Nursing (PhD)

Admissions Criteria

The holistic review process is used when considering applications for admission to the PhD Program in Nursing.  The holistic review considers multiple criteria for admission, including the applicant's professional career goals, academic capabilities, GPA, research interest, RN license, area of expertise, community engagement, and potential for a scholarly career in nursing.

The University of Louisville School of Nursing participates in Nursing's Centralized Application Service (NursingCAS), which allows for an online application.  NursingCAS collects and processes your application documents and verifies transcripts from institutions in United States.  The School of Nursing will receive application information from NursingCAS and use it to make an admission decision.

To be considered for admission to Degree Status, the following items must be submitted:

To the Graduate School

To NursingCAS

  1. Official Transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate college coursework.  An undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale is recommended for BSN-PhD and a graduate cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale is recommended for the MSN-PhD and DNP-PhD.
    • For applicants with a degree conferred in the United States the degree must be from a regionally-accredited institution and an NLN- or CCNE- accredited nursing program.
    •  International applicants with transcripts that are not in English, in addition to submitting official copies of native-language records, must also submit a notarized, verbatim translation in English prepared by an appropriate university or government official. The records must show both the degree granted and all coursework taken during the program of study.  Applicants who are submitting transcripts from outside the United States must verify their records by submitting them to one of the following organizations:  World Education Services (WES), Education Credential Evaluators (ECE), or other NACES-approved evaluator found here https://www.naces.org/members.
  2. Three letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak of academic and/or professional capabilities and potential. Recommendations should be requested from former faculty members, current or immediate past employers, or other nursing/health professionals. Recommendations must have been completed within the last year.
  3. Current resume or curriculum vitae (CV).
  4. Unencumbered RN license from a US state board of nursing. International students need to be licensed as registered nurses in their country of origin, if licensure is available. If course work, research, or graduate assistantship involves direct patient care activities, an RN license to practice in Kentucky must be obtained prior to December in student's first year of study.
  5. Responses to all questions asked on the NursingCAS application.
  6. Students for whom English is not their primary language must show English Proficiency.
  7. A written statement  of career goals, area(s) of expertise, research interest, and reasons for pursuing doctoral studies.

To the School of Nursing, Office of Student Services

  1. Personal interview with School of Nursing faculty will be required.
  2. Criminal background check. A pre-admission Certified Background Check is needed.  Please use school code IP66bg.  For international applicants the pre-admission background check requirement is satisfied during the visa application process.

Applicants accepted into the MSN-PhD and DNP-PhD programs are strongly advised to have completed a three (3) credit hour graduate level statistics course (applied descriptive and inferential statistics) with a grade of B (3.0) or higher within five years of the enrollment date. Applicants who wish to take a refresher statistics course will be advised of available statistics courses to take prior to beginning PhD coursework in statistics.

Program Requirements

BSN-PhD students will complete 15 credit hours of required master's-level courses.

Master's-Level Coursework
Courses
NURS 605Theoretical Application for Practice3
NURS 607Foundational Concepts of Evidence Based Practice3
NURS 627Epidemiology and Global Health3
or NURS 741 Advanced Pathophysiology
NURS 657Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Culturally Diverse and Vulnerable Populations.3
NURS 791Applied Statistics for Evidence Based Practice3
Minimum Total Hours15

BSN-PhD and MSN-PhD Students will complete the following 40 credit hours of required doctoral-level courses, the qualifying exam, and a dissertation:

Post-Master's Coursework
NURS 700Theoretical Basis of Nursing3
NURS 702Philosophy of Science3
NURS 710Research Methodology I: Qualitative Research Methods3
NURS 711Research Methodology II: Quantitative Design3
NURS 712Research Methodology III: Nursing Measurement3
NURS 714Research Methodology IV: Analysis of Existing Data3
NURS 725Analysis of Leadership and Health Policy3
NURS 735Socialization into the Role of the Nurse Scientist1
NURS 736Dissemination of Research Findings1
NURS 737Grant Proposal Development1
NURS 738Responsible Conduct of Research1
Advanced Statistics Courses6
Three Cognates9
DOCT 600Doctoral Candidacy0
Minimum Total Hours40

DNP-PhD Coursework

NURS 700Theoretical Basis of Nursing3
NURS 702Philosophy of Science3
NURS 710Research Methodology I: Qualitative Research Methods3
NURS 711Research Methodology II: Quantitative Design3
NURS 712Research Methodology III: Nursing Measurement3
NURS 714Research Methodology IV: Analysis of Existing Data3
NURS 735Socialization into the Role of the Nurse Scientist1
NURS 736Dissemination of Research Findings1
NURS 737Grant Proposal Development1
NURS 738Responsible Conduct of Research1
One Cognate 3
Two graduate level statistics courses6
DOCT 600Doctoral Candidacy0
Minimum Total Hours31