II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 53 

To express the sense of the Senate concerning the establishment of Doctor 

of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Pharmacy dual degree programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To express the sense of the Senate concerning the establishment of Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Pharmacy dual degree programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Doctor of Nursing 

5 Practice and Doctor of Pharmacy Dual Degree Program 

6 Act of 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Senate makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The terms dual, joint, double, or combined 

2 degrees are used interchangeably, and such terms 

3 mean students working for 2 different and distinct 

4 degrees in parallel, completing 2 degrees in less time 

5 than it would take to complete each degree sepa6 rately. 

7 (2) The overall purpose of the innovative cross 

8 cutting dual or joint degree nursing programs is to 

9 prepare nurses to expand the traditional scope of 

10 nursing practice, with the goal of strengthening 

11 health care teams. 

12 (3) The American Association of Colleges of 

13 Nursing (AACN) 2009 survey of schools of nursing 

14 documents that there are over 100 nursing schools 

15 that offer dual degree programs of which 74 are 

16 MSN/MBA programs, 34 are MSN/MPH programs, 

17 10 are MSN/MHA programs, 5 are MSN/MPA pro18 grams, 4 are MSN/MDIV programs, and 3 are 

19 MSN/JD programs. 

20 (4) There is currently no dual degree program 

21 that combines nursing and pharmacology. 

22 (5) Recently, the University of Hawaii at Hilo 

23 has explored the option of nursing and pharmacy 

24 partnering to meet the needs of the changing health 

25 care field. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

2 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

3 (1) there should be established a Doctor of 

4 Nursing Practice (DNP) and Doctor of Pharmacy 

5 (PharmD) dual degree program; 

6 (2) the development of a joint degree in nursing 

7 and pharmacology should combine a Doctor of Nurs8 ing Practice (DNP) with a Doctor of Pharmacy 

9 (PharmD); 

10 (3) such a dual degree program would improve 

11 patient outcomes; 

12 (4) through such a dual collaborative role, 

13 health providers will be better able to meet the 

14 unique needs of rural communities across the age 

15 continuum and in diverse settings; 

16 (5) such a dual degree program— 

17 (A) would enhance collaboration between 

18 Doctors of Nursing Practice and physicians re19 garding drug therapy; 

20 (B) would provide for research concerning, 

21 and the implementation of, safer medication ad22 ministration; 

23 (C) would broaden the scope of practice for 

24 pharmacists through education and training in 

25 diagnosis and management of common acute 

26 and chronic diseases; 


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1 (D) would provide new employment oppor2 tunities for private physician or nurse-managed 

3 clinics, walk-in clinics, school clinics, or clinics 

4 at institutions of higher education, long-term 

5 care facilities, Veteran Administration facilities, 

6 hospitals and hospital clinics, hospice centers, 

7 home health care agencies, pharmaceutical com8 panies, emergency departments, urgent care 

9 sites, physician group practices, extended care 

10 facilities, and research centers; and 

11 (E) would assist in filling the need for pri12 mary care providers with an expertise in geri13 atrics and pharmaceuticals; and 

14 (6) additional research and evaluation should be 

15 conducted to determine the extent to which grad16 uates of such a dual degree program improve pri17 mary health care, address disparities, diversify the 

18 workforce, and increase quality of service for under19 served populations. 

Æ 


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