Pursuing higher education in nursing is a big decision, but one that can lead to some incredibly rewarding career paths. Before you commit, it is important to know what these paths are so you can weigh up the pros and cons of each and hopefully use them to guide your PhD. 

Teaching the Next Generation 

Making sure there are enough well-qualified, competent, and confident nurses in the future is no small feat and can be incredibly rewarding. Currently, there is a national shortage of nursing faculty and teaching staff, which is causing schools to turn away otherwise qualified aspiring nurses and only worsening the nurse shortage. With a PhD, you could help change this. Highly educated and qualified nurses are exactly what nursing colleges need right now, and they will reward you accordingly. Experienced nursing faculty staff can make a good living and report high long-term career satisfaction. 

Even if you do not go into teaching full-time, the shift toward online learning and hybrid education means there is plenty of opportunity to teach on the side. You could even take your own study online with one of the many online PhD nursing programs. 

Research and Improving Care 

The vast majority of nurses will find work in hospital wards, care homes, clinics, community centers, and other places where patient interactions are constant. What many do not realize is that there are a whole host of research programs that need highly qualified nurses with a PhD to undertake game-changing research aimed at improving care on a large scale. 

Nursing PhDs themselves are flexible and can begin with research that leads toward a specific field that interests you. Nursing research is widespread and makes a real difference. Institutions like the Brigham Women’s Hospital run a range of research projects aimed at innovating nursing solutions and are currently addressing issues like breast and cervical cancer control for Korean-American women.  They are also running studies on how microfinance could be used to support the health and well-being of rape survivors and how online tests can be used in interventions to support mental health among abused women. 

Other projects like the Geneva Foundation have multiple senior Nurse scientists who are working to improve heart failure care, address acute sleep deprivation, and develop new systems to measure moral distress in healthcare workers. These research projects alone show how many different directions you could go in–each with the potential to improve care for huge groups of people. 

Leadership: Driving Change 

Many PhD programs give you the skills to become a leader in the field, taking on department director, consultant, or research director jobs. Graduates in nursing with a desire for leadership can even pursue roles such as Nurse Scientist, Director of Nursing Research, Policy Advisor, Clinical Research Coordinator, Healthcare Consultant, and Academic Faculty. These are all jobs that allow you to drive change, influence policy, and improve healthcare delivery on a large scale with big incentives.

Policy: Shaping a healthy Society 

They say prevention is worth a pound of cure, and what better way to improve prevention than by shaping health policy at a private or public level. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) defines policy as any law, rule, process, administrative measure, incentive, or voluntary action implemented by governments and other organizations. This could mean working for the CDC or other organizations that govern how healthcare is delivered. 

As a nurse, you will bring a uniquely people-centred approach to policymaking that is sought after. You could even work with the American Nurses Association (AMA) to implement health system reforms, interpret how government legislation is implemented, and coordinate care across the country. 

Opportunities For Change 

The combination of demand for highly skilled and qualified nurses and such a broad range of job opportunities put you in a strong position for a long, rewarding career. Less than 1% of nurses have a PhD, making you, as a PhD candidate in nursing, an incredibly valuable asset for any college, research program, policy maker, or Health leader. 

As a nurse, you are in a unique position to understand and address some of the biggest public health issues in America because you have likely witnessed them in the hands-on world of nursing. Taking the step towards a PhD is a big decision, but one that comes with plenty of opportunity and flexibility in the long run.