411 S. Nedderman Drive
Box 19407, Arlington, Texas 76019-0407
P: 817-272-2776 | F: 817-272-5006
PhD in Nursing
PhD in Nursing
Program Overview
The Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing program prepares nurse scientists who are able to meet population health needs.
The foremost mission of the PhD program is to develop nurse scientists. To achieve this mission, we provide a supportive interdisciplinary environment and world-class resources where future nurse scientists can learn and grow. Students and faculty engage collaboratively to conduct and disseminate scholarly research that improves human health outcomes and nursing practice.
A PhD degree opens doors and broadens horizons. There are PhD prepared nurses who teach at the college level, conduct highly innovative research, evaluate programs, lead healthcare organizations, author books, and work for government agencies to lead research and help define policies. If you want to know more about all of the exciting nursing research in the world, please see the National Institutes of Nursing Research (NINR).
Program Outcomes
- Synthesize theoretical and empirical health-related knowledge from nursing and other disciplines.
- Analyze local, national, and global social, economic, environmental, ethical, cultural, and health care issues and policies related to a program of research.
- Evaluate resources and strategic health priorities to advance a program of research
- Conduct responsible original health-related research.
- Demonstrate evidence-based leadership and teaching.
- Disseminate health-related knowledge developed from original research.
Research Interests
Learn about our Nursing Research Programs
Curriculum
Students are required to have each semester’s planned program approved by the Graduate Advisor prior to registration. A minimum of 45 semester hours is required for the degree. Please visit the graduate catalog for more information.
Admission Requirements
Basic admission requirements must be met before a student can be accepted. Prospective students must apply to the university through the Office of Admissions, pay the application fee, and submit official transcripts to the UT Arlington’s Graduate Admission’s Office. The Graduate Admission’s Office is also responsible for calculating the admission GPA. All steps necessary to complete an application (i.e. submitting transcripts, paying fees) must be completed prior to progressing in the application process.
Prospective students should review of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) graduate program specific requirements. A CONHI Graduate Academic Advisor will review the application file for nursing specific requirements. Specific program requirements can be found in the University Catalog - Nursing, Graduate Programs.
Applicants must have a written statement of goals. See guidelines and instructions. Once complete, submit to PhDinNursing@uta.edu. Once initial admission criteria are met, applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview.
If accepted, applicants will receive an acceptance form that must be signed and returned. If denied, applicants have the option to appeal the decision.Once the acceptance form has been completed and returned, an official email notification will be sent from the University to the student’s personal email.
Note: Some graduate programs have required courses and events scheduled on Saturdays. Please consult with the director of the program you are interested in, before applying for admission.
Nursing License Verification
Students are required to provide verification of an unencumbered license for acceptance into the Nursing program. The College of Nursing and Health Innovation uses NURSYS, a national database, to verify student license credentials. The NURSYS licensure and disciplinary database is the repository of the data provided directly from the Nursing Commission to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) and is primary source equivalent. To learn more about NURSYS, please click or tap here.
To assist in expeditiously verifying your credentials, please ensure your information is available in this database.
We also encourage you to sign up for NURSYS e-notify. As a nurse you will enjoy receiving license expiration reminders, status updates to your license, and tracking your nurse license verifications for endorsement. Visit the link above to learn more about the benefits of e-notify.
Resources
Policies
While University faculty and staff members give students academic advice and assistance, each student is expected to take responsibility for his or her education and personal development. The student must know and abide by the academic and disciplinary policies given in the catalog and PhD handbook, including rules governing quantity of work, the standard of work required to continue in the University, scholastic probation and dismissal, and enforced withdrawal.
Students will not be relieved of their responsibility to know the policies, deadlines and rules of the University on the grounds that they were not told. If students have questions regarding policies, it is the University’s expectation that the student will consult his/her academic advisor for guidance and resolution.
All students are expected to be familiar with the following sources of information.
Course Load
Graduate nursing education requires students to have dedicated time to devote to studying, completing assignments, preparing for, and completing clinicals and other course work. Students are encouraged to consider their work schedules and commitments considering the demands of the PhD program and adjust accordingly. Commitments which compete with graduate study may result in suboptimal academic performance and place the student in academic jeopardy.
Study Time Recommendations
In general, for every-one graduate nursing semester credit hour of enrollment a student should allocate 5 hours of study time outside of class. For example, a 3 semester credit hours course, may reasonably require 15 hours of work, outside of class, plus anytime needed to complete clinicals.
Employment Recommendations
Students are encouraged to evaluate their energy level, familial and personal obligations, and school commitments before starting their degree program.
Student Responsibilities
As a PhD student, you are expected to work at an academic, scholarly, and ethical level that is becoming of a member of the academic community. You must provide the initiative and determination needed to see your course of study and research agenda through to its successful conclusion, utilizing the resources that are available to you. You must identify and work towards your goals, provide feedback to and communicate with the people who are partnering with you as you work towards your PhD.
Some key characteristics of all successful PhD students irrespective of their areas of study are: effective utilization of time, actively searching the literature, regular writing habits, looking at research problems as new opportunities, and developing solutions to problems and discussing these solutions with the advisor. Success is within your grasp if you put in the effort to achieve.
FAQs
Tuition
Proposed Program CostsStudents seeking financial aid assistance, should contact the Financial Aid, Scholarships and MAV ScholarShop resources.
Academic Calendar
Students should review the academic calendar prior to enrolling and prepare accordingly.
Student Success
Our dedicated faculty make every effort to assist students in meeting their academic goals across a wide variety of subject areas.
UTA CONHI is unique among many comparable universities for the remarkable amount of resources dedicated to student success. Learn more about our offerings on help with courses and writing/speaking.
Research Advisor
Our PhD education is predicated on a strong mentoring relationship between the student and faculty throughout the curriculum. Your work at UTA will be guided by a research advisor and a supervisory committee. The Research Advisor, a faculty member in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, provides guidance to the student, helping them navigate through the process of coursework, comps, and the dissertation, which includes the student's research agenda. As the student's committee chair, the Research Advisor is selected early in the PhD student's course of study, and will help the student recruit the rest of her or his committee. This partnership is key to a student's success in the PhD program.
The Research Advisor is generally drawn from the College's active research faculty; a list can be viewed by clicking or tapping here. A comprehensive list describing current research by faculty member is available here.
Committee
The student's committee provides additional oversight to the student's scholarly and research agenda, and it is the committee as a whole that passes a student through coursework to comprehensive examination (comps), from comps to candidacy, from dissertation proposal to dissertation, and finally reviews the student's dissertation. The Research Advisor assists students in filling out their committee from members of the faculty at the University. Sometimes, faculty outside of the University may be selected to bring additional content expertise to a student's committee.
Doctoral Coach
Some students may need additional support in areas such as work-life-school balance, navigating difficult situations, emotional support, or needing advice from someone who is not as involved in the student's day-to-day work as a PhD student. This faculty member is a resource to assist in these areas. As a "coach," this person can provide informed, outside perspective to a student, while respecting the student's relationship to their Research Advisor.
The Doctoral Coach role is the conceptual successor to the PhD Mentoring program established by Drs. Bond and Baxley, and draws on the expertise gained through that program.