Education for executive nurse administrators: a databased curricular model for doctoral (PhD) programs

Area of Science:

• Nursing Administration
• Higher Education
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• First-line nurse administrators in academia require specific educational preparation and understanding of role responsibilities.
• An earlier study's qualitative data revealed unexplored questions regarding nurse administrator role preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific knowledge domains critical for executive nurse administrators.
• To determine the curricular implications for PhD nursing programs offering an executive administration track.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of existing qualitative data from a prior study.
• Thematic analysis to identify knowledge domains and categorize relevant coursework.

Main Results:

• Specific knowledge domains essential for executive nurse administration were identified.
• These domains allow for the categorization of courses relevant to the role.

Conclusions:

• The identified knowledge domains and course categories provide a framework for enhancing PhD-level nursing administration education.
• Curriculum development should align with the identified domains to better prepare future executive nurse administrators.