Co-Contributor – Julee Waldrop DNP, FAANP, FAAN
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DNP Education and Practice

In a time when healthcare systems are increasingly impersonal, patient care may be at risk of discontinuity. The collaboration between Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) nurses offers a pathway to integrate nursing knowledge and practice by leveraging their distinctive and complementary skill sets. (Cygan & Reed, 2019).

The Uppercase D stands for “Doctor”

 Doctorally prepared nurses are at the pinnacle of nursing education. Doctoral preparation provides knowledge and insight essential for creating research-to-practice initiatives, such as evidence-based practice quality improvement projects and nursing policy/advocacy grounded in research and clinical acumen, with safe, quality patient care as the focus.

 DNP prepared nurses are experts in the application of research in practice using evidence-based practice quality improvement (EBPQI). EPBQI methods and implementation science strategies within systems of care. PhD-prepared nurses contribute to research design, conduct research, apply methodologies, collect data, and synthesize findings to produce nursing knowledge. Collaborating creates unique opportunities to assess and address multifaceted health care challenges. When structured purposefully, PhD-DNP collaborations can amplify the use of nursing research in practice and ultimately improve patient care in sustainable ways (Overcash, 2025).

 Regrettably, since the introduction of the DNP degree, misconceptions along with difference in the delivery of their respective education programs (PhD traditionally face to face and DNP degrees often distance based) has created obstacles between DNP and PhD prepared nurses, including an inadequate appreciation of each other’s scholarly strengths and a continued perception of hierarchy of degrees with the PhD being at the top, or better than the DNP degree.  Rather than prolonging the discussion and perpetuating tensions, it is long overdue for DNP and PhD nurses to recognize that our healthcare system desperately needs us to collaborate to address the healthcare crises we face and strengthen our profession. A good place to begin is by creating an atmosphere and ultimately a culture of mutual respect (Cygan & Reed, 2019).

Dialogue In Action

 Recently, we attended Texas Woman’s University’s annual PhD & DNP Colloquium. Scholars look forward to this annual event to connect with faculty, learn a wealth of information, and come together with our cohorts for authentic, in-person connections. An interactive networking session was designed to foster collaboration between DNP and PhD scholars. Through a series of brief, timed discussions, scholars exchanged highlights of their respective doctoral programs, a sense of collegiality was achieved, and opportunities were highlighted for scholarly partnership between students from the DNP and PhD programs.

Strength Through Unity

 A viable approach to fostering unity within our nursing practice involves inter-professional education, complemented by intra-professional initiatives. This occurs by creating opportunities to learn from one another in our workplaces and in academia.

Another area where the PhD-prepared nurse and the DNP-prepared nurse could collaborate is in theory and innovation around practice knowledge development (Rotondo, 2021). An emerging model for evidence-based practice quality improvement (EBPQI) developed by nurses for nurses, the Mountain Model, is an innovation that integrates EBP and (Waldrop & Dunlap, 2024). The Mountain Model for EBPQI addresses the persistent lack of continuous monitoring, adaptation and sustainability in EBP models as well as the neglect of research evidence in quality improvement models.  In addition, the levels of the mountain model demonstrate nurses’ roles in practice as integral to practice improvement and that nurses with all degrees of education are needed. The figure shows that nursing practice is an integrated profession, requiring nurses at all levels of education to work together to produce practice-based knowledge that sustains practice improvement. Different educational preparations bring their strength and contributions, as well as leadership to different components of this practice-based model.

By asking one another questions and listening intentionally, we create space to humble ourselves and learn from each other. This allows for greater understanding and more opportunities to collaborate. Through collaboration, discussion, and action, we can identify and tackle pressing patient care issues in healthcare, inform policy, and research-practice partnerships (Carlson et al., 2018). 

References

Carlson, E. A., Staffileno, B. A., & Murphy, M. P. (2018). Promoting DNP-PhD collaboration in doctoral education: Forming a DNP project team. Journal of Professional Nursing: Official Journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 34(6), 433–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2017.12.011

Cygan, H. R., & Reed, M. (2019). DNP and PhD scholarship: Making the case for collaboration. Journal of Professional Nursing: Official Journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 35(5), 353–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.03.002

Overcash, J. (2025). Scientific collaboration between DNP and PhD nurses: A deliberate partnership for
translating evidence into practice. Oncology Nursing Forum, 52(6), 396–397.
https://doi.org/10.1188/25.ONF.396-397

Rotondo, L. D. (2021). Fostering dialogue about practice knowledge development DNP curriculum.
https://nursology.net/2021/08/31/fostering-dialogue-about-practice-knowledge-development-in-a-dnp-
curriculum-opportunity-for-theory-innovation/

Waldrop, J., & Dunlap, J. J. (2024). The Mountain Model for evidence-based practice quality
improvement initiatives. The American Journal of Nursing, 124(5), 32–37.
https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0001014540.57079.72

About the Contributors

Faith A. Tissot MSN, RN, CCRN is a member of the Nursology.net Advisory Team, and was. Nursology.net intern in 2024-25.  She is a PhD student in Nursing Science at Texas Woman’s University. Her clinical passion lies in cardiothoracic surgical intensive care. Her dissertation research, grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, explores how mirror viewing experiences facilitate the restoration of self-connection among adults who have aged out of foster care. Her faith, family, and commitment to advocating for the foster care community are fundamental to her values and inspire her nursing practice

Julee Briscoe Waldrop, DNP, FNP, PNP, EBP-C, CNE, NC-BC, CPC, FAANP, FAAN is a leader in evidence-based practice quality improvement and the co-developer of the Mountain Model for Evidence-Based Practice Quality Improvement. She is a professor emerita at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing and a Clinical Associate at Duke University and has taught nursing in some capacity for over 30 years. She is a retired Nurse Practitioner with over 25 years of experience. She currently coaches and mentors nurse faculty, consults on DNP program improvement, and passionately enjoys writing with over 200 publications. She is currently the Associate Editor for the Journal of Professional Nursing and past Editor in Chief and current Editor of the Emerging Scholars Program at The Journal for Nurse Practitioners.