March 2009 Melissa Joy Roberts, JD, RN, is the assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she earned a law degree in 2005. She teaches courses in the MSN and DNP programs and coordinates the Saint Joseph outreach site. She teaches courses in health promotion, health assess- ment, health policy, and family nurse practitioner clinical courses. She has a nurse practitioner practice at Indian Health Services clinics in Lawrence and White Cloud, KS, and practices law part time in Independence, MO. Kenneth P. Miller, PhD, CFNP, FAAN, is the direc- tor of the University of Delaware’s School of Nursing. He is a past president of the ACNP and a recipient of the ACNP Leadership Award. He is the former vice dean of internal programs in the College of Nursing at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and held professo- rial positions at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He prac- tices as an FNP at Westside Family Healthcare Services in New Castle County,Delaware. Melissa Joy Roberts Kenneth P. Miller POINT counter-point 186 The Journal for Nurse Practitioners - JNP Online Poll: Should master’s NP programs be replaced by DNP programs? Go to www.npjournal.org to register your vote. In October 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) endorsed the Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing, calling for the preparation level for advanced practice nursing to move from the master’s degree to the doc- torate level by 2015. Since that time, there has been a proliferation of doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs; 81 were listed on the AACN website as of September 2008. The proposed move to DNP education for advanced nurses has stimulated many questions among master’s-prepared NPs. Will the DNP credential devalue the excellence of the MS credentials that current NPs have earned, causing others to view this education as second class? Will the DNP undermine the hard-fought place that PhD nurs- ing faculty has won to gain credibility in graduate schools as bona fide academics? Is the increased cost of this new program justi- fied in a time of growing financial pressure? The DNP is a terminal degree intended to enable nurses to implement the science developed by nurses with research-focused doctorates. While higher education for nurses has been linked to better patient out- comes, the impact of the DNP remains to be seen. What do you think? Should master’s NP programs be replaced by DNP programs? Go to www.npjournal.org to vote. Contact Editor Janet Selway at janet.selway@gmail.com if you would like to comment on this matter. Should Master’s NP Programs be Replaced by DNP Programs?