I am the graduate Academic Advisor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, and I was googling around to see what I could find about online nursing phd programs and I came across this thread. I have started an admissions blog for our online MS and PhD in nursing programs that you may find helpful to not only learn more about our programs, but there's plenty of advice in general about applying to MS and PhD programs and what it's like to be a nursing PhD student anywhere. It's mostly made up of comments from our current nursing faculty and students, as well as alumni of the University of Arizona.
Being the advisor, I am always asked by potential applicants about other online nursing PhD programs, so on the right hand side of the blog as you scroll you will see a list of accredited (as in real) online nursing PhD programs.
Every PhD degree program is different, and their areas of expertise are different. Our focus is on preparing our students to be nurse researchers in our main areas of study (which is not nursing education.
Also, before I forget, we also require full-time (meaning 9 credits each semester).
If you have questions for me, you can send me a private message.