Pursuing higher education in nursing is a big decision, but one that can lead to some advantageous career paths. Before you commit, it is essential 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 competent nurses are exactly what nursing colleges need right now, and they will reward you accordingly. Experienced nursing faculty staff can earn a good living and report high levels of 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 centres, and other places where patient interactions are constant. What many do not realise is that there is 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 Wellbeing of rape survivors and how online tests can be used in interventions to support mental health among abused women.
Other projects, such as the Geneva Foundation, have multiple senior Nurse scientists 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 demonstrate the numerous directions one could take, each with the potential to improve care for large groups of people.
Leadership: Driving Change
Many PhD programs equip you with the skills to become a leader in the field, potentially leading to roles such as department director, consultant, or research director. 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 enable you to drive change, influence policy, and enhance healthcare delivery on a large scale, offering significant 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 both private and public levels? The Centres for Disease Control (CDC) defines policy as any law, rule, process, administrative measure, incentive, or voluntary action implemented by governments and other organisations. This could mean working for the CDC or other organisations that govern the delivery of healthcare.
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 puts you in a strong position for a long, rewarding career. Less than 1% of nurses hold a PhD, making you, as a PhD candidate in nursing, an incredibly valuable asset for any college, research program, policymaker, or Healthcare 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 significant decision, but one that comes with numerous opportunities and flexibility in the long run.
