This post is an excellent example of a properly balanced and informative text. To begin with, the author clearly states the benefits they received after completing the last class of their BSN journey. They mention both the advantages and struggles of their studies, which identifies them as an honest person who is not afraid to admit that school has been grueling at times. At the same time, the student states that they have become more personally and professionally developed and explains how exactly. Instead of being more task-oriented like AND nurses, the author now has the needed set of BSN skills and can focus on a patient in a bigger picture (“Earning a bachelor of science in nursing,” 2020).
What I also like about this post is that the student provides clear facts and relevant references for them. For example, when arguing the necessity and importance of having a bachelor of science in nursing and being a lifelong learner, which is also the post’s major strength, the author provides statistics that demonstrate a specific correlation between nurses’ education level and patient mortality (Aiken et al., 2014). Finally, this post’s good word choice takes this text to a higher level and makes it much more comfortable to read.
However, the disadvantage of this post is the structure of most sentences. When reading, I personally found it rather difficult to stay focused because the sentences were unnecessarily long, and many of them should have been split into two or three. However, it may be completely appropriate and understandable for some people; that is why this drawback does not lower the significance and professionalism of this post.
The author of this post starts their discussion with a clear distinction between Ph.D- and DNP-prepared nurses, mentioning the difference between their focus. In other words, the former is aimed at discovering new knowledge, while the latter see their goal in its successful application (Gaines, 2019). Precisely stating this difference is the main advantage of this post, allowing the author to explain how they choose between these equally essential Doctoral Degrees. As for the choice itself, it is also great that the student admits that either of the selected degrees will make a significant difference for the person in the nursing profession, as well families, patients, and communities.
Further, the student explains their own choice in favor of DNP and provides several reasons for that. To begin with, the author wants to have a more robust and closer connection with the patients, which is the feature of DNP nurses (Hazell, n.d.). As for me, I find it rather essential that the student mentions their desire to care about people, give them hope, and develop both personal and family approaches. I believe that it is such people who make healthcare more supportive. The fact that the author wishes to open up their own practice and add other like-minded professionals makes me want to sincerely wish them luck and pray for this world to have more medical specialists with such a big heart.
The disadvantage of this post is that there are no statistics or any healthcare data that would increase the text’s credibility and support the author’s arguments and choices. Having only one reference, the student builds the post mainly on their specific reasons for choosing DNP over Ph.D. What is more, several sentences in this post should be split in two to make the idea more understandable (for example, the last sentence contains about seventy-five words, which is unnecessarily many).
References
Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Bruyneel, L., Van den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., Busse, R., Diomidous, M., Kinnunen, J., Kózka, M., Lesaffre, E., McHugh, M. D., Moreno-Casbas, M. T., Rafferty, A. M., Schwendimann, R., Scott, P. A., Tishelman, C., van Achterberg, T., Sermeus, W., & RN4CAST consortium (2014). Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: a retrospective observational study. Lancet, 383(9931), 1824–1830.
Earning a bachelor of science in nursing. (2020). All Nursing Schools. Web.
Gaines, K. (2019). DNP vs Ph.D. in nursing – What is the difference? Nurse.org. Web.
Hazell, K. (n.d.). What is the difference between a Ph.D. and a DNP in nursing? Point Loma. Web.