Doctoral programs prepare nurses for roles as academicians, administrators, advanced clinical scientists, researchers, consultants, and indepandent practitioners. Doctoral degrees in nursing may be professional degrees (EdD, DNS, ND) or research degrees (PhD).
The first doctoral program in nursing was offered at Columbia University in 1924; the graduates received an EdD. Other doctoral programs developed slowly and the next school to offer a doctorate, a PhD, was New York University in 1934. During the 1960s
doctoral programs in nursing science (DNS) were established in response to the need for nursing scientists and academicians. The professional degree (DSN) was developed at this time as a result of a lack of (1) prepared faculty, (2) a well-defined knowledge base, and (3) a research record required to establish research degrees. In the 1970s there were four doctoral programs with a nursing major, expanding to 27 in the mid-1980s. As of 1989 there were 44
schools of nursing with doctoral programs.
Educational Setting