[AJfutureCNS/Phd]

Hi. i'm a nursing student (going for my BSN) and i am planning on continuing and getting my master's and becoming a CNS. my problem is i would really love to get my PhD in nursing. my prof. actually first suggested it and he thinks i would do well in research. i would like to do both...treat patients and be able to do research as well. sooooo i have asked around at hospitals and they all say that a CNS is a CNS and if i continue to get a doctorate i won't be paid anymore than any other CNS and that there's not many research opportunities unless i go work for a drug company. does anyone have any thoughts or input on this??? any info would be helpful. thanks

[spaniel]

Hi- I have my doctorate but it is in an allied field. One idea is to do a Public Health Doctorate. Alas, I also see too few nursing doctorates, but I do believe they are increasing. That is not to say that the job opportunities are increasing for the nursing doctorate. I wish they were but unless you are in a major city I just don't see it. I cannot tell you how many NURSES have told me-I"I've never heard of a doctorate in nursing." Certinaly I know of a few stuper star nurses who are good at getting grants from the govt or other plces to help their research efforts but the are typically in the academic setting. Again,, this is just my experience.

[AJfutureCNS/Phd]

Thanks. i hear alot from the nursing school that they think a master's is great, but they really are not supportive of a doctorate which i think is odd...mmmpphh

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by AJfutureCNS/Phd

Hi. i'm a nursing student (going for my BSN) and i am planning on continuing and getting my master's and becoming a CNS. my problem is i would really love to get my PhD in nursing. my prof. actually first suggested it and he thinks i would do well in research. i would like to do both...treat patients and be able to do research as well. sooooo i have asked around at hospitals and they all say that a CNS is a CNS and if i continue to get a doctorate i won't be paid anymore than any other CNS and that there's not many research opportunities unless i go work for a drug company. does anyone have any thoughts or input on this??? any info would be helpful. thanks

Hi,

In the previous post that I replied to, (in the students section for grad/msn) there was a similar question.

Whoever is attempting to dismiss your desire to pursue a PhD is a naysayer, (I have encountered several in real life). It seems like many people just really do not understand our take on academia.

If you do a google search for nursing phd programs you will notice that many schools do not even offer it, opting to only offer the Doctorate in Nursing Practice or Doctorate of Clinical Sciene, (or somethign similar).

Yesterday I did a search and came across several university websites, (one was Chapel Hill) that listed out some very encouraging words for future PhD students.

PhD's do a lot more than research for pharmaceutical companies!

Go for it! I hope to be reading you and to possibly one day share conference space with you a guest speakers somewhere, presenting on our research!


Gen

[llg]

There have been several similar threads lately ... and I'm not sure what I have posted where ... but ...

I just thought I would let you know that I have been a CNS with a PhD. It is possible. There are a few of us out there. I would though, strongly recommend that you get some "real world" experience in nursing before investing too much in graduate -- though you can work as a staff nurse concurrently with your grad school experience. It would be a shame to spend all that time and money in a graduate education only to find out that you really don't like nursing (and/or your chosen specialty) as much as you thought you would.

Good luck,
llg

[AJfutureCNS/Phd]

thanks. i will get some experience before i make a final decision, but i'm praying that it's the right path for me. i've been volunteering w/ hospice for a year and now i will be volunteering in oncology at a local hospital so hopefully that will help with my decision as well.