The PhD program has three components nursing science, research methods, and a cognate minor. In addition, students are required to complete the PhD Candidacy Examination and a dissertation. The nursing science component is required of all students and comprises the foundation for the development and testing of theory about the health of human systems. Nursing courses pertain to the philosophies of nursing science, theory development and synthesis of theories from nursing, social, behavioral, and biological sciences communication, and ethics.
The nursing science major includes credit hours in nursing science and scientific communication, research methods, and research residency and dissertation. A minimum of 9 credit hours of statistics is required. The cognate minor (minimum of 6 credit hours) is taken in a discipline that is congruent with the student’s research area. In addition, a minimum of 9 credit hours of electives in nursing or another discipline are required. Finally, doctoral students are expected to attend various colloquia and special research presentations held in the College and University.
A list of required coursework is below. To review the course descriptions, credit hour requirements, and prerequisites for any of the courses, please consult the Course Catalogue. You can search for the classes using the course numbers listed.
Nursing science coursework
- Nursing 7781: Responsible Conduct of Research
- Nursing 8400: Leadership for Nurse Scientists
- Nursing 8440: Philosophy of Science and Development of Nursing Knowledge
- Nursing 8441: Health Determinants Models for Nursing Science
- Nursing 8460: Integrative Reviews in Nursing
- Nursing 8462: Grant Writing for Nursing Research
- Nursing 8763: Quantitative Design for Nursing Research
- Nursing 8784: Qualitative Design for Nursing Research
- Nursing 8765: Measurement for Nursing and Health Research
- Nursing 8786: Advanced Design for Nursing Research
- Nursing 8980: Research Residency
- Minimum of 3 credits are required
- Course can be taken for 1-10 credits
- Nursing 8891.01: Genetics and Genomics for Nursing Science
- Nursing 8891.02: Secondary Analysis of Complex Survey Data for Nursing and Health Research
- Nursing 8999: Dissertation
- Course can be taken for 1-10 credits
- The dissertation must be completed within five years of completion of the PhD Candidacy Examination. Students must be continuously enrolled (Autumn and Spring semesters) during the dissertation for a minimum of 3 credit hours per semester. A minimum of 6 credit hours of Nursing 8999 are required over a minimum of two semesters of study. Students must be enrolled in dissertation hours in the semester of graduation.
Advanced statistics coursework
- Minimum of 9 credit hours must be completed
- Examples of courses that may be taken include Public Health: Biostatistics (PUBHBIO 6210 & 6211) and Psychology (PSYCH 6810 & 6811).
Elective coursework
- Required for students admitted prior to 2017, a minimum 9 credits of electives are required
- A variety of courses can be taken as electives.
- Nursing 8193: Individual Studies
- Course can be taken for 1-5 credits
- Nursing 8194: Group Studies in Nursing
- Course can be taken for 0.5-5 credits
Other required coursework
- Cognate minor
- A minimum of 6 credit hours must be completed
- The purpose of the cognate is for the student to develop further depth in a scientific area. For example, students have completed cognates in sociology, psychology, women’s studies, genetics, and public health.