Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
Over the past 25 years, more than 100 nurse scientists have graduated from our Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing program, and have gone on to careers in nursing education, research and organizational leadership in the United States and abroad.
The goal of our PhD in Nursing program - the first completely online PhD program in the country - is to engage you in an intensive, rigorous manner that prepares you to be a nurse scholar. Applied research courses in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies will prepare you to function as an independent researcher upon graduation.
PhD Program Outcomes
The overall purpose of the PhD in Program in Nursing is to prepare graduates for a lifetime of intellectual inquiry, creative scholarship, and research. Graduates of the program will be competent in research, scholarship and leadership within the profession of nursing. The graduate must possess and demonstrate specific competencies. These include the ability to:
- Function as an independent researcher and conduct original research that builds upon prior research and expands the science of nursing.
- Integrate theoretical frameworks and research finding from other disciplines to enhance the practice of professional nursing.
- Produce scholarly work that contributes to the science and profession of nursing by communicating creative solutions to problems in nursing and health care.
- Demonstrate leadership and collaborative strategies to reduce health care disparities on a local, national and international level.
- Help improve the health of the community by generating new evidence for nursing practice that solves problems related to health care delivery.
- Evaluate issues that affect health care and advocate for change in health care policies based on evidence and the principles of social justice.
Students may not be enrolled in more than one doctoral program at any given time.