Doctor of Nursing Practice based on Family Health: A review of the best Educational Models in Nursing

Introduction: Presenting the Doctor of Nursing Practice course is one of the most critical challenges in Iran's nursing education system. Introducing successful models in the doctoral course in clinical nursing can provide a platform for designing and developing nursing education programs based on society's needs. This review study aimed to introduce successful educational models in the clinical nursing doctorate program by focusing on family health. Methods: A descriptive-comparative review study was conducted in 2020. After searching the internet in prestigious universities in the world, with the keywords of Ph.D. in Nursing, Family Health, two universities of Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States were selected due to global superiority and relative similarity of the field. The analytical and comparative description of two educational programs using the Beredy model was performed in four stages of description, interpretation, proximity, and comparison. Results: In both universities, the Doctor of Nursing Practice program has a strategic planning structure, including vision, mission, goals, and operational plans. Curriculum-based on basic nursing knowledge and physiology, pharmacology, evidence-based performance, solving health challenges and improving the quality of family/community health, paying attention to cultural differences, the impact of politics and economics on professional nursing development, program development and advanced interventions for the health of families (mostly children, and the elderly, identification of high-risk families especially who exposed to social harm. Both universities emphasize graduates' empowerment as future leaders in clinical, educational, research, and managerial performance. Conclusions: Doctor of Nursing Practice course at the Universities of Maryland and Pennsylvania has been advantageous with a robust, comprehensive, and efficient curriculum based on solving the health challenges of families, especially vulnerable families. It helps to improve community health as well as develop professional nursing roles and specializing in nursing. Unfortunately, in Iran, the operation of the Doctor of Nursing Practice course has failed. Modeling successful programs in line with the appropriate context can be a significant step towards implementing the Doctor of Nursing Practice course in Iran.