The professional doctorate: rationale and characteristics

The position that it is time for the nursing profession to develop programs leading to the N.D. degree, or professional doctorate, (for the college graduates) derives from consideration of the nature of nursing, the contributions that nurses can make to development of an exemplary health care system, and from the recognized need for nursing to emerge as a full-fledged profession. It derives from pride in the accomplishments made by nurses of the past; from discontent with the meager influence that nurses now have; and from anticipation of a future that will be created when a critical mass of nurses are provided opportunities for completing pre-service doctoral study. It derives from confidence that those nurses can and will so influence the health care system that all persons will be properly served with care that promotes their health, restores their function,, and enhances their independence in knowledgeably exploiting their own health-seeking behaviors.