DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (NURSING)

The doctoral program is designed to prepare clinical nurse scientists with curriculum content to include philosophy of science, research methods and techniques, nursing theories, statistical methods, and specialist preparation in an area of clinical nursing practice. The program prepares the student for a career as a clinical nurse scientist who, through course selection and experiences, develops as a teacher and disseminator of knowledge within professional, academic, and clinical arenas.

For further information, contact: Beverly H. Robinson, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor & Associate Dean for Graduate Nursing Program
UTHSCSA School of Nursing 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC # 7943, San Antonio, T X 78229-3900
(210) 567-5815
Website: www.nursing.uthscsa.edu

On-line application : http://studentservices.uthscsa.edu/publications/nursing.html

Graduates are eligible for national certification and recognition by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas as an Advanced Practice Nurse.

“Not an Official Publication of UTHSCSA”

Doctoral Course Descriptions:

• NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science
  Credit Hour Allocation: 2 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 2 clock hours - seminar
  Prerequisites: Study of advanced professional issues, roles, socialization.
  
  The focus of this course is on articulating the difference in models of knowing, and on analyzing the role of science and the role of scientists in society. Emphasis is on the process of analysis, the ability to present the pros and cons of current and anticipated ethical issues influencing specific clinical situations, and on development and use of technologies in health care. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science
  Credit Hour Allocation: 2 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 2 clock hours - seminar
  Prerequisites: Graduate standing
  
  The focus of this course is on the ethical imperative/implications in the role of the clinical nurse scientist. Current ethical theories are critiqued and the ethical implications of the major research paradigms are evaluated. Ethical issues arising from selected theoretical/research approaches are examined.
  Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6374 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods I
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hours - class
  Prerequisites: Graduate Standing
  
  This course is an introduction to research designs for causal inference. Experimental, quasi-experimental, and observational designs will be presented and evaluated for internal, external, construct, and statistical validity. Issues regarding sampling, measurement, randomization, treatment, and control will be addressed. The rationale for drawing causal inferences will be thoroughly explored.
  Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7310 Theory Development, Analysis & Evaluation in Nursing
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hours - class
  Prerequisites: Masters level theory/research; Pre or Co-requisite: NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science; NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science
  
  This course provides opportunity to study a system for the development of nursing science through middle-range theory development. Learning activities include engaging in strategies for concept, statement clarification, and theory clarification. Students and faculty will dialog about theory application, theory construction, evaluation, and clinical testing of theory. The relationship between research and clinical practice to theory generation and testing is explored. The student and faculty will gain practice in strategies for middle-range theory building. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7380 Qualitative Inquiry for Clinical Nursing Research
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester credit hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hours/week
  Prerequisites: NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science; NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science; NURS 7310 Theory Development, Analysis & Evaluation in Nursing (Prerequisite or concurrent)
  
  This course will introduce students to qualitative inquiry as an approach to knowledge discovery applicable to clinical nursing research. Students will analyze, compare and contrast a variety of qualitative approaches including philosophical underpinnings, methodologies and applications. Those approaches may include: Phenomenology, ethnography, /grounded theory, case study, historical research, naturalistic inquiry, interpretive analysis, and, action research, focus group methods. Students will utilize criteria for evaluating qualitative research reports to critique qualitative research studies. Students will analyze the relationship between a clinical problem and specific research methods. They will develop research questions and analyze their applicability to specific clinical issues and will learn varied strategies for collecting and analyzing qualitative research data. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6375 Regression Models in Nursing Science
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours - class
  Prerequisites: Graduate standing
  
  This course presents regression analysis at an intermediate level. Course will focus on regression for continuous variables: specification, estimation, testing, and diagnostics. Logistic regression for binomial and multinomial variables, log-linear regression for count variables, and proportional hazards regression for duration variables will be explored. An introduction to multilevel regression will occur. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6105 Role of the Clinical Nurse Scientist
  Credit Hour Allocation: 1 semester credit hour
  Clock Hour Allocation: 1 seminar hour/week
  Prerequisites: Admission to the doctoral program
  
