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The purpose of this study was two fold: (1) to explore the outcome of a professional socialization plan for PhD nursing students as they journey through the program and (2) to foster successful completion in the doctoral PhD program. The mission of a doctoral nursing program is to prepare future nurse scientists with advanced knowledge in nursing education, practice, research, health and public policy and provide scholarly activities that will create leaders in the discipline of nursing. Professional Socialization is a learning process where individuals of a particular profession socialize among themselves and acquire the specialized knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, norms and interest needed to perform their professional roles. Doctoral students (PhD & DNP) participate in professional socialization, by engaging in three interdisciplinary collaborative courses, Global Leadership Strategies and Diversity Awareness, Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Bio-ethical Imperatives that provides the foundation for advanced knowledge in the field. These courses provide the basis for interdisciplinary engagement with students from the two doctoral programs, Philosophy of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice. These connections with peers in the program allow for discovery of common research interests and create a foundation for professional relationships and partnerships. In addition, they participate in two major scholarly activities, the annual Doctoral Colloquium and the Sigma Theta Tau (STTI) Lambda Chi Chapter Research Conference. The Doctoral Colloquium presents an opportunity for doctoral students to explore current concerns about their research, present their work in progress to peers, senior researchers and receive guidance from the participants and also engage with well-known international and national nursing leaders. At the STTI research conference students are required to participate in podium or poster presentations.
Methods:
A qualitative descriptive design was utilized to collect evaluation data among students at one private, non-profit university in the Southeast region of Florida about the professional socialization plan and the completion rate of the doctoral program.Students currently enrolled in the interdisciplinary courses were invited to voluntarily evaluate the interdisciplinary collaborative courses, the STTI Research Conference and the Doctoral Colloquium. In addition, purposive sampling was utilized to select 40 participants to interview about their professional socialization experience. Individual semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions were used to obtain data. Data was analyzed following qualitative techniques.
Results:
The results of this study confirmed the objectives of this study and revealed that student peer interactions, supportive faculty environment, collegiality, and student scholarly engagement, were prevalent in the data analysis.
Conclusion:
This study indicated the graduates of the PhD program have developed mastery of the competencies to expand science that supports the discipline and practice of nursing.