Opening a doctoral program in nursing: factors to consider

As nursing education has evolved from hospital-based training schools to the college campus, the need for doctoral nursing faculty and other leaders has increased. The greatest needs are for nurses capable of conducting research in nursing and for faculty to teach in baccalaureate and master's nursing programs. Therefore, schools of nursing across the country are considering initiation of new doctoral programs. This decision is a complex one that depends on numerous factors related mostly to resources. Ideally, new programs will develop only after the necessary resources have been identified and secured. Another critical decision is the type of doctoral program a school chooses to offer. Nursing should make an attempt to determine whether there actually are substantial differences between the present professional and research degree programs. In addition, the roles that doctorally prepared nurses will be expected to fulfill in the health care system should be defined. Overall, in spite of the documented need for many more doctorally prepared nurses and the inability of existing doctoral nursing programs to meet that need, new programs should be initiated with utmost caution. Thorough, extensive data gathering should provide information about available alternatives. The positive and negative consequences of each alternative should be identified and carefully weighed. Finally, once a school has decided to initiate a program, it should plan carefully for implementation. Thorough preparation will assure that the program selected is well matched to the resources available to support it.     

Fostering scholarship in doctoral education: Using a social capital framework to support PhD student writing groups

The shortage of nurse scientists in the United States complicates nursing's ability to sustain research-intensive environments, build knowledge for translation, and advance nursing science. More emphasis is needed on the preparation of PhD doctoral students to better equip them for a career of scholarship. Four recent PhD graduates participating in a writing group, examined the influence of social capital on their ability to develop capacity for scholarship. They found that a strong social factor supported their efforts to engage as scholars, be accountable for their writing, and make contributions to the research community. Although the writing group provided a space to practice scholarly writing and increased scholarly productivity, the experience was transformative in building capacity for scholarship. This article includes recommendations for academic leaders to both create and support writing groups within doctoral nursing programs using a social capital framework. Strategies are provided using the three dimensions of social capital: structural, relational, and cognitive. Investing in strategies that build social capital within a community can directly impact the advancement of science by elevating capacity for scholarship.     

Opportunities in preparing global leaders in nursing.

During the past decade, there has been a large increase in the number of international nurses pursuing doctoral education in the United States. The influx of these nurses has ramifications for the institutional systems providing education as well as on international and American nursing students. To begin understanding the issues presented by international doctoral nursing education, a survey of U.S. schools of nursing as well as a focus group of currently enrolled international doctoral students was conducted. The survey revealed that both international students and nursing programs experience challenges with regard to language, communication, financing, and support systems. More specifically, information gathered from the focus group identified issues regarding (1) lack of familiarity with the U.S. health care system, (2) lack of previous experience with the seminar format used in doctoral programs, (3) restricted opportunities to participate in faculty research, and (4) stress from a heavy course load to finish the program within a very short time period. Universally, the surveys and focus group lauded the positive global perspective imbued on all students and faculties via the international connection. Nonetheless, schools of nursing need to identify more effective strategies to aid international students in their development as successful global leaders. Meleis's framework for culturally competent scholarship is offered as a guide for schools of nursing.     

Factors affecting nursing students' intention to work as a geriatric nurse with older adults in Turkey: A cross-sectional study

The need for nurses specialized in geriatrics continues to increase with the aging world population. However, nurses and nursing students mostly do not consider geriatric nursing as a possible career in nursing. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence such a career preference is crucial to encourage geriatric nursing. The current study is cross-sectional and aims to investigate nursing students' intention to work as a geriatric nurse with older adults and the factors influencing those intentions. A total of 688 nursing students enrolled in the second, third, and fourth-years of the Bachelor of Nursing program in two universities were recruited. Data were collected using a questionnaire form developed by the researchers and the Kogan Attitude toward Old People Scale. Results indicated correlations between the fourth year in the program, living with older adults, taking a separate course on geriatric health, experience in providing care for older adults, and evaluating geriatric nursing as a possible career in nursing (P < 0.05). Additionally, the study demonstrated that students avert from a career in geriatric nursing due to the lack of knowledge and skills and negative experiences during internships and practice. In conclusion, nursing programs should include courses designed to focus on gerontology to improve nurse students' willingness to work with older adults.     

Preparing nursing faculty for baccalaureate-level and graduate-level nursing programs: role preparation for the academy

This article explores the multiple roles expected of nursing faculty teaching in baccalaureate and graduate programs, as well as the preparation required to accomplish those roles. The educational preparation for the challenging roles nurse educators are required to assume is explored, along with suggestions on how to support faculty in their roles to ensure they are both productive and retained in their work. Although the research mission remains an important priority role for faculty today, it can easily overshadow and conflict with the equally compelling faculty roles needed to address the holistic development of the next generation of the profession: teaching; service, and practice. Boyer's dimensions of scholarship are used to suggest a structure for the roles that baccalaureate and graduate faculty in nursing programs need to be prepared to assume: the scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of integration, the scholarship of application, and the scholarship of teaching.     

Research support by doctoral-granting colleges/schools of nursing.

