[Francis Tesoriere]

This is a really interesting video and speaks to a number of items acting as barriers to nurses delivering high quality care. Such a radical, yet worthwhile idea with a potential to impact patient outcomes by relieving some of the longtime clerical stress placed on nurses working at the bedside. I agree and feel this would make for an interesting DNP project should it gather enough momentum and interest.

[Francis Tesoriere]

I’ve felt something along the lines of what you mentioned in your post about discouragement or tension received by peers when discussing the personal topic of pursuing the DNP degree. Currently pursuing the DNP and working in a busy California emergency department, I’m a little surprised to find that other providers such as Attending/Resident Physicians and PAs have been the most encouraging when sharing with them that I’m pursuing the terminal degree. Nursing peers, especially those working in upper management/administration or as educators are not as receptive to the news of me pursuing the DNP. I can relate to your hesitancy surrounding even mentioning that you’re studying for your DNP. Peers will ask, “why don’t you just go to medical school?” alongside other similarly exhausting questions. To this I say, stay focused, keep studying. Remind and reinforce your peers of the merits of the DNP and why it is essential to the future of healthcare.

[Francis Tesoriere]

Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking opinion piece. Reading it for the first time here in August, it’s interesting to point out that it was written in March and essentially predicted the biggest problem our healthcare system is facing at present: a nursing shortage. Many parallels were drawn between today’s coronavirus pandemic and previous pandemic/epidemics of the past century. It’s disheartening to realize that more could be done to combat this nursing shortage than what we’re seeing today. If the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, we can anticipate the nursing shortage only getting worse. In times like this, we should be encouraging and providing a pathway for nursing students or those wishing to get into a career like nursing. We should also be allowing APRN’s to practice to the fullest extent of their capabilities, as stated in the article. In California, the California Health Corps took an interesting first step at directing current and future nurses (and other healthcare professionals) towards the collective effort to combat COVID-19 at the onset of this pandemic.

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