Fast Track for Academic Nursing

This grant seeks to address the “graying” of nursing faculties, a problem which has become especially acute in academic nursing where the average assistant professor is now nearly 50 years of age. A typical academic nursing career pattern includes completion of the RN or BSN, a number of years in practice, and, possibly, time out for a family before beginning an academic career. Many academic nurses have such a late start that by the time they complete doctoral programs their faculty careers are frequently limited to less than 15 years.

This program would provide academic nursing with a faster track, one that is analogous to medicine’s MD/PhD programs. The initial pilot project will identify promising nursing undergraduates, then provide career counseling and incentives to encourage them to progress directly from a baccalaureate or master’s program to a five year program that would lead to a PhD in Nursing. While moving directly from undergraduate to PhD work is not an absolute requirement, applicants are expected to have completed their RN training less than three years before being considered for the fast track program. The initial funding for the program provided by the Macy Foundation is being matched by the University of Michigan School of Nursing. The Macy grant will provide for three cohorts of five students for a period of five years, while the nursing school will assume full responsibility for the final two years of the proposed seven year program.