Bridges to the doctorate: Mentored transition to successful completion of doctoral study for underrepresented minorities in nursing science

Mentoring students in doctoral nursing programs: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Academic mentorship usually involves an ongoing, supportive relationship between experienced academics and research candidates, and is fundamental to establishing and nurturing scholarship and the skills for dealing with the changing demands of the academic environment. Mentoring is a valuable strategy for the development of students enrolled in doctoral nursing programs (Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing - PhD, Doctor of Nursing Practice - DNP, Doctor of Nursing Science - DNS, and Doctoral Education in Nursing - EdD).

PURPOSE

To report mentorship experiences among doctoral nursing students and academic mentors, identify positive and negative attributes of mentors and the relationship between mentors and students, and assess the benefits and barriers of mentoring.

METHODS

Relevant empirical studies published until September 2021 were identified using PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus electronic databases. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies published in English language which reported on mentorship among doctoral nursing students were included. Data were synthesized into a scoping review with findings presented as a narrative summary.

RESULTS

The review included 30 articles, mostly from the USA, which reported on the mentoring relationship, experiences, benefits, and barriers of mentoring for the student and the mentor. Students valued mentor attributes such as being a role model, respectful, supportive, inspiring, approachable, accessible, a content expert and a good communicator. Benefits of mentoring included enhanced experience of research endeavours, scholarly writing and scientific publication, networking support, improved student retention, timely completion of the project, and career readiness, as well as developing one's own mentoring skills for future mentoring of others. Despite the identified benefits, there are a number of barriers related to mentoring including access to mentorship support, limited mentoring skills among faculty, and lack of compatibility between students and mentors.

CONCLUSIONS

This review highlighted students' expectations versus their reality of mentoring, which suggested areas for improvement in mentoring doctoral nursing students, in particular the need for mentorship competency, support, and compatibility. Additionally, there is a need for more robust research designs to understand the nature and characteristics of mentorship programs for doctoral nursing students and to assess the expectations and wider experiences of mentors.

Seizing opportunity: Diverse early-entry nursing students' perceptions of seeking a PhD

BACKGROUND

The aging and retirement of the current nursing professoriate and the increasing numbers of nurses pursuing practice doctorates has precipitated decreasing numbers of nurses, specifically diverse nurses pursuing a research doctorate, thus limiting the development of nursing science.

PURPOSE

To describe factors influencing decisions about entering a PhD program from the perspectives of early-entry PhD nursing students.

METHOD

A qualitative descriptive design using semistructured interviews to explore the perceptions of making the decision to pursue a PhD in nursing of the students who participated in two early-entry mentoring programs.

FINDINGS

A model, entitled "Seizing Opportunity" was developed from the findings about the process of students deciding to pursue a PhD.

DISCUSSION

Motivators and detractors that can help nursing educators understand how to successfully recruit diverse PhD students were uncovered. Providing knowledge and mentoring for early entry students can increase the numbers of diverse students pursuing a PhD in nursing.

Completion and attrition of nursing PhD students of the 2001 to 2010 matriculating cohorts

PURPOSE

To examine completion and attrition of students in nursing PhD programs.

METHODS

Total 5,391 students who matriculated into nursing PhD programs in 2001 to 2010 were selected from the AACN database.

FINDINGS

The completion rate of the students was 74.2% and the attrition rate was 22.7%. On average, it took 5.7 years for the students to graduate and 3.7 years for the students who left without graduating to drop out. The mean age at matriculation and graduation was 42.4 and 47.5, respectively. Male students, part-time students, students of post-baccalaureate programs, students who were not faculty or held a part-time faculty position, students of the 2001 to 2010 matriculation cohorts, and students in PhD programs with 25% or more of the courses taught online were more likely to experience attrition.

CONCLUSION

The study findings provide useful information for the nursing education community to better address the issue of nursing PhD shortage.

