on translating science to clinical practice, health care delivery systems and policy. A framework for conceptualizing a practice inquiry curriculum and competencies is proposed. In addition, the divergent and convergent comparisons with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) nursing programs are discussed, with emphasis placed on potential collaborative clinical research endeavors.

Published 8 June 2006 in Nurs Outlook, 54(3): 139-51.
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