Emerging roles for research intensive Ph.D. prepared nurses as leaders and innovators: Views from funders/sponsors

Given the complexity and rapidly changing pace of 21st-century healthcare, the need for research intensive Ph.D. prepared nurses has never been greater. Philanthropic funders and sponsors of Ph.D. nursing education have important insights into how investments in Ph.D. education have direct and positive impacts on healthcare, and consequently bring important perspectives to emerging roles for Ph.D. prepared nurses. To elicit these perspectives focused questions were posed to four leading philanthropic funders/sponsors of Ph.D. nursing education: The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation; The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sigma Theta Tau- International Honor Society of Nursing, and the Jonas Nursing & Veterans Healthcare of Jonas Philanthropies. The interviews were conducted as part of a special session from the October 2019 PhD Summit "Re-Envisioning PhD Programs of the Future". A common theme that emerged from these discussions was the compelling need to prepare research intensive Ph.D. prepared nurses with advanced skills in leadership and innovation in order to leverage the larger impact of their work on health, health care and health policy. Lessons learned from the programs supported by these sponsors can be used to refine and implement future Ph.D. programs that provide the leadership and innovation skills required of research intensive Ph.D. prepared nurses.