Colleges and schools of nursing with doctoral programs focus on developing quality research programs. One effective way of managing and nurturing a research program is through the implementation of a nursing research office or center. The purpose of this study is to describe the resources provided by the colleges/schools of nursing with doctoral programs for research development. A self-report questionnaire, developed by the research team, was mailed to all schools of nursing offering doctoral programs. The response rate was 79 per cent (65/82 schools). Results indicated that 56 schools (86.2 per cent) have designated research support offices. The main goals of nursing research offices are to increase the amount of extramural funding and to promote dissemination of scholarly work via publications and presentations. The majority of research offices provide assistance with grants and the research process and offer educational programs. Most doctoral-granting schools are providing some support for research activities. However, the degree of investment in research support varied widely among the responding schools. This study suggests that it takes both time and institutional commitment to build a successful research environment. Although necessary for research development, support services are not sufficient by themselves. Instead, they need to be considered in the light of individual (e.g., faculty interest and motivation) and group (e.g., culture of scholarship) factors within each school.     

The scholars' nursery

There has never been a more critical time for the development of cadres of younger, better-prepared nurse researchers. The following 3 current factors underscore this need: the current and prolonged nursing shortage that affects practice, research, and teaching; the increased emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention, and reduction in health disparities as articulated in Healthy People 2010; and the renewed effort to advance the image of nursing as an intellectual as well as compassionate enterprise. There are a limited number of institutions equipped to prepare these nurse scholars with undergraduate and graduate education and postdoctoral training in an accelerated manner, to provide mentoring throughout their education by funded faculty researchers, and to protect the focus of this career preparation and trajectory. Schools of nursing that have baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs and are highly ranked with respect to their National Institutes of Health funding have the opportunity and responsibility to create accelerated research-intensive tracks that link the baccalaureate through doctoral programs and move the graduates to postdoctoral training. These schools of nursing will have to identify which students to recruit and how the development of the research-intensive track will modify their schools' curricula and the institutions themselves. The profession will have to identify and create the environment that sanctions the legitimacy of scholars prepared in this way.     

Gerontology and geriatric issues and trends in U.S. nursing programs: a national survey.

Elderly persons in the United States constitute an increasing proportion of our population impacting nursing education. The purpose of this study was to survey geriatric and gerontology issues and trends in U.S. baccalaureate schools of nursing since the advent of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN's) Older Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care. A national mail survey of all accredited AACN baccalaureate programs was conducted, resulting in 202 responses and a 36% response rate. The results show that half of the respondents reported integrating geriatrics/gerontology, and half reported having stand-alone geriatric/gerontology courses. Results indicate key issues that warrant further investigation. These include: (1) faculty preparation related to geriatrics and gerontology; (2) gaps in implementing the AACN's Older Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care in both stand-alone courses and integrated curricula; and (3) the extent to which the AACN's Older Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care is addressed in undergraduate curricula. Trends noted include planning to offer and retaining required stand-alone geriatric/gerontology courses. These results may be useful to nurse educators and researchers who are grappling with nursing education issues concerning geriatric and gerontology preparation. Of importance is that nursing curricula reflect nursing faculty's commitment to addressing the health care needs of the burgeoning number of elderly persons in society.     

Preserving writing in doctoral education: exploring the concernful practices of schooling learning teaching

Preserving writing in doctoral education: exploring the concernful practices of schooling learning teaching ¶Many contemporary scholars have challenged the current culture of graduate education and have suggested a need to reform nursing scholarship. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse the common practices and shared lived experiences of nurses who are students or teachers in doctoral education. Participants recruited from across the United States included 15 nurses, five of whom were current faculty members in doctoral programmes in nursing and 10 who were currently enrolled as students in doctoral programmes. Data collected from extended, non-structured interviews were analysed hermeneutically using the interpretive phenomenology of Heidegger and Gadamer as the philosophical background. The results of this study reveal that the practices of scholarship, reading, writing, thinking and dialogue are inseparable and belong together. Analysing and describing how the practices of scholarship belong together will contribute to extending an understanding of how the practices of writing can be preserved in contemporary doctoral education. 'Preserving' refers to how teachers and students perpetuate and sustain these practices in ways that are meaningful and transformative and in ways that are oppressive. This study explores the experiences that are central to becoming a scholar and suggests how their meaningfulness can be sustained and extended into the next millennium.     

Using online learning technology to develop nurse leaders

Clearly, one of the major challenges facing nurse administrators is the need to develop and support nurse managers. The fact that there is a shortage of well-prepared nurse managers to build and maintain work environments that retain nurses while providing cost-effective, quality health care outcomes for consumers is widely accepted. The issues surrounding this shortage are multifocal and complex, including dissatisfaction with the role, lack of preparation and ongoing development for the role, the declining graduate enrollments in nursing administration programs, and the aging of nurse managers.     

Critical challenges in doctoral education: Highlights of the biennial meeting of the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing, Tokyo, Japan, 2007

A number of issues and challenges in doctoral nursing education were presented at the biennial meeting of the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing in June 2007. The themes addressed included: global health workforce shortages and the aging of the nursing workforce; the need for more nursing doctoral programs; strengthening of the research training in doctoral programs, and the need for increased involvement of nurse leaders in the health and social policy arena.     

