Doctoral persistence and doctoral program completion among nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Doctoral Studies
• Healthcare Workforce

Background:

• The United States faces a critical registered nurse shortage.
• A key factor is the deficit of full-time, doctorally prepared nursing faculty.
• This shortage impacts patient care and healthcare system capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing literature on doctoral persistence in nursing.
• To identify challenges encountered by doctoral nursing students.
• To inform strategies for improving doctoral student retention.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies on doctoral nursing student persistence.
• Thematic analysis of identified challenges and facilitators.
• Synthesis of findings to understand factors influencing completion.

Main Results:

• Key themes impacting doctoral persistence include: periods of transition (e.g., life events, career changes).
• Parenthood and external life demands significantly affect student progress.
• Delays in data analysis ('marinating') and positive aspects of doctoral study were also noted.

Conclusions:

• Addressing identified challenges is crucial for increasing doctoral nursing student retention.
• Improving retention rates can help mitigate the shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty.
• Strategies should focus on supporting students through transitions and managing external demands to strengthen the nursing workforce.