Category Archives: Doctoral Education

Career Advice: Which of the Terminal Degrees Do You Suggest for a Nurse Educator?

Original post was published on June 6, 2017. Updated: March 20, 2019. This career advice question came from a comment on my YouTube video about nursing doctorates. The writer, a hospital clinical educator, asked which terminal degrees I suggested for a nurse educator to pursue. I could really go into

Three Major Drivers of Scientific Inquiry in Nursing

Why? Why? Why? Why do nursing students need to learn about the research process? Why do nurses conduct research? Why do nurses need to use research? Why is an “inquiring mind” so important?  You might have asked yourself some of these questions as you struggle through your nursing research classes or

Commonly Used Concept Analysis Methods in Nursing: An Introduction to Rodgers’ Evolutionary Concept Analysis Method

The posts this month focused on concept analysis: what it is, how to search for published articles on concept analysis, and commonly used concept analysis methods and frameworks used in nursing theory and nursing research. Last week I presented an overview of Walker and Avant’s concept analysis method. Today’s post introduces

Commonly Used Concept Analysis Methods in Nursing: An Introduction to Walker and Avant’s 8-Step Method

The first two posts of this series on concept analysis laid out the purpose of concept analysis and how to search for concept analysis articles and research. This post will begin an overview some of the commonly used concept analysis methods and frameworks used in nursing theory and nursing research.

Concept Analysis: Search Strategies and Common Frameworks

Last week I described the definition and purpose of a concept analysis. In this post, I’ll talk about the difference between concept analysis and concept development, give you some tips on how to do a concept analysis search, and identify several theoretical frameworks to guide your concept analysis journey. What

What is a Concept Analysis?

Graduate school means a lot of studying about the phenomena or concepts underlying nursing practice. One of these concepts may be interesting to you to the point that you may want to study it for your thesis or dissertation or for your capstone project.  One of the ways that faculty

How to Write a Literature Review

At some point in your graduate nursing program, you will most likely have to write a literature review about an assigned topic or a self-selected topic (e.g., your thesis, dissertation, or capstone project topic). Undergraduate students don’t typically have to write a full-blown literature review; however, the tips in this post

Career Advice: How Do BSN-PhD or BSN-DNP Programs Work?

This month’s question about BSN-PhD/DNP programs comes from a hospital clinical educator who commented on my YouTube video on the choice between getting a PhD or a DNP in nursing. Nursing education has changed over the years in response to changes in social trends and healthcare mandates and to improve

Video: Why Should You Get a Doctorate in Nursing?

Have you ever asked yourself whether getting a doctorate in nursing was right for you? PhD or DNP? I give you advice on which one should you chose in my post: PhD or DNP: Which One to Choose? This video contains key points from a post I did on the benefits

PhD or DNP: Is the Pain Worth It? The Benefits of Doctoral Education in Nursing

In a previous post, I encouraged nurses to obtain their doctoral degrees, if able. I presented some of the differences between the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Nursing and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.  To recap, the PhD is an academic research degree and the DNP is

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