Which doctorate degrees should I pursue if I want to teach I nursing school?

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Sorry.. for the typos of the subject of this thread..

I think nursing is one of the departments where faculty members have various kinds of doctorate degree.

I googled in the Internet. I noticed that while some faculty have PhD in nursing, many of them have PhD in other disciplines ranging from developmental psychology, public health, interdisciplinary studies or even professional doctorate like DNP, JD, PsyD, PharmD, and ED in educational psychology. I plan to teach in nursing school at least part-time. The curriculum for PhD (nursing) and MSN-to-DNP is not that attractive to me. If I go for my doctorate, I would like to learn more than research methods and statistics courses at doctorate level. Maybe something else that I can combine with nursing skills.

Is PhD in nursing highly preferable in academia and more likely to get grants?

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Congrats on wanting to become a nursing faculty member in the future.

As with many things in nursing education, the answer to your questions depends on several factors. First I will try and tackle the 'grants' question. What type of grants are you talking about? If you are looking at NIH-level grants, then a research doctorate is essential to learn how to conduct research. The PhD is the 'gold-standard' here for advancing science and new knowledge. If you want to write seed grants, pilot studies, or traineeship grants that focus on academic programs then a PHD is not essential.

Where do you want to teach, and to what type of students? I happen to have always been affiliated with major research universities (Virginia, Michigan and Georgetown), so I readily admit that I am a little biased in this regard. Here at UVa, we hire both PHDs and DNPs --- but PhDs hold the tenure track positions. DNP (and MSN-prepared) faculty are essential for clinical teaching. Other universities here in Virginia will tenure DNPs, but these schools focus on prelicensure students -- and not conducting nursing research or writing grants.

As I mentioned, a PhD is a known quantity. Regardless of your discipline, people know what a PHD means. Outside of nursing, few folks know what a ND, DNS, DNSc, DSN, or DNP really are (or how they differ).

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PhD. Hands down.

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Thank you very much for taking time to answer my questions!

What type of grants are you talking about?

I don't know yet but thank you for the information. I only have BSN at this point and am currently in a MSN program. I just know that research is an important part of being a faculty members in many departments.

Where do you want to teach, and to what type of students?

I would like to teach NPs/graduate students. I am interested in teaching pathophysiology, pharmacology, or courses related to their specialty. That’s why I am considering getting doctorate in other field, like PhD in psychology, PhD in public health, PharmD or PsyD. Something that I can combine with nursing skills. Honestly, I would like to learn something else in addition to the research skills and nursing theory in nursing PhD. Does PhD have to be in nursing?

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It matters if you want to teach at an accredited program. According to one accreditation agency (CCNE), the School of Nursing need to have a certain percentage with faculty with final degrees in nursing. At my institution we only have four with other doctorates: one with an Ed.D who received her doctorate before nursing PHDs were common in the 1980s. The other three are MDs who teach our pathophysiology, immunocompetence, or genetics classes.

Because of our accreditation standards, we really are looking for those with degrees in nursing when faculty openings arise.

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It matters if you want to teach at an accredited program. According to one accreditation agency (CCNE), the School of Nursing need to have a certain percentage with faculty with final degrees in nursing. At my institution we only have four with other doctorates: one with an Ed.D who received her doctorate before nursing PHDs were common in the 1980s. The other three are MDs who teach our pathophysiology, immunocompetence, or genetics classes.

Because of our accreditation standards, we really are looking for those with degrees in nursing when faculty openings arise.

I was going to comment this, also. Many (most?) of the nursing academics who have doctorates in subjects other than nursing have them because that's what nurses who wanted doctorates had to do back before doctoral programs in nursing became widely available. Since the number of nursing doctoral programs has increased dramatically in recent decades, most nurses now get doctorates in nursing (specializing in whatever their specialty area is), same as academics in other disciplines do. People who want to teach and do research in, for example, chemistry don't get a PhD in something other than chemistry -- they get their advanced degrees in chemistry.

Ditto the comments about accreditation standards.

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Since the number of nursing doctoral programs has increased dramatically in recent decades, most nurses now get doctorates in nursing (specializing in whatever their specialty area is), same as academics in other disciplines do. People who want to teach and do research in, for example, chemistry don't get a PhD in something other than chemistry -- they get their advanced degrees in chemistry.

Ditto the comments about accreditation standards.

