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According to the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing, 29 universities now offer accelerated
BSN-to-PhD programs.
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Postgraduate and doctoral studies in science-based
professions can be a time-consuming affair of eight
or more years. For nurses looking to become researchers
or university professors, that would be a godsend.
Nurses answering the call to academia or research
usually spend up to two decades meeting educational
and clinical experience requirements of the traditional
bachelor’s/master’s/doctoral track in nursing.
“By the time they get their PhD, they are 40
to 50 years old,” said Donna Lynn Rew, RNC, EdD,
HNC, FAAN, a professor at the University of Texas at
Austin School of Nursing. “In our discipline
85 it’s remarkable we’re the only one where
people wait so long to get a PhD.”
As an antidote, many universities have, in recent
years, adopted new paths of study for their PhD students.
Accelerated — or “fast-track” — BSN-to-PhD
programs are designed to send nurses more quickly into
nonclinical fields in nursing research and nursing
faculty, where shortages are as critical as the scarcity
of bedside nurses.
Many schools have introduced the option within the
past three to seven years. According to the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing, 29 universities
now offer accelerated BSN-to-PhD programs.
“We need to bring in the best and brightest
of BSN students and allow them to continue their education,” said
Jean Bartels, RN, PhD, professor and chair of the School
of Nursing at Georgia Southern University, and president
of AACN.
Early birds
Getting the doctorate at an earlier age
provides two key advantages for students: an earlier
start on
tenure, and a chance to build a deeper research
background.
“The main idea is to get younger people into
research at an earlier age because it takes time to
develop a significant intervention study that furthers
the cause of nursing,” said Laurel Eisenhauer,
RN, PhD, dean of the graduate program at Boston College
William F. Connell School of Nursing. “Depending
on the nature of the study, it can take years to build
a track record or to develop the measurement mechanism
needed for a major research project.”
Marjorie Isenberg, RN, DNSc, FAAN, dean of the University
of Arizona College of Nursing, notes that biological
scientists might enjoy a 40-year career after getting
a doctorate by their mid-20s. For a doctoral research
nurse, a career “might be only 20 years.”
Without having to first obtain a master’s degree,
BSN-prepared doctoral nursing students concentrate
on areas of research and theory coursework and bypass
clinical preparation courses. University of Texas officials
started their program after developing the curriculum
allowing BSN-to-PhD students to take only nine to 12
hours of master’s-level coursework, Rew said,
while skipping most clinical courses that are designed
for advanced nurse practitioner candidates.
Under traditional tracks, several educators said,
PhD candidates are slowed by mixing in four to five
years of clinical experience, and taking dozens of
credit hours of medical curriculum that is duplicative
of their work experience or nongermane to research
or education.
They also face external pressure to gain practice
experience before entering graduate studies.
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