When The Nurse Is A Doctor

They're college professors, research scientists, healthcare administrators, consultants and clinicians. They work for hospitals, large medical systems, pharmaceutical companies, universities, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. They're nurses with Ph.D.'s, and the demand for their expertise is growing.

Needed: Nurse Educators

Because more employers prefer nurses with four-year degrees, the need for Ph.D.-prepared nurse educators is growing. But according to Linda Lindeke, associate professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, only about 2 percent of nurses hold a doctorate.

"Nursing faculty with Ph.D.'s have a broad background in nursing science. They understand how to integrate research knowledge into clinical practice and how to use it to develop nursing theory," Lindeke says.

Holistic Focus

Research is a primary interest for nurses with Ph.D.'s. Unlike medical research, which tends to focus on disease, nursing research focuses on the interaction between people, their environment and their health.

Mary Chesney, a doctoral student at the U of M, explains: "A physician researcher might study a new drug to treat Type II diabetes. A nurse researcher might study the environmental factors that make a patient more or less likely to adhere to the drug treatment."

Eva Gallagher works as a medical science liaison at a biotechnology company. Her job involves testing drugs to see if one medication is more effective than another. What is often left out of this research, she says, is consideration of the big picture, or what is best for patients. "We need to learn more about how a treatment affects a patient's overall health and quality of life. This is an area that nurses have excelled in," she says.

According to Gallagher, many large companies are hiring only candidates with a doctorate. So to stay competitive, she is earning a Ph.D.

Opportunities Galore

Lindeke acknowledges that deciding to complete a Ph.D. in nursing may seem daunting at the outset.

"But once you've earned a doctorate, you can go almost anywhere and write your own contract," she says. "The Ph.D. prepares you to be part of the decision-making team. It allows you to bring your experience and knowledge to the table. It can open up opportunities beyond your wildest imagination."