Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
This presentation is part of : Global Strategies in Nursing Education
Assessment of the Quality of Nursing Doctoral Education in Korea: A Focus Group Study
Mi Ja Kim, PhD, RN, FAAN, Medical-Surgical Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA, Euisook Kim, DNSc, RN, College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, Yang Heui Ahn, PhD, RN, HHCN, Wonju College of Medicine, Department of Nursing, Yonsei University, Wonju city, Gangwon province, South Korea, Soon-Nyoung Yun, PhD, RN, MPH, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, Kwang-Ja Lee, PhD, RN, PMHNP, College of Nursing Science, Ewha-Womans University, Seoul, South Korea, and Hyeonkyeong Lee, PhD, RN, Public Health, Mental Health, and Administrative Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA.
Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to describe strengths and weaknesses of faculty and resources for quality nursing doctoral education in Korea.
Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to discuss the viewpoints from providers (faculty and deans) and receivers (students and graduates) of nursing doctoral education in Korea.
Background: Korea has 21 nursing doctoral programs, and recent rapid expansion has raised questions about the quality of faculty and resources for quality doctoral education. Aims: This study aimed to describe major strengths and weaknesses in faculty and resources for quality nursing doctoral education in Korea. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted with 4 groups: 10 deans/department heads, 7 faculty members, 7 students, and 6 graduates. The participants were recruited nationally from 14 nursing doctoral programs that represented different regions, both public and private universities, and met the inclusion criteria: current deans and faculty; students who have completed at least 3 semesters of doctoral program; and graduates who have completed the doctoral programs within the past 3 years. Four trained researchers led each group for 2 hours, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of faculty and resources for quality doctoral education. The discussion was tape-recorded, transcribed, and reviewed, and the text was divided into meaning units, coded, and themes were formulated. Each coded transcript was reviewed by 2 researchers for validation and discussed for consensus. Results: Some deans and faculty considered administrative support and appropriate number of faculty as the strengths of the doctoral education, while a majority of participants in the 4 groups thought that the number of faculty, space, and support services for research and student learning were inadequate. Both students and graduates considered faculty support for their research efforts as a strength and considered insufficient financial support for dissertation research as a weakness, whereas their views on faculty’s mentoring and access to faculty were mixed. Deans and faculty members viewed inadequate faculty development as a significant weakness. Conclusion: Strengths and weaknesses identified in faculty and resources for quality nursing doctoral education in Korea from the 4 groups’ perspectives may be applicable as well to other countries.

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