There is no question that our nation needs more nurses prepared with a doctorate degree. The aging baby boomer population, the dramatic projected increase in the number of people with access to health care through the Affordable Care Act and a rapidly changing and increasingly technologically advanced health care system are increasing the need not only for highly qualified nurses, but also for nursing researchers, nursing faculty and nurses who are prepared to shape public policy. The rapidly changing demographics of our nation also demand greater diversity in our nursing workforce –in practice, research and academia.
Now, NCIN is launching a project to identify and encourage nurses who are interested in pursuing doctoral degrees, and to support doctoral nursing students in their studies. The Doctoral Advancement in Nursing (DAN) project is currently collecting data – including hearing from nursing students, nursing school deans and faculty, and other health care professional education associations – to determine the best ways to increase the number of PhD and DNP prepared nurses in the U.S.
Elias Provencio-Vasquez, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP, dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at El Paso and a member of NCIN’s National Advisory Committee, is the chair of the DAN committee.
“A large number of nursing faculty are at the age where they will be retiring in the next five to ten years,” said Provencio-Vasquez. “It is our responsibility to look at succession and to prepare the next generation of nursing leaders. To that end, we are developing a strategic plan to encourage nurses to get doctorate degrees. That plan will include connecting students to schools of nursing, identifying and overcoming barriers to doctoral education, and identifying ways to create academic environments that help students become leaders.”
This summer, the DAN project will issue a White Paper that includes strategies and resources to support doctoral advancement. Among the issues that will be outlined in the paper are: processes for identifying schools of nursing offering doctoral programs; student recruitment and retention strategies that can be used by schools of nursing offering doctoral programs; comprehensive approaches to leadership and scholarship development for students; suggestions for models of innovative doctoral curriculum; and more.
DAN Planning Committee Members, Teri Murray and Elias Provencio-Vasquez; NCIN Deputy Program Director, Vernell DeWitty
The DAN project is also working on a series of webinars to begin in early summer, 2013, for both potential doctoral students and for faculty and clinical practice colleagues who are interested in supporting and mentoring students. The webinars for students will help them ascertain whether they are ready to pursue doctoral education, which degree is right for them, and provide information on choosing a school which best matches their career goals.
Karen Jennings, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC, an NCIN alumna, is now pursuing a PhD at Boston College, where she was an accelerated MSN student. “I decided to pursue my doctorate because I realized that I really enjoy research and I wanted to have a greater impact on nursing and health care,” said Jennings. “Our nation is in a transitional period for health care and I want to be a part of the effort to integrate theory and evidence into practice. I think that in day-to-day practice, some nurses lose sight of how theory and research affect patient outcomes. I want to make nurses more aware of the importance of evidence and how it relates to practice. I hope to have a career in research and teaching so that I can influence future nursing practice.”Jennings says she was encouraged to consider pursuing a doctorate by faculty at Boston College and through her participation in the NCIN program. Now, she mentors nursing students and also reaches out to incoming NCIN scholars to talk to them about why they might want to pursue a doctorate and what that experience is like.
“Pursuing a PhD or DNP is a big commitment,” said Patricia Tabloski, PhD, GNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN, associate professor at the William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College and member of the DAN Committee. “Not only is it a commitment of time, it’s a commitment of resources. We want to reach students early in their careers, before pursuing a doctorate would require them to take time away from their jobs and their families. The DAN project is going to help us focus on recruiting early-career nurses by planting the seed at the beginning of their studies in baccalaureate and master’s programs. It will help us find promising students who have high aspirations for themselves, so that we can mentor and encourage them in doctoral programs.”
“In NCIN, we tell scholars that they’re nursing leaders and that they need to take advantage of their potential and the opportunities they have. We need to be doing that with all our brightest nursing students,” she added.
Last month, the DAN project committee held a two-day meeting in San Diego at which they discussed methods of reaching out to potential scholars and school of nursing faculty to promote increased participation in doctoral programs. In addition to the program webinars and White Paper, DAN plans to develop toolkits for both scholars and faculty that include such resources as interactive assessments, in-depth career questionnaires, modules, and more. The DAN project committee is currently working with several NCIN schools that have successful PhD and DNP programs to learn more about their best practices for mentoring, support and recruitment. The committee will reconvene in June 2013 to begin the implementation phase of the DAN project. 
