Mentoring in doctoral education

Mentoring has historically been common among men. Recently, however, mentoring has emerged as a popular concept in nursing and more and more references in the nursing literature describe the importance of a mentor to the nurse. Mentoring is also an important concept in doctoral education in nursing. This paper discusses both the development of mentoring relationship which can vitally contribute to the development of the nurse leader are discussed. A mentoring relationship between a doctoral student and a more experienced professional can enable the development of leadership potential and significantly contribute to the development of competent professionals in nursing.     

Nursing education in Turkey: From past to present

Nursing education in Turkey first began in 1912 with the introduction of a 6-month course to train voluntary medical attendants, with Dr. Besim Ömer Pasha’s advice to the Red Crescent Association regarding the inadequacy of healthcare services, as a crucial need for nursing services resulted due to significant losses given during Tripoli (1911) and the Balkan (1912) wars. Carrying out their duties in battlefields and hospitals with great devotion, the first nurses graduated from the course played a significant role in promoting the nursing profession and its importance.Nursing education which used to continue at the secondary and high-school levels increased to bachelor’s level in 1955. Master’s program in nursing was opened in 1968, and Ph.D. programs was opened in 1972.Professional members of the practice, well-equipped in accordance with the requirements of the age, who conduct their studies at the national and international levels, are trained as the consequence of the recent developments in nursing education. The number of nurses at the universities who offered higher levels of academic degree, and especially the number of nurses who gained ‘science expert’ title at the inpatient medical establishments has increased. This situation and globalization, which ensures an easier access to nursing literature through internet, enable a more systematic and of a better quality healthcare.This article explains the nursing education in Turkey from past to present. The developments in nursing education which have taken place in Turkey are expressed in a chronological order, starting from the Ottoman Empire, until the present. Compared with other countries, nursing education is given on different levels in Turkey. Recently, however, the obstacles regarding the differences especially at the bachelor’s degree level were overcome, appropriate changes were made, and education melioration efforts gained speed.     

Issues in doctoral education in nursing

In this article, I have traced some of the evolutionary threads that have contributed to current patterns of doctoral education in nursing. Although current programs may differ in the title of the degree offered, all are structured as research doctoral programs. Because they try to be all things to all people, they fail to prepare either competent researchers or applied practitioners. Cluttered with too much general content and not enough content specific to the particular career track of the student, they fail to provide an adequate foundation for future career pathways. As a result, preparation of leaders for academic and administrative roles, clinical teachers, practitioners, and researchers is limited. Nursing has a vital contribution to make to the health of the American people. To do so we must ensure that our researchers are providing a substantive knowledge base for the field, that our leaders in academic and practice fields have a solid knowledge base of nursing coupled with administrative preparation and applied research skills, and that our clinical teachers and practitioners are skilled in their clinical specialties and in applied research in their fields. Finally, we need expert practitioners who deliver and manage truly comprehensive, quality health care services for persons in all stages of the health-illness continuum.     

Nursing in Turkey

The current discussion on the nursing shortage needs to focus as much on nursing job satisfaction and retention as on nursing recruitment and education. Selected aspects of the motivational psychology of Abraham Maslow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Frederick Hertzberg are here discussed in light of the challenges-opportunities of nursing in Turkey and elsewhere. Also discussed is an innovative program to support the application of nursing theory and professional development in Toronto, Canada.     

Philosophy of science in doctoral nursing education revisited

Because every scientific theory and all research methods are tied to some philosophical framework, it is important that scientists within a given discipline be aware of the philosophical orientations that serve as the basis for developing theory and advancing knowledge. Nurse scientists have been challenged recently to examine the discipline's philosophical underpinnings in order to understand the evolutionary process of nursing science. The inclusion of the study of philosophy of science in doctoral nursing curriculum has remained a topic of periodic discourse. Whereas some assert that it promotes the essential process of philosophical reflection necessary for scientific exploration of relevant phenomenon, others contend that nurse scientists' preoccupation with this issue has diverted their attention from the real business of nursing science—that of knowledge development that will lead to legitimization of nursing as a discipline. Philosophy of science provides a useful frame of reference in which to appreciate the unfolding of nursing as a discipline. It should not be viewed as a distraction but rather a critical step in the transformation of the doctoral student into a productive nurse scientist. Doctoral programs remain the most logical place in which to educate future scholars regarding nursing's unique philosophical foundations and their implications for scientific inquiry and continued knowledge development. Creating and maintaining liaisons between nursing and philosophy departments—as well as requiring courses that emphasize the interrelationships among philosophy of science, nursing theory, and nursing research—are just a few of the strategies whereby doctoral programs can actively promote advancement of the discipline.     

Issues and challenges in international doctoral education in nursing

Education is a driving force in improving the health and welfare of communities globally. Doctoral education of nurses has been identified as a critical factor for provision of leadership in practice, scholarship, research, policy and education. Since the genesis of doctoral education in nursing in the USA in the 1930s, this movement has burgeoned to over 273 doctoral programs in over 30 countries globally. The present article seeks to identify the issues and challenges in nursing doctoral education globally, and those encountered by doctoral program graduates in meeting the challenges of contemporary health care systems. Information was derived from a comprehensive literature review. Electronic databases and the Internet, using the Google search engine, were searched using the key words "doctoral education"; "nursing"; "International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing"; "global health"; "international research collaboration". Doctoral education has been a critical force in developing nurse leaders in education, management, policy and research domains. An absence of consensus in terminology and of accurate minimum data sets precludes comparison and debate across programs. The complexity and dynamism of contemporary globalized communities render significant challenges in the conduct of doctoral programs. Addressing funding issues and faculty shortages are key issues for doctoral programs, especially those in developing countries, to achieve an identity uniquely their own. These challenges can also afford considerable opportunities for discussion, debate and the formulation of innovative and collaborative solutions to advance nursing knowledge and scholarship. In spite of discrete differences between countries and regions, the similarities in the issues facing the development of doctoral programs internationally are more striking than the differences. The harnessing of a global collective to address these issues will likely serve to not only forge the future viability of doctoral education of nurses but to improve the health and well-being of communities. This paper proposes international collaborative strategies to address a number of the challenges identified.     

Student career goal changes during doctoral education in nursing

As a relatively new doctoral discipline, nursing appears to be following the research focus of other disciplines in its doctoral programs. One original intent of awarding doctoral degrees in nursing was to prepare faculty. This study sought to determine how many doctoral students in nursing identified the goal of a career as faculty in schools of nursing at the beginning of their doctoral program, and how many would choose faculty positions after being enrolled in a doctoral program for more than one year. The population included 785 doctoral students in nursing from 35 schools in the United States. A cross-sectional study design was used to compare newly enrolled doctoral students with students who had been enrolled for more than one year. Although first-year and more experienced students have similar career goals upon entering a doctoral program, the career goals of doctoral nursing students do change over time. More experienced students become less interested in faculty positions, especially in nondoctoral schools of nursing, and more interested in positions involving research and consultation. Within specific programs, students in EdD programs became more interested in faculty positions in doctoral universities. Students in DNS programs who changed their goals became more career goal oriented, thus compounding the shortage of doctoral faculty. These changes in career goals warrant examination.