Proposal suggests a doctoral-level certification for nurse executives, indicating the need for advanced education.
The evolution of nursing leadership educational preparation, compared with current nurse executive board certifications, highlights redundancies and insufficient differentiation based on level of academic preparation. Emphasizing outcomes associated with doctoral preparation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) essentials, the authors propose establishing a doctoral-level certification pathway. This recommendation aligns nurse executive certification with the transition of many advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) programs to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) as the terminal practice degree, leading to advanced specialty certification, and supports national calls for doctoral education for nurses who hold organization-wide or system-level leadership positions.
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Davis et al. (2026) studied this question.
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