Established in 1975, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing program is designed to prepare researchers and scholars to provide leadership to the profession and discipline of nursing. The program emphasizes the development of the student’s capacity to make significant, original contributions to nursing knowledge. The understanding that nursing provides services that help individuals, families, and communities achieve health drives the PhD program. These services are based on systematic knowledge about human health and human-environment relationships. Particular attention is given to the kinds of human-environment relationships that are optimal for health. This systematic knowledge base is the foundation of nursing science.
The purposes of the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing program are:
- To prepare scientists capable of generating rigorously tested knowledge that contributes to the positive development of individuals, families, communities, society and the discipline of nursing.
- To prepare nursing scholars who will test, generate and extend knowledge related to individuals’, families’, and communities’ self-care and caregiving behaviors; and to extend knowledge of urban environments that influence and alter health, and reduce health disparities.
- To prepare leaders for the discipline and profession of nursing.
The program pathways are:
Applicants can enter the PhD program as a post-BSN student or as a student who has attained the master’s of science in nursing (MSN) degree. Post-BSN students may choose to complete only a PhD in nursing or complete both the MSN and PhD degrees. More information about the three paths to a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing degree can be obtained here.