A Conceptual Framework for Exploring the Experiences of Underrepresented Racial Minorities in Pharmacy School

Objective. To explore the social and academic experiences of students identifying as underrepresented racial minorities (URMs) in a pharmacy school, how they made meaning of their experiences, and the strategic actions they took to navigate towards degree completion. Methods. Twenty students from a school of pharmacy within a research-intensive institution participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through several rounds of coding. Trustworthiness procedures included the use of multiple coders, a dependability audit, and analytic memos to promote reflexivity. Results. The study yields a conceptual model. Pre-pharmacy school factors such as pipeline programs, work experiences, family, and URM health professionals impacted students' interest in and encouragement to attend pharmacy school. Students reported experiences including a lack of diversity, feeling unwelcomed, and concerns about cultural competency and group work challenges. Students were motivated by URM faculty members, self-efficacy, and a sense of purpose. Students were inhibited by the mental impact of sociopolitical events, the pressures of representing their race/ethnicity, and feeling inferior. Students took several actions to navigate the school including "code-switching," finding solace and support with other URMs, seeking cultural competence-related experiences to complement the curriculum, and strategically remaining silent or speaking up during group work conflicts. Conclusion. This exploratory study provides a roadmap to better understand URM students' journey to pharmacy school and experiences therein. Findings could be used by pharmacy schools to create a more inclusive environment for URM students and provide future directions for scholars pursing diversity-related research agendas in health professions education.

The History and Horizons of Microscale Neural Interfaces

Microscale neural technologies interface with the nervous system to record and stimulate brain tissue with high spatial and temporal resolution. These devices are being developed to understand the mechanisms that govern brain function, plasticity and cognitive learning, treat neurological diseases, or monitor and restore functions over the lifetime of the patient. Despite decades of use in basic research over days to months, and the growing prevalence of neuromodulation therapies, in many cases the lack of knowledge regarding the fundamental mechanisms driving activation has dramatically limited our ability to interpret data or fine-tune design parameters to improve long-term performance. While advances in materials, microfabrication techniques, packaging, and understanding of the nervous system has enabled tremendous innovation in the field of neural engineering, many challenges and opportunities remain at the frontiers of the neural interface in terms of both neurobiology and engineering. In this short-communication, we explore critical needs in the neural engineering field to overcome these challenges. Disentangling the complexities involved in the chronic neural interface problem requires simultaneous proficiency in multiple scientific and engineering disciplines. The critical component of advancing neural interface knowledge is to prepare the next wave of investigators who have simultaneous multi-disciplinary proficiencies with a diverse set of perspectives necessary to solve the chronic neural interface challenge.

Evaluation of the Nurses Caring for Older Adults Young Scholars Program

There is a "perfect storm" brewing in nursing. We are faced with a growing number of older patients, while at the same time nurses with expertise in gerontological nursing are aging and retiring. This critical shortage is most evident for nurses with research-intensive preparation needed to replenish actual and anticipated nurse faculty vacancies across the United States, especially those in underrepresented minority groups. We describe one solution to this problem; the Nurses Caring for Older Adults Young Scholars Program (YSP) that selects promising, ethnically diverse students and offers them a 1- to 3-year mentorship experience with the focus on students continuing to PhD studies on completion of their basic nursing studies. The YSP has mentored 15 prelicensure students with an identified interest in gerontological nursing research, with 8 young scholars (53%) going on to pursue doctoral studies. Program elements are described as well as philosophical and practical challenges of program implementation. Formative evaluations including student and faculty perceptions of the program as well as summative evaluation including admission success rate, student products, and progression in the doctoral program are discussed. Students indicate that establishing a strong mentor relationship with opportunities to participate in their mentor's research activities leading to the generation of a commitment to a research topic is the strongest factor in young scholars following through with enrollment into a doctoral program. A synergistic outcome of the YSP was the development of a critical mass of students interested in pursuing PhD studies that further extended the impact of the program.

Mentoring women faculty of color in nursing academia: Creating an environment that supports scholarly growth and retention

Our purposes in writing this article are to: (1) raise consciousness and prompt dialogue about issues contributing to the lack of racial/ethnic diversity among faculties of nursing, and (2) offer a vision for mentoring women faculty of color in nursing academia that is inclusive and supportive of scholarly growth and retention. Drawing from our own experiences as mentees and mentors, and bringing in literature to substantiate our argument, we examine racism and its ramifications for academic nursing and recommend strategies for opposing racism and encouraging collaborative mentorship.