Facilitation of Collaborative DNP and PhD Research

Background: The specific role that DNP and PhD educated nurses each have in contributing to nursing research and knowledge development remains an ambiguous and confusing issue. Carnegie Foundation has proposed that the PhD degree prepares scholars who will generate new knowledge, critically conserve valuable and useful ideas, and responsibly transform those understandings through writing, teaching, and application (Golde & Walker, 2006). The purpose of DNP preparation is to utilize the knowledge generated by researchers and theoretical scholars in the delivery of services and advancement of policies that support high quality health care (Edwardson, 2010). Objectives: The purpose of this presentation is to describe one Universities’ PhD and DNP faculties’ approach to devising a curriculum to enhance the research and scholarship development and outcomes for both nursing doctorate educational degrees. The goal is to develop the collaborative potentials for DNP and PhD nurses to ask thoughtful and useful clinically-relevant questions and conduct rigorous, scholarly research. Method: A doctorate-level nursing theory course was developed to address the theoretical components necessary for DNP and PhD students. Specific strategies were developed to guide the research endeavors of both PhD and DNP scholars. To learn the principles, concepts, and application of epidemiological and statistical methods in research, DNP students are required to enroll in a graduate-level biostatistics course with Nursing PhD, Pharm. D and Business School graduate students. Results: Similarities and differences were identified to conduct research by DNP and PhD scholars. Educational approaches to meet the specific theoretical foundations and research backgrounds necessary for DNP and PhD nursing research were identified. Strategies to facilitate attainment of course objectives and outcomes will be presented. Findings indicate that doctoral-level nursing courses can be an effective approach to enhance the research preparation necessary to promote scholarly research conducted by DNP and PhD scholars. Conclusions: Positive learning outcomes are attainable in graduate nursing courses utilizing collaborative DNP and PhD theory and biostatistics courses. These results can be used to design creative approaches to promote collaborative research efforts between DNP and PhD prepared nurses.