Duke University School of Nursing is one of only 31 nursing schools selected to receive a grant to increase the number of nurses holding PhDs. The selected schools comprise the fifth cohort of grantees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program, which will provide financial support, mentoring and leadership development to nurses who commit to earn their PhDs in three years. The Duke University School of Nursing may select one or two students to receive this prestigious award.

“Our fifth cohort of Scholars will join an impressive group of nurse researchers who are already making significant contributions to the field. This program is designed to empower nurse leaders to progress efficiently. The selected scholars will complete their PhDs in an expedited three-year time frame,” said Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Future of Nursing Scholars program co-director and the Nightingale professor of nursing and the chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

In its landmark nursing report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that the country double the number of doctorally-prepared nurses. While enrollment in doctorate of nursing practice programs has increased exponentially, PhD enrollment has seen less growth. The Future of Nursing Scholars program was designed to increase PhD-prepared nurses. Doing so will ensure that more nurses are conducting vital research and will also help address the nurse faculty shortage.

The Future of Nursing Scholars program is a multi-funder initiative. In addition to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Johnson & Johnson, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Sharp HealthCare and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are supporting the Future of Nursing Scholars grants to nursing schools this year. Recipient schools will attend a boot camp with the Future of Nursing Scholars program this summer and admit students this fall.

“Having the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for all five years of the program has been crucial in supporting the work of our future nurse leaders,” said Debra H. Brandon, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAAN, director of the PhD program and associate professor at Duke University School of Nursing. “As faculty members, nurse researchers foster discovery science in interprofessional teams that include students and faculty.”

“When this program concludes, we will have graduated more than 200 PhD prepared nurses. RWJF is thrilled to see the program succeed so well and we are thankful for the other funders who have joined us in support of this work,” said Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, co-director of the program and RWJF’s senior advisor for nursing.