Online PhD in Nursing

Online Degree : PhD in Nursing
Online University : Duquesne University
Learning Format : Distance Learning Education Online, Online PhD Programs

Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to provide a foundation in nursing theory and research, as well as practical experience in a functional nursing role, clinical specialty or research activity. In the early stages of the program, students are assigned temporary advisors. After a student focuses on a dissertation topic, he or she can select the dissertation committee chair (the student's academic advisor for the remainder of the program). The chair and student select the dissertation committee, who are responsible for approving the student's program of dissertation study.

COURSEWORK (57 credits)

THEORY SEQUENCE - 9 credits

GPNG 920 History and Philosophy of Science (3 cr) - (Fall)
The course will examine the scientific philosophies of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, with emphasis on the former’s notion of the "falsifiability criterion of demarcation" and the latter’s concepts of "paradigm" and "paradigm shift." This examination will occur against the background of the history and philosophy of science provided by F. S. C. Northrop. The students will be able to relate this to the practice of nursing.

GPNG 900 Theory Development (3 cr) - (Spring)
This course focuses on philosophical and theoretical issues involved in the discovery and verification of theory in various disciplines. Students are asked to examine various patterns of knowing and to investigate the implications of the words “I know”. Levels of certainty gained through various processes and various theories of truth are explored. The process of questioning what one knows and from whom or from where one has gained the knowledge will be explored. This includes the idea of questioning authority and the dangers in blind obedience. Using the method delineated by Walker and Avant, the various methods of theory development are analyzed. Differences in theories developed from abductive, inductive, and deductive methods are compared. The contextual relevance of theory to practice is discussed. Students get the opportunity to do a comprehensive critique of a theory and, in this way, to integrate the various content discussed in the course. The course begins the process of looking at various theories as they relate to advance practice. This will be further developed in the next course.

GPNG 927 Structure of Nursing Knowledge (3 cr) - (Summer)
This course builds on the theory development course. In this course greater emphasis is placed on epistemology, the study of how knowledge is acquired. Further, the course examines how knowledge builds. Students are led through this process by looking at the work of Michael Polyani and, to a lesser extent, Benner’’s Novice to Expert. Since theorizing is an ethical endeavor and choices made may have ethical consequences in practice, this theme permeates the course. The testing of theory, refinement and modification of theory, and the use of theory in practice are brought together to explore and project the future direction of theory-based practice for advanced practice nurses and other health care professionals.

RESEARCH SEQUENCE - 9 credits

GPNG 904 Qualitative Methods (3 cr) - (Fall)
This course focuses on the analysis of research traditions that guide the collection and analysis of qualitative data in the development of nursing science. Included are naturalistic, conceptual, interpretive and analytical research methods such as phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, ethnography, hermeneutics and historical approaches. The course is designed to provide half the menu of research methods available to nurse researchers. As such, it complements the Quantitative Methods course and can be taken before, after, or concurrently with Quantitative Methods.

GPNG 902 Quantitative Methods (3 cr) - (Spring)
A critical analysis of quantitative research designs and methods and scientific inquiry from the viewpoint of the positivistic paradigm. Focus is placed on descriptive, correlational, experimental and quasi-experimental designs as applied to nursing problems. Emphasis will be placed on multi-dimensional methods designed to explore complex health care and nursing problems.

GPNG 903 Measurement Issues (3 cr) - (Summer)
This course focuses on the application of measurement theory and psychometric techniques to the development, use, and evaluation of measurement instruments for nursing and health care research. The operationalization of concepts, assessment of reliability and validity, and appropriate and ethical use of measurement instruments is explored.

GPNG 911 Nursing Practicum - 3 credits (Fall/Spring/Summer)
This course enables students to design and implement projects in a clinical or functional role: e.g., testing a model for use in clinical practice, nursing education, nursing administration, or consultation; or conducting a research project that will prepare the student a dissertation, such as a pilot study, meta-analysis, or tool development project.

Nursing Elective - 3 credits (Fall/Spring/Summer)
Students may enroll in any graduate nursing course of interest, or may work independently with faculty on special projects such as an extension of practicum activities, an additional research course, or an intensive theory course.

GPNG 910 Health Policy - 3 credits (Spring)
This course is taken as an internship experience and is negotiated individually with faculty.

GPNG 905 Nursing Research Seminar -3 credits (Fall)
This course explores the major research trends in nursing and health care. Discussion includes emphasis on the prevalent complex problems and the dominant methodologies used to investigate these. The current state of the art of nursing research and the effect of nationally determined research agendas on the type and quality of research is emphasized.

Cognates -12 credits (Fall/Spring/Summer)
This series of courses, which may be taken either in nursing or related disciplines, support the dissertation.

GPNG 915 Dissertation -15 credits (Fall/Spring/Summer)
Duquesne University uses an Electronic Theses and Dissertations submission process. For more information, visit the ETD homepage.

Source: For more information on Online PhD Programs in Nursing at Duquesne University, please visit http://www.nursing.duq.edu/gradPhDcurr.html