PhD Nursing Program - Essay Example

            Initially, the nursing practice was devoid of clinical research but the PhD program was tailor-made to prepare nurses for scientific research. There was a need to advance nursing knowledge in light of progress made in applied and basic sciences in healthcare. Moreover, the demands of patient care, changes in the healthcare field, globalization, and rapid population growth necessitate scientific foundations to translate research findings into nursing practice. The PhD program prepares nursing scientists to undertake research in order to advance the theoretical and empirical foundations of healthcare and nursing all over the world.  Nurses gather skills and knowledge in analytic, methodological, and theoretical approaches in the discovery as well as the application of generated knowledge in nursing practice. The program outcome is a nurse scientist who can undertake research in academia as well as other research environments that are focused on designing and testing interventions for the purpose of advancing nursing practice and healthcare. The PhD graduate is inducted in research as s/he has to complete and defend a research project before graduation. The research project may be published in a peer-reviewed journal and the student can also make presentations in various workshops and conferences.

            A PhD student excels in the application of evidence-based research in nursing practice. Evidence-based research (EBP) presents a problem-solving intervention in healthcare that incorporates evidence from research studies inpatient care with consideration for clinician expertise and patient values and expertise. In addition, the enumeration of rigorous research (external evidence) and outcomes (internal evidence) greatly boost the quality of policymaking (Melnyk et al. 2011). Evidence-based policies in organizations translate to the highest quality of nursing care. The policies accommodate and promote nursing research and scholarship.  A clinical practice that is based on evidence requires the development of well-formulated clinical questions (Stillwell et al. 2010).  These clinical questions guide the search and review of relevant and current literature. There are 2 types of clinical questions: foreground questions and background questions. Foreground questions are posed in order to decide the most appropriate intervention in boosting patient outcomes in case there are 2 options. After the development of a well-defined question, one can conduct a literature review to compare all the interventions. Foreground questions are relevant and very specific to a given clinical issue (Stillwell et al. 2010).   The PICOT format is widely employed in developing foreground questions.  Conversely, background questions are broader and literature review sheds more light on a general subject. Evidence-based practice avails nurses an opportunity to be more streamlined, individualized, dynamic, and effective in making clinical judgment. The use of evidence/research findings to develop practices, nursing care advances as it is in tandem with the latest knowledge developments and technological advances.