Thank you for your valuable information! However, here is my perspectives. Unlike other scientific disciplines like chemistry, biology, or pharmacy, nursing or healthcare in general is interdisciplinary in nature, especially when we step up to the advanced practice role. It will benefit nursing students at the graduate level or even bachelor level to have the faculty members who have degrees in other fields. PharmD with MSN can utilize his/her knowledge to teach graduate level pharmacology or psychopharmacology. MSN with PhD in public health probably can put her expertise in community health nursing courses or public policy courses. MSN instructor with PhD in clinical psychology can put his/her expertise in training nurse practitioner in psych. MSN with JD can give fantastic perspectives in courses like legal aspects in nursing. MSN with PhD in physiology can teach advanced patho. Same goes for the research aspect.

Another option is to hire MD, PhD, PharmD as adjunct faculty members to teach advanced graduate courses. But then what nursing PhD folks will teach?? Research methods and nursing theory?? or they will focus on doing research??

I apologize if my view is inaccurate. I know very little about academic world that's why I am asking for opinions in the first place.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Regardless of any one person's opinion ... schools are not run on one person's opinion. Faculty decisions are made on the basis of the general standards of the community as a whole.

In the Physics department, the vast majority of the senior professors who teach the graduate students have PhD's in Physics. In the History department, the vast majority of the senior professors who teach the grad students are Historians with PhD's in History, etc. The goal for the nursing profession is to meet that same standard -- to have the majority of the professors with their education in Nursing. Sure, there is room for a few others to teach a few specific classes, but the majority of the faculty should have its expertise and academic credentials in the discipline they are teaching. If you get your doctorate in a field other than nursing, you will limit your teaching opportunities in nursing (though you would open up some to teach in that other field).

I have a PhD in Nursing. The fact that I have taken classes in Philosophy at each level of my education does not qualify me for a tenure track position in a Department of Philosophy. My undergraduate courses in Political Science don't qualify me to teach in that department, either.

I'm sorry to disappoint you ... but if you want to be an academic leader in Nursing, your best bet is to get your education in Nursing (or in Education if academic administration interests you). If you get your doctorate in another field, you'll be at a disadvantage for most nursing faculty jobs.

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I have a PhD in Nursing. The fact that I have taken classes in Philosophy at each level of my education does not qualify me for a tenure track position in a Department of Philosophy. My undergraduate courses in Political Science don't qualify me to teach in that department, either.

I'm sorry to disappoint you ... but if you want to be an academic leader in Nursing, your best bet is to get your education in Nursing (or in Education if academic administration interests you). If you get your doctorate in another field, you'll be at a disadvantage for most nursing faculty jobs.

I am a student and we were just discussing this topic in class. Apparently PhD nurses are dwindling and the profession is very concerned about it.

That being said I have a feeling faculty jobs are going to become more available in the future and schools are going to be a little more flexible about that issue. I don't know about tenure for DNP's and so forth. That information wasn't available for us and they only made one small mention about the issue in the text. Do you have anything to add on that since you identified yourself as a PhD nurse already?

As to the original poster. I read something about a hybrid degree DrNP that combined research and clinical practice. I wonder if that might be a viable option? I don't even know if it's offered anywhere yet to be honest. Just something else I was reading about.

Another thing that I wasn't aware of is that some nursing programs were having trouble getting accreditation and recognition for their PhD programs and were awarding degrees like DNSc etc. There was a lot of stuff I learned in that discussion about where nursing is right now and it was interesting.

I'm getting too old to pursue anything past this MS so this is going to be my personal "terminal degree" :-)

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I think DNP's will be welcomed in academic as clinical instructors, etc. ... but whether they will be allowed to get tenure is still up in the air. To get tenure, you have to meet the standards of the academic community as a whole (including all the other disciplines), not just the School of Nursing standards ... and right now, professional practice doctorates do not meet those standards for most universities.

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I am glad I FINALLY found this thread. I am planning on pursuing a nursing doctorate but I am having some problems narrowing down my research focus. My two areas of passion include integrative medicine (non pharm solutions to health problems and keeping people healthy) and nursing management/marketing. I am in my early 50's with 2 bachelors degrees, one in marketing and management and one in nursing with an MBA with two concentrations, one in international business one in statistics. So, here are a few questions for those seasoned PhD professors:

1. What would give me the most efficient and beneficial area to focus my research? I REALLY want to avoid research in the clinical setting such as subjects like oral care, bedpan use, things of that nature. However, looking at the NIH grant proposals it

seems like a lot of money will be spent on ways to get people better faster. I understand cost is a major concern for government but I want to stay out of the hospital setting for research and focus more on the business efficiency side, Any ideas?

2. I have ordered "Dissertation Journey" 2010 from BN because I was told this is a very good book to read when one is deciding about a PhD program. Are there any other places I can look for information about how the academic world works, how to get tenure, what is important, basically the "scoop" about being successful as a nursing school faculty?

Any other insight would be greatly appreciated.

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