DNP Still Stirs Emotions at NP Conference
The first day of sessions at the largest NP conference in history has come to a close. There are officially over 4,500 NPs attending the 24th National Conference of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and even in the largest Gaylord resort in the country, with 1,800 rooms, there was spill-over to other hotels. The place is really abuzz with NPs. Everyone filled the general session room early this morning for opening remarks and watched the posting of the colors and then heard an overview of political action affecting NPs from AANP health policy director Jan Towers. Conference organizers handed out a book to each attendee listing each state's legislators and which committees they belong to.
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Posting of the colors |
Towers made an appeal to the crowd to contact legislators today about the bills proposed for reforming health care in our country. Here at the convention center there is an area set up with computers for attendees to use to contact legislators. You can get involved from home, too: go to
http://www.aanp.org/, click on AANP advocacy center, fill in your information, and send a ready-made letter to your senator or congressperson.
In the afternoon, Towers presented a session on the doctorate of nursing practice. The room was packed, with attendees craning their necks to hear from standing room in the back. It was clear that NPs still have many questions about the degree and what its implications will be for their practice.
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Inside one of the courtyards at The Gaylord Opryland, the original Gaylord resort, with 1,800 rooms and 16 restaurants! |
For one, attendees had concerns about the fact that the DNP is a clinical as well as a nonclinical doctorate, depending on the track that the student takes. Towers assuaged fears - the clinical doctorate will only be earned by those who are nurses or become nurses in the process. There were also questions about salary (the DNP's goal wasn't to increase it) and whether current NPs will be grandfathered (they will).
Towers was also very vocally against the Council for the Advancement of Comprehensive Care exam for DNP graduates, the first of which was administered at Columbia University to 40 DNP graduates in October. Towers' stance got a hearty round of applause from a very emotionally charged crowd, who quickly fired question after question about it and broke out into chatter. "We hope, due to its unpopularity, that it will die a quiet death," said Towers.
Tomorrow's events include industry-sponsored breakfasts, more informative clinical and professional presentations, poster presentations, and the grand opening of the exhibit hall. Keep checking in for updates!