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New York, NY - The Council for the Advancement of Comprehensive Care (CACC) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) recently announced that they have reached an agreement to develop and administer a Certification Examination for Doctors of Nursing Practice (DNP). This competency-based examination, which will be administered to DNP graduates for the first time in November 2008, will assess the knowledge and skills necessary to support advanced clinical practice. It will be comparable in content, similar in format and will measure the same set of competencies and apply similar performance standards as Step 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), which is administered to physicians as one component of qualifying for licensure.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree was developed in 1999 to respond to a national need for increased access to comprehensive patient care. More than 200 schools have or plan to establish a DNP program. This degree builds on nursing licensure as an advanced practice nurse by adding expanded knowledge and skill in nursing and medical aspects of care for complex illness. The growing burden of chronic illness in the United States will require an even greater focus on collaborative and team-based care.

DNP certification is a three-part process. Candidates must attain licensure as advanced practice nurses, graduate from a DNP program, and successfully complete the CACC Doctor of Nursing Practice Certification Examination. In addition to completion of the DNP educational program, a passing score on the DNP Examination is intended to provide further evidence to the public that DNP certificants are qualified to provide comprehensive patient care. CACC will also focus its efforts on working within the nursing communities to define standards of care as well as develop and implement policies and procedures for monitoring the performance of individuals certified as DNPs, including their patients' outcomes.

The Council for the Advancement of Comprehensive Care (CACC) was established in 2000 to further the development of standard clinical competencies for graduates of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. The Council determined that a national certification process would provide the public with a reliable way to identify advanced nurse clinicians with the DNP degree who can provide comprehensive care. Council membership is comprised of nurses, physicians, health care organization representatives and health and public policy experts.

SOURCE: The Council for the Advancement of Comprehensive Care (CACC)