Doctoral graduates' attitudes toward scholarly work and Institutional Review Board and Quality Improvement Committee education and submission processes: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: Educators are challenged to find better ways to prepare doctoral nursing students to conduct scholarly work involving human subjects.

Purpose: To better understand doctoral nursing students' attitudes toward programmatic scholarly work and Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Quality Improvement Committee (QIC) education and submission processes.

Methods: Recent Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Philosophy of Nursing (PhD) graduates were recruited using convenience sampling techniques to participate in this cross-sectional, descriptive, mixed-methods pilot study. Data were collected using two researcher-developed instruments.

Discussion: Nineteen doctoral nursing students participated in this study. Students most often used a quantitative approach with health care providers to complete their scholarly work requirements. Both PhD and DNP participants were overall satisfied with the IRB/QIC content in the curricula and the submission process. Four themes were identified: (a) Efficiency, (b) Collaboration, (c) Faculty Mentorship, and (d) Areas for Improvement.

Conclusion: Findings from this pilot study may be used to enhance IRB/QIC processes through revision of administrative processes and student education.

Keywords: Doctor of Nursing Practice; Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing; Institutional Review Board; Quality Improvement Committee; Scholarly work.