Gaining your DNP degree can be a smart move. It may take some time to work on this advanced degree, but it provides a lot of opportunities that you can’t get until you have obtained that degree. If you can work hard and get the Doctor of Nursing Practice, you will be able to take on some advanced roles that you are not able to get from other degrees.
When you want to take on an advanced role in educating other nurses in the future, some administrative roles, or even work on opening your own practice, then the DNP degree is the right choice for you. Some of the job opportunities that you can take on when you complete your DNP degree include:
Healthcare Executive
One position that you can choose is to become a healthcare executive. These managers are going to be the professionals who can work hard to strategize, coordinate, and direct the different care services that are provided at a medical facility. This is a great career for the DNP graduate who would like to help with the daily operations in a medical facility.
According to the BLS in the United states, this management field is going to continue to grow, with estimates saying the growth will be up to 32% from 2019 to 2029. This is much faster than most other fields that you can choose. And these professionals will make an average of $104,000 a year for their work too.
This professional is going to have a lot of responsibilities to help them get things done during the day. They need to ensure that the medical facility is compliant with all laws and regulations, develop the right departmental goals, and deliver high-quality health care services to all of the patients.
They may also help to monitor and prepare budgets, create the work schedules for other employees, communicate between different departments, and represent the medical facility at different investor meetings. With all of these responsibilities, the professional will need to complete their DNP degree to get the role.
Nursing Faculty
The DNP degree is the one you will need to choose if you wish to work as a nursing faculty member. Part of the problem with the nursing shortage we see right now is that there are not enough professionals who are qualified to teach the next generation of students on how to do their jobs. DNP graduates could enter into higher education and help with this.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing will show that DNP graduates can choose to do either theory-driven or clinical faculty positions if they would like. The BLS shows that these positions will pay pretty well too, with many making an average annual salary of $80,790. You can earn a good salary and help provide training to the nurses of the future.
As a nursing faculty, you will need to make sure the students you teach have a good educational experience. You can help with research, publish your work in academic journals, and be a mentor to future nurses and how they do their work for patients. This can be a fun position that fills a great need.
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse or APRN
The next career that you can choose is to become an APRN. This can take on a lot of different roles based on your specialty such as a nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, and nurse anesthetist. In this role, you will be able to coordinate some of the patient care and can provide other health care services as necessary.
The exact responsibilities that you take on will depend on the role that you have. You can also choose to work in schools, private practice, clinics, and hospitals based on what you like. It is possible to do some of these positions with just a master’s degree, but if you want true autonomy, you should choose to go with the DNP degree before taking on this role.
Health Care Lobbyist
This is a unique position that you can choose to take on if you would like. It may not be the first job you think about, but if you enjoy politics and would like to work in a role that allows you to influence the policy of health care directly, then this is a job that you need to add to your list and pursue with your DNP degree.
Lobbyists will often work for insurance companies, professional nursing organizations, and government agencies who would like to change the face of legislation and regulations that have to do with the healthcare field. This is ideal for those who may have an interest or background in law and would like to help make changes to take care of patients.
Lobbyists, on a broad scale, will represent the interests of their professional organization to the legislators. From local to federal levels, the lobbyist will build good rapport with these officials by showing them about the effects of a law or a bill on different sectors of the health care industry. You must stay up to date on health care trends and current events to do well here.
While politics and dealing with government may not be right for everyone, this can be a rewarding and exciting career for some. It also earns a good salary, especially if you are successful at working for your chosen organization. You need to have a good amount of knowledge of health care and be a good communicator to see success with this career.
Finishing Your DNP Degree
Your DNP degree can be a great tool that helps you to get ahead and really gain the meaningful employment that you would like. When you are considering whether this is a smart move for your needs, take the time to look at some of the job opportunities that are available to you and then jump right into the coursework to get this degree to have a great career.
