Five factors prove crucial to accelerated nursing PhD success

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program participants overwhelmingly agreed the accelerated PhD program prepared them to advance nursing science, according to a study. Published in Nursing Outlook, the authors listed five factors that enabled the participants to succeed. Mentorship, a sense of cohesion among scholar cohort members, the opportunity to build existing leadership skills and develop new ones, support for postdoctoral work through program funding and guidance, and direct funding to the students enabled the scholars to complete the program and secure post-docs or academic positions. With the RWJF program’s conclusion, the authors noted individual schools would need to “sustain, extend or improve their own programs through funding, robust selection of students for accelerated programs, and key mentor selections.” (Nursing Outlook article, 1/13/23)