Roger's diffusion of innovations theory
The diffusion of innovation s theory was initially advanced by Gabriel T ar de, a French Sociologist in 1903 when he successfully came up with an S-shaped diffusion curve. The idea was later picked up and further developed by two researchers, Ryan and Gross in a 1943 study on Iowa farmers. In the study, the two explored diffusion of hybrid seed corn. Ryan and Gross jointly introduced the adopter categories in the theory . However, it was Everett Rodgers who popularized the theory in his book titled Diffusion of Innovations , which was first published in 1962 . As a result, the theory became an important aspect of nursing informatics . This is especially when it comes to technological innovations where the theory is perceived as the guiding model (Rogers, 2010). The theory has also been widely lauded for its emphasis on the importance of peer networks and communication in the adoption process (Greenhalgh et al. , 2008 ) .
D iffusion of innovation refers to the process that takes place when people adopt an extremely new idea, practice, philosophy or even product. According to the theory, the initial number of people willing to take up a new idea or philosophy is always small. However, with ti m e, and as the early adopters create awareness of the new product or idea, more people become interested and hence open to take up the same . This leads to the development of a critical mass. Over time, the once new and unknown idea, philosophy or practice becomes diffused amongst the population until a saturation point is achieved , after which no more diffusion ca n take place ( Rogers, 2010 ). According ly , for the idea to spread, four elements play an integral role. These are; the innovation, channels of communication, time, and lastly, the social system . Likewise, there are five categories of adopters in the diffusion of innovation . These are the innovators, early adopters and early majority, the late majority, and lastly the laggards. The last category consists of non-adopters. Th is can be represented as shown below. ;
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Figure I: Diffusion of innovations as postulated by Rogers
In essence, the diffusion of innovation s theory seeks to examine the manner and ways through which new ideas spread among different groups of people. T herefore, a s expected , there are conditions that either increase or decrease the rate of diffusion rate . The conditions influence the likelihood of adoption of the innovation by the members of a population ( Greenhalgh et al., 2008). T he leaders, wh o have a strong influence on people’s choices, the intermediaries, and the change agents, are major determinants of the rate of diffusion of an innovation ( Rogers 2010).
T he development of DNP education
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is one of the two doctorate degrees in nursing. The second doctorate in nursing is the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing ( Ph.D. ). T he DNP education is offered both as a terminal degree for clinical nursing education and as a graduate degree for advanced nursing practice preparation (Chism, 201 6 ). T he DNP education is mainly focused on practice competencies as opposed to academic research . H ence, DNP students address the critical skills required to translate evidence -based care into actual practice, improve the existing system of patient care and measure the outcome of various groups of patients and communities (Ahmed et al. , 201 2 ).
The p opularization of the DNP program was not widely done since most practitioners did not see a clear line of distinction between a graduate registered nurse and a D NP degree holder. However, with the growing insistence on the need to reduce costs, offer better population health and improve general patient experiences, the role of a nurse in the entire mix was significantly altered. For instance, besides the clinical responsibilities, one needs to be knowledgeable about a variety of administrative and leadership roles, informatics and public polic y . Hence, while the initial number of nurses willing to enroll in the DNP programs was small , the non-adopters slowly realized that without the DNP education , their performance was limited (Ahmed et al., 201 2 ).
A DNP d egree holder has extra duties besides the regular clinical responsibilities. For instance, the DNP curriculum prepares one for leadership and administrative roles, policy making, system improvements, quality evaluation and monitoring as well as informatics and public health policies . Hence, with the current diverse mix of roles , titles, degrees, and practice settings, having a DNP degree puts one in a position to take up more specialized tasks as opposed to general clinical responsibilities (Ahmed et al., 201 2 ).
T he future development of the DNP education
Two questions can be used to describe the future development of the DNP education based on the diffusion of innovation s theory . These are; where does the DNP education fit in the current era’s health care environment and how does the DNP education fit with other nursing degrees? There has been a positive response from various professions with regard to the increasing academic rigor in professional degrees in healthcare fields. Th is reaction is owe d to the fact that there is a need to prepare skilled professionals so as to improve the quality of services through creative and innovative translation of learn ed skills into actual practice. Hence, the number of students willing to enroll for DNP degree is bound to increase further . This is because the increasing team-based care, as well as collaboration amongst professions, calls for a subsequent increase in the number of highly t rained nurses to guarantee patients access to skilled care . Also, an increase in the number of DNP degree holders will increase the number of available nursing faculty to train additional nurses at the bachelor’s level (Chism, 201 6 ).
With time, the number of graduate nurses willing to take up the program is expected to grow significantl y . The increase is not only attributed to the changed role of nurses but also the extensive lobbying and awareness created by change agents and the existing DNP degree holders. Once the targeted number is achieved , the American Association of College of Nursing is expected to set a limit to the annual intake of DNP students to avoid saturation and possible perforation of the program .
References
Ahmed, S. W., Andrist, L. C., Davis, S. M., & Fuller, V. J. (Eds.). (2012). DNP education, practice, and policy: Redesigning advanced practice roles for the 21st century . New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Chism, L. A. (2016). The doctor of nursing practice: A guidebook for role development and professional issues , 3 rd Edition. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Greenhalgh, T., Robert, G., Bate, P., Macfarlane, F., & Kyriakidou, O. (2008). Diffusion of innovations in health service organisations: a systematic literature review . Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Rogers, E. M. (2010). Diffusion of innovations , 4 th Edition. New York: The Free Press.
