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American Journal of Critical Care. 2006;15: 359
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Nursing Practice and Advanced Degrees

I am always concerned about the confusion we bring upon ourselves as a profession with all of the different regulations and titles that we use from state to state. Advanced practice nurses have so many varying initials after our names—ANP, NP-C, NP, CNP, APRN, and so on—that even someone within the profession has a hard time keeping them all straight. I think we need to agree from state to state on some uniformity in what we call ourselves first and foremost.

As far as doctoral preparation, I think that multiple titles are less confusing than the above. It is my belief that adding a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) as a postgraduate degree would add less confusion than explaining to every patient who calls me "Doc" that I am not a "Doc." Physicians have multiple doctoral degress within their profession, including MD, DO, MD/PhD, DMD, DPM, and more. Their patients know them only as Doctor. Any doctoral degree will help give our profession the credibility we continue to fight for. Advanced education is always a plus for our profession and, more importantly, for our patients.

Colleen Walsh-Irwin, RN, MS, CCRN, ANP
Northport, NY





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