Experiential clinical learning for newly licensed PhD students: Transforming nursing PhD education through academic-practice partnerships

The growing national and international need for nurse scientists to transform health care has encouraged advances in nursing doctoral programs. The Hillman Scholars in Nursing Innovation, a program integrating BSN and PhD education, inspired the creation of the Hillman Clinical Fellowship (“Fellowship”). The Fellowship helps students transitioning from the BSN to PhD gain clinical experiences as newly graduated registered nurses, thus mitigating a common concern that students are naïve about the clinical setting. In collaboration with a practice partner, the Fellowship fosters development of clinical skills consistent with Patricia Benner's Novice to Expert Model. Fellows build clinical skills concurrent with the development of research proficiencies in the PhD program. This Fellowship can be adapted by other schools seeking to introduce curricular innovations that address the needs of early career PhD students, enhance academic-practice partnerships, and meet the growing need for more clinically focused PhD prepared nurses.     

Gerontological nursing content in baccalaureate nursing programs: findings from a national survey.

Given the prevalence of elderly people in the health care system, it behooves the nursing community to assure that every nurse graduating from a baccalaureate nursing program has a defined level of competency in care of the elderly. To accomplish this, it is necessary to establish a baseline of the current status of geriatric content in the baccalaureate curriculum. This article provides such baseline data using the findings of a national study of geriatrics in baccalaureate nursing programs. The study, conducted in 1997, was distributed to the universe of baccalaureate nursing programs (n = 598). The findings are based on a respondent pool of 480 programs (80.3 per cent response rate). The survey covered a range of educational topics, including curriculum, content, faculty preparation, and how programs define their needs for further curriculum and faculty development. The data analysis included the identification of baccalaureate nursing programs with exemplary offerings in geriatric care. Finally, in the discussion section, recommendations are advanced for the full integration of geriatric content into baccalaureate nursing programs.     

Preparing to retake the NCLEX-RN. The experience of graduates who fail

Many schools of nursing counsel and provide practice sessions to their students in initial preparation for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). What then of the graduates who fail and are now outside of the educational and often supportive environments of schools of nursing? Graduates cannot be employed to practice what they have learned, nor do schools of nursing have the programs to assist graduates who have failed. How can these graduates be enabled to succeed? The authors discuss the stories of 10 graduates who failed the examination and their preparation to retake it. Data from their study reveal important ways that nurse educators can help graduate nurses during this stressful period in their lives.     

Creating a successful environment for preparing doctoral-level nurse educators

The ongoing nursing shortage requires that universities be creative in developing alternative methods to enhance the supply of nursing faculty. We report on an innovative collaborative program between colleges of nursing and education to prepare future nursing faculty. The evaluation of this initiative was accomplished using comparative data from doctoral students in other non-nursing programs. We found that the nurse educator program was positive in influencing students' knowledge and skill development and perceptions of faculty support, compared with other non-nursing doctoral programs.     

A scholarly concentration program to promote public health nursing for generalist Clinical Nurse Leader students

BackgroundThe number of public health nurses has decreased consistently and significantly since the 1920's. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the need for more public health nurses in the workforce. The number of novice nurses entering into public health roles is declining, demonstrating a clear need to mentor pre-licensure nursing students into the public health nursing workforce. Scholarly concentration (SC) programs are a method to explore specialty roles through in-depth scholarly activities, outside of core curriculum. However, SC programs have not been described in the nursing literature. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a SC program to engage pre-licensure Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students in scholarly activities related to public health nursing.Program overviewThis Public Health Nurse Scholars program was developed in 2014 with the goal of developing a cadre of generalist CNL students with experiences in public health nursing scholarly activities. The program aimed to increase awareness of career and scholarship opportunities through mentorship with public health nursing faculty. Students were encouraged to attend and present at professional conferences, participate in active scholarly projects and conduct quality improvement projects from a public health nursing perspective. The program was designed to foster students' public health nursing leadership and presentation skills and enhance their self-directed learning.ResultsTo date, 46 pre-licensure nursing students were selected as Public Health Nurse Scholars. Sixty-seven percent (n = 31) have graduated as Public Health Nurse Scholars; 33% (n = 15) are current Public Health Nurse Scholars. Twelve public health nursing faculty have served as mentors. As a result of the program 15 scholars attended and 3 scholars presented respectively at community/public health nursing conferences, and several scholars had related professional development opportunities. A majority of Public Health Nurse Scholars have designed and implemented a capstone quality improvement project with a public health nursing perspective, 15 of which were completed at community-based sites.ConclusionsIn the face of our current global, public health crisis, there is a clear need to develop a cadre of novice nurses prepared to enter the public health nursing workforce. The Public Health Nurse Scholars program shows promise towards encouraging an interest in public health nursing scholarship. Schools of nursing may consider the implementation of similar SC programs as an approach to mentor pre-licensure nurses in other specialty areas such as gerontological and neonatal nursing.