The 7 Best Reasons to Earn Your Doctor of Nursing Practice This Year

We sat down with recent Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) alum Charlene Seale, DNP, RN, to discuss her Chamberlain experience. Below, she shares her top seven reasons for pursuing a DNP from Chamberlain:

 

Every course I took was focused on communicating with the individual student. I had a real sense that the faculty members were invested in my educational success – not just that I received a degree, but that I received an education in that process. I believe there is a difference.

 

I would have never had the confidence or the knowledge to submit three different presentations to international conferences after graduation had it not been for Chamberlain. I hear from people my age (I’m older and have been a nurse for a long time) that they are worried about going back to school. They ask me if the time and money spent pays off at their age. I say nothing should be holding them back. There are plenty of resources to get you back in the educational process, and the transition from a brick and mortar student to an online school can be successful because Chamberlain provides a wealth of help.  

 

I won’t say going to school while working was easy. For me, that was part of the learning process – learning work-life balance and to be extremely organized with how I was using my time. To make significant, positive change at work, I couldn’t let my school workload affect my work. It was cyclical and challenging, but also beneficial to be working and going to school at the same time because I could apply concepts I learned right away. They translated back and forth. 

 

There have been so many real-life applications – how to communicate with legislators outside of my work, how to be an honest leader in a professional organization, how to have emotional intelligence, how to consider regulatory components and more. I am now able to see the big picture.

 

Chamberlain faculty taught me how to navigate difficult situations. Without the help of extraordinary Chamberlain faculty, I could not have succeeded in my final DNP project. Professor Virginia Hall, DNP, MSN-Ed, RN, CNE, took me to a different skill level. I had to ensure I worked delicately because there was a lot of confidentiality surrounding my project. She told me, “You don’t have to name your facility to do this project; you have to be able to name the intervention, and name the result.” She was awesome. The faculty work with so many students and are familiar with many organizations. Many faculty are or have been high-ranking hospital system nurses themselves so they know how to manage different situations.

 

I had been looking to go back to school for about 10 years (since I finished my master’s program). I did an analysis of what my capabilities were and then went through a research process to find a program that matched. Give yourself the opportunity to reach your full potential. If you really want to learn and accomplish something and come out as a stronger professional, then I’d highly recommend Chamberlain. They really care about ensuring that your personal care as a nurse becomes stronger.

 

If it were easy, everyone would do it. Go the extra mile to become an even more extraordinary nurse!