  This course will focus on the professional and ethical roles and responsibilities of the Clinical Nurse Scientist in advancing the discipline of nursing through the generation of clinical knowledge, discovery and theory development. Participants will explore potential settings for practice which are traditional such as academic health centers as well as emerging venues. Discussions about issues that may affect the Clinical Nurse Scientist in developing lifelong career/scholarship trajectories will occur. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7381 Nursing: Synthesis and Application of Clinical Research
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hourss/week
  Prerequisites: NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science; NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science; NURS 7310 Theory Development, Analysis & Evaluation in Nursing; NURS 6374 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods I; NURS 6375 Regression Models in Nursing Science; NURS 6105 Role of the Clinical Nurse Scientist
  
  This course integrates the dynamic elements of clinical practice, theory, and research to prepare doctoral students to function effectively in the synthesis and application of clinical research. This course provides guided direction in the processes used for dissertation development and grant application proposals. Students will be actively involved in the critique and analysis of published literature and other students’ dissertation proposals, grant applications, and manuscripts. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6373 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods II
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours class
  Prerequisites: NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science; NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science; NURS 6374 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods I; NURS 7310 Theory Development, Analysis & Evaluation in Nursing; NURS 7380 Qualitative Inquiry for Clinical Nursing Research; NURS 6375 Regression Models in Nursing Science;
  Co-requisites: NURS 7381 Nursing: Synthesis and Application of Clinical Research
  
  This course presents modern and classical psychometrics for nursing science from the perspective of item response theory. Most of the course will cover classical test theory from the perspective of modern test theory. An introduction to binary item response theory will also be presented. The course will emphasize applications within the context of modern psychometric principles. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7382 Structural Equation Models for Nursing Science
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours class
  Prerequisites: Intermediate Statistics
  
  This course presents structural equation modeling (SEM) for nursing science. The course will begin with a review of regression from an SEM perspective. The first major topic of the course will be path analysis, including model specification, methods of estimation, recursive and non-recursive models, direct, indirect, and total effects, methods of estimation, single and multi-group analyses, moderators and mediators, and the assessment of causality. The second major topic will be psychometrics from an SEM perspective, including congeneric test theory, reliability and stability, convergent and discriminant validity, and confirmatory factor analysis. The third major topic will combine the first two into structural equations, including model specification and identification, methods of estimation, second-order factor analysis, and the assessment of causal structure. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7383 Qualitative Methods II: Applications in Nursing Science
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hours/week
  Prerequisites: NURS 6225 Philosophy of Nursing Science; NURS 6226 Ethics of Nursing Science; NURS 6374 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods I; NURS 7380 Qualitative Inquiry for Clinical Nursing Research
  
  This course is designed to provide students an opportunity to conceptualize a research problem from a qualitative perspective, to study one specific method (grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, hermeneutics), and to practice qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis in that method. Students will have opportunities to write a mini-proposal guided by a qualitative research question and leading to a specific qualitative research approach to the problem. There will be opportunities for participating in Mock reviews of qualitative research proposals (either as investigator or reviewer). Students will learn the IRB approval process with qualitative proposals and will have opportunities to develop pilot research strategies building to a dissertation proposal. Strategies will include interviewing, focus group, or participant observation following the selected method. Through this process students will practice and learn strategies and processes for conceptualizing and implementing a qualitative study guided by a specific qualitative methodology. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 6376 Mixed Methods for Clinical Nurse Scientists
  Credit Hour Allocation: 3 semester credit hours
  Clock Hour Allocation: 3 clock hours/week
  Prerequisites: NURS 6374 Nursing: Quantitative Research Methods I; NURS 7380 Qualitative Inquiry for Clinical Nursing Research
  
  This course will cover the use of mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative, to address complex research questions in nursing and health care. Problems of trying to merge methods and practical strategies for accomplishing this successfully, as well as paradigmatic issues, will be discussed. The student will use prior products developed in quantitative and qualitative methods classes to devise a mixed method proposal that that integrates readings on mixed methods with the student’s own research interests. Doctoral Courses
  
  
• NURS 7099 Dissertation
  Credit Hour: Semester credit hours to be arranged
  Prerequisites: Successful completion of all coursework, qualifying examinations, and dissertation proposal defense. Doctoral Courses