A Profile of U.S. Nursing Faculty in Research- and Practice-Focused Doctoral Education

Key wordsDoctoral faculty, research doctorate, clinical doctorate, practice doctorateAbstractPurpose: This study, which is part of a larger project, was conducted to profile the nursing faculty in the United States teaching in PhD and DNP programs.Design: This is a descriptive study. A sample of 554 nursing faculty who teach in PhD and DNP programs was recruited by email solicitation to represent all geographic regions of the United States. Data were collected from November 2013 through January 2014 using an online survey instrument.Methods: The instrument was developed based on results of review of the literature and of focus groups of doctoral faculty (faculty teaching in doctoral programs) to ascertain characteristics of faculty teaching in doctoral programs and of the schools in which they teach. Frequencies and descriptive statistics are reported.Findings: Growth in DNP programs has outpaced growth in PhD programs, and DNP graduates have moved into doctoral education in greater numbers than PhD graduates. DNP faculty report less prior experience and current productivity scholarship than faculty in PhD programs only or both types of programs.Conclusions: Strategies are needed to ensure that doctoral programs are staffed by faculty who are prepared for doctoral education and the development of nursing science.Clinical Relevance: The Institute of Medicine has recommended doubling the number of doctorally prepared nurses in the United States by 2020 to ensure that sufficient numbers of faculty are available to prepare the nursing labor force that is needed for delivery of healthcare services. Nurse scientists are needed to contribute to improvement in patient care quality and safety, and practice leaders are needed to facilitate the translation of research into safe, high-quality, and cost-effective care. The landscape of doctoral education in nursing is rapidly changing.The Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2010), in its report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, recommended doubling the number of doctorally prepared nurses in the United States by 2020 in order to have enough faculty to educate a labor force sufficient to address public health needs, and to conduct research. Research is required to test interventions that prevent illness and disability and promote health, improve safety and quality, and enable people to manage complex health conditions (IOM, 2010; National Research Council, 2005).The nursing faculty shortage is well documented (Brady, 2010). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013a, 2013b) indicated that from now until 2022 the registered nurse (RN) labor force will need to be 22% larger, and the advanced practice labor force will need to increase by 31%. In 2012, nearly 80,000 qualified prospective baccalaureate and graduate nursing students were turned away because there were insufficient faculty to teach them (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014a).The global demand for more doctorally prepared nurses is resulting in an increase in the number of doctoral programs. In the United States, growth in the number of practice-focused doctoral programs, hereafter referred to as doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs, has increased more dramatically than that of research-focused programs, hereafter referred to as doctor of philosophy (PhD) programs (AACN, 2014b). Some evidence suggests that this trend is resulting in increased demands on the aging and shrinking senior faculty, taxing their ability to mentor doctoral students and conduct their own research (Smeltzer et al., 2014b). Participants in a national study of doctoral nursing faculty expressed concern that there would be insufficient faculty qualified to teach in PhD programs in the next 5 years (Dreher, Smith Glasgow, & Cornelius, 2012). Controversy exists about the adequacy of research preparation in most PhD programs, though Beckett (2014) believes that most prepare graduates well for faculty positions. …