“All types of scholarly work are interdependent and interconnected,” Kristen Fessele, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, a nurse scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, NY, said. The process of taking research studies and analyzing data to the point of actual implementation in clinical care is complex and can take years. “It’s too much for one person to do alone, so we need different kinds of training that emphasize our skill sets so we can get all of this to our patients,” Fessele said.

Nursing Roles in Research

Research has a variety of roles for nurses for a reason: Each has a specific purpose. Nurse researchers, usually PhD prepared, focus on the generation and dissemination of knowledge, DNP-prepared nurses emphasize the application of research to clinical practice, and clinical nurses implement the new practices in direct patient care, observe side effects, identify challenges or obstacles, and provide insights and data back to nurse researchers to inform future studies.

Uniting those roles around a clinical topic is essential to solving clinical problems together, Fessele said. “It’s not until we implement the evidence in our different clinical practice, policies, procedures, workflows, clinical settings, and patient groups that we start to improve outcomes.”

That third factor is critical: Nurses are key to helping researchers understand how an innovative approach or technique works for different populations. “Especially as we start to look at scholarly work through a health equity lens, this becomes even more important,” Fessele said. “We need to ask, is it working for everyone? Is every clinician following the practice that we think is the best, and are they evolving as new evidence comes along? We need evidence and we need implementation, or we’re not going to improve the clinical problem.”

Although most research is “very regimented,” Fessele said, it will not change practice or contribute to new standards of care until the findings are implemented in direct care. And that’s where the DNP role comes into play.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) approved the first DNP program in October 2004. DNP education prepares “nurse leaders at the highest level of nursing practice to improve patient outcomes and translate research into practice,” AACN said.

Cheryl Le Huquet, DNP, MSN, RN, NE-BC, project manager of hospital operations at UCLA Health in Los Angeles, CA, and James Simmons, DNP, AG/ACNP, acute care nurse practitioner and founder of Ask the NP and Simmons Medical, were in the first DNP cohort at UCLA. Le Huquet said that she and Simmons have been working on socializing DNPs and PhDs since 2020. 

“This is not a one-and-done situation,” she explained. “Personal relationships are required to build trust and are foundational to the working relationships.”

Why DNPs Should Consider Research

Le Huquet described herself as very process-oriented, so when she was initially finding her place in research, she knew it would be in application. “I don't need to generate more research. I need to apply what’s already out there,” she said.

Simmons’ pathway was similar: He recognized that his area of interest already had established evidence and models, but he wanted to find a new way to apply them. 

“I knew I wanted to implement the science, see with my own eyes if it worked in a community that I care about, and then give that information back to the researchers because that information was missing. So once I figured this out, the check for DNP was pretty easy,” Simmons said.

The distinction between PhD and DNP roles in research can be vague, and collaboration can be challenging across roles and settings. However, working together can improve the research process, facilitate faster implementation and improvement, and identify additional projects to improve patient care. 

PhDs and DNPs Team Up to Conduct Better Clinical Cancer Research

As DNPs, Le Huquet and Simmons needed to collaborate with PhD researchers to accomplish their goals. In 2020, they convened a meeting of nurses interested in research at UCLA. Simmons said they had a vision that “building a collaborative scholarly PhD–DNP community will advance nursing science and improve patient outcomes.” 

Based on the concept of speed dating, the UCLA program participants come to each meeting prepared to pitch their areas of clinical interest to someone else. Simmons described the meetings as a “DNP–PhD immersive experience” and “where nurse scientists meet practice change.” 

Simmons said the original goal was to start small and use experiential learning to grow the program. However, the community was so excited about the program that it expanded organically. Word spread and the concept grew, and now participants meet virtually once a month, with in-person meetings once per quarter. The program has also evolved to allow participants to share their elevator pitch by video to distribute within or beyond the group for ideas, resources, or other support.

One topic that the group has addressed is the difference between what PhDs and DNPs do. “It was a really lovely opportunity to have some folks understand these career paths—not in a formal but in a really casual environment,” Simmons said. “The value of that has been the different perspectives that people can bring.” He said that many participant connections have led to exciting collaborations, and he is currently creating a website to expand the program and connect PhDs and DNPs around the world to talk about their interests and projects. 

Fessele implemented a similar meeting concept at MSKCC, which is called a “monthly mingle.” She said the meetings bring together the “doctorally prepared and the doctorally curious,” with about 160 people invited to the Interprofessional and Doctorally Educated Allied Scholars (IDEAS) meeting. IDEAS features speakers, networking, and ideas sharing, and Fessele said that the meetings have led nurses to create more formal collaborations around common interests.

Another benefit of research partnerships is potentially shrinking the timeline from analysis to implementation, and Fessele said that she is now prioritizing implementation science through DNP collaborations on the research team. She said that DNPs and other implementation specialists help to test interventions, plan how to launch the results, speed up timelines, and identify direct care obstacles or barriers before launch.

Initial Findings From ONS’s PhD–DNP Think Tank

ONS is leading national work to expand collaboration among nursing research roles. In April 2024, the Society convened a PhD–DNP think tank at ONS Congress that brought together 30 PhD and DNP nurses to discuss collaboration opportunities and obstacles and develop an action plan to leverage both roles. The group is currently analyzing insights from the conversations and plans to publish the findings. 

According to the participants, barriers to collaboration between PhDs and DNPs include funding, role confusion, lack of organizational support and infrastructure, time limitations, and competition for positions. The benefits, participants said, include improved patient outcomes, efficiencies, more pragmatic and clinically relevant studies, promotion of the profession, faster translation of research to practice, and more diverse skill sets. 

Do You Want to Get Involved in Nursing Research?

ONS develops research priorities designed to advance patient care, scientific inquiry, clinical applications, and the field of oncology nursing (see sidebar). They can serve as a starting point for nurses interested in developing research projects.

However, some aspects of nursing research apply to all roles. In fact, getting involved in nursing research doesn’t necessarily mean obtaining an advanced degree. “All nurses participate in evidence-based practice (EBP),” Le Huquet said. “By documenting their care in the electronic health record, each nurse is contributing to the data collection required as a baseline for EBP projects or as data for a nursing study.”

For those interested in becoming more involved in nursing research, Le Huquet provided these tips:

• Learn how to collect and present data.
• Read the literature and understand the methods and analysis, not just the results.
• Understand your organization’s goals so you can move your system forward.
• Work with a leader (often a DNP) to build the business case to support the change in your institution. 
• Build relationships with PhD- and DNP-prepared nurses. “This is an underrecognized skill in nursing but essential in the business world,” she said. “Health care is a business.”

Simmons added, “Find your passion! Nurses can leave a lasting legacy on the healthcare issues they care most about through a focus on generating new knowledge or on using the principles of implementation science to apply best practices from the literature. 

“Imagine doing what you love every single day—while changing the world? It’s entirely possible in nursing science!”