Professional doctorates for nurses: mapping provision and perceptions

This paper reports a study to map the range of developments of professional doctorates in the United Kingdom (UK) and report the views of key stakeholders as to the value of the professional doctorate relative to the more traditional PhD.

As the highest university degree that can be awarded, the traditional Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) represents the pinnacle of advanced learning and scholarly enquiry, demonstrated by subject expertise and the creation of new knowledge. The last decade the UK has witnessed the introduction of an alternative form of doctoral preparation for nurses and other health care professions known as the taught or professional doctorate, a form of doctoral provision not unlike the United States of America (USA) model of PhD in Nursing.

An illuminative evaluation was carried out in date in the UK in 2003. Data were collected using content analysis of curricula and related documentation, and telephone interviews with 55 academics at 41 institutions of higher education.

Mapping of the professional doctorate revealed a continuum of provision from highly prescriptive to minimally prescriptive programmes and a wide range of attitudes towards the professional doctorate, varying from enthusiasm through ambivalence to scepticism.

Educators face an uphill battle in convincing practitioners of the efficacy and value of continuing professional education at doctoral level, a challenge that is likely to be increased by the general lack of clarity and consensus amongst academics reported in this study. Shared understanding of the concept of a professional doctorate is needed if the benefits of these programmes are to be realised.