The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is the practice focused degree associated with doctoral education for advanced nursing practice (APN) preparation, including but not limited to the four current advanced practice nursing roles: clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife, and nurse practitioner. The DNP is analogous to professional degrees offered in other disciplines including entry-level degrees for example, the Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).

The DNP degree fulfills a strong local, regional, and national need for doctorally prepared advanced practice nurses.

The DNP was developed in response to the October 2004 endorsement of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) position statement which recognizes the DNP as the appropriate credential for all advanced nursing practice roles by 2015.