Transcript Development of the First PhD (Nursing) Program in Atlantic

Development of the First PhD (Nursing)
Program in Atlantic Canada:
Lessons Learned
Patricia L. Sullivan, PhD, RN
Professor and Director
Dalhousie University School of Nursing
CASN Doctoral Forum
Toronto
May 27, 2010
History
• By fall, 1995, there were four doctoral programs in nursing in
Canada
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University of Alberta
University of Toronto
University of British Columbia
McGill University/Universite de Montreal
• No doctoral programs in nursing east of Montreal
• The need to establish a doctoral program in the Atlantic
Region was identified by ARCAUSN (1998)
Milestones
• Steering Committee established to develop a PhD (Nursing)
program at Dalhousie University
• Doctoral program proposal submitted in 2002
• Proposal approved, January, 2004
• First doctoral students admitted, September, 2004 (n=2)
• Current enrollment (n=20)
• First graduates, May 31, 2010 (n=3)
Program Overview
• Goal: To prepare nurse scholars who will provide leadership
in the advancement of nursing knowledge, nursing theory and
practice, and health policy through scholarly research and the
dissemination of research findings
• Focus: Nursing Sensitive Health Outcomes and Women’s
Health Outcomes
Program Overview
Program Requirements:
• Minimum of four core courses
– Contemporary Views of Nursing Science: Philosophy,
Research and Practice
– Two courses in the student’s substantive area of study, one
of which will be on health outcomes
– Advanced research methods/design course
• Doctoral Seminar
• Comprehensive Examination
• Thesis
Lessons Learned
• Build faculty resources
– School of Nursing
• Increase number of faculty with earned doctorates in
nursing or related fields
• Record of scholarship and extramural funding
• Experience in teaching and supervision of graduate
students
• Sufficient numbers to withstand illness, sabbaticals,
retirements and resignations or the “HBAB” test
• Develop cross-appointments
– Within the Faculty of Health Professions
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Social Work
• Health and Human Performance
• Pharmacy
– Within the broader University
• Community Health and Epidemiology
• Sociology and Anthropology
• Psychology
• Philosophy
• Medicine
• Law
Lessons Learned
• Develop adjunct appointments
– With Schools of Nursing in Universities in the Atlantic
Region, Central and Western Canada
– With clinical practitioners
Proposal Planning
• Expect resistance
– Prepare for multiple issues and barriers
– Social, political, financial
• Be collaborative and inclusive
• Amass evidence
– Evidence of provincial, regional and national need for
program
• Priority for CNA (1976), CAUSN and CNF (1978)
• Advancing Doctoral Preparation for Nurses:
Charting a Course for the Future. Proceedings of
the Conference on Doctoral Education, 1990
Proposal Planning
• Evidence of proposed demand by students
– Assessing Demand for Doctoral Education for Nurses in the
Atlantic Region, ARCAUSN, 1998
– Dalhousie University School of Nursing Steering Committee
Survey, 2001
Proposal Planning
• Seek expert advice through consultation and external reviews
• Seek statements of support from other
Deans/Directors/Chairs of Faculties/Schools of Nursing and
professional associations
• Seek funding to support students
Implementing the Program
• Keep program small and focused
• Solidify program and build quality
• Accept qualified students whose goals are consistent with
faculty expertise and institutional resources
Challenges
• Students are mainly women combining full-time work, family,
and doctoral studies
– Most students were faculty from Dalhousie and Schools of
Nursing in the Atlantic Region
– Potential for conflicts of interest managing simultaneous
roles as student/faculty
– Special procedures developed to minimize potential for
conflict
– Ceasing to be problematic as PhD is now a requirement for
tenure-track positions
Challenges
• Limited time available to spend at the university
• Find creative ways to stimulate and nurture the development
of a “community of scholars”
– SCHOLARS Seminar Series (Teleconferenced)
– Nursing Knowledge Exchange Series (Videotaped and
posted on website)
Challenges
• Faculty are stretched to find balance among the teaching,
research, service, and practice components of their academic
roles
• Need a well-developed infrastructure to foster quality
research
• Need a system to facilitate collaboration among students and
faculty to support and enhance scholarship and research
productivity
Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate
• Concern being expressed globally re: the overproduction of
PhDs of low academic quality
• Important to conduct regular formative and summative
evaluations
– Conduct frequent “in camera” discussions about progress;
what’s working; what’s not
– Implement needs-based professional development
programs to enhance faculty competence, i.e., best
practices in student supervision
Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate
• Conduct periodic formal evaluations by external consultant
(i.e., At end of Year 3)
• Implement:
– Yearly exit surveys of graduating students
– One- and five-year follow up surveys of graduates
Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate
• To generate data to inform quality improvement, evaluation
must be:
– Ongoing
– Flexible
– Systematic
– Comprehensive
– Process and outcomes oriented
Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate
• And include:
– Curricula
– Faculty
– Students
– Research activity of faculty and students
– Program administration
– Employers
• Summative Evaluation
– Usually conducted by Faculty of Graduate Studies on a 5-7
year cycle
Summary of Lessons Learned
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Build faculty resources
Expect resistance
Be collaborative and inclusive
Amass evidence to support program need and demand
Seek expert advice and support from other SONs,
Departments, and professional associations
• Seek funding support for students
Summary of Lessons Learned
• Keep program small and focused
• Create innovative ways to nurture development of a
‘community of scholars’
• Build systems to foster quality research and collaboration
among faculty and students
• Conduct frequent formative and summative evaluations
– To ensure continuous improvement of the program needed
to develop and expand nursing science and to prepare our
future educators, scholars, leaders and policy makers