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
- University of Louisville Graduate Application with a reduced application fee.
To NursingCAS
- 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.
- 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.
- Current resume or curriculum vitae (CV).
- 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.
- Responses to all questions asked on the NursingCAS application.
- Students for whom English is not their primary language must show English Proficiency.
- 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
- Personal interview with School of Nursing faculty will be required.
- 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.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Master's-Level Coursework | ||
Courses | ||
NURS 605 | Theoretical Application for Practice | 3 |
NURS 607 | Foundational Concepts of Evidence Based Practice | 3 |
NURS 627 | Epidemiology and Global Health | 3 |
or NURS 741 | Advanced Pathophysiology | |
NURS 657 | Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Culturally Diverse and Vulnerable Populations. | 3 |
NURS 791 | Applied Statistics for Evidence Based Practice | 3 |
Minimum Total Hours | 15 |
BSN-PhD and MSN-PhD Students will complete the following 40 credit hours of required doctoral-level courses, the qualifying exam, and a dissertation:
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Post-Master's Coursework | ||
NURS 700 | Theoretical Basis of Nursing | 3 |
NURS 702 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
NURS 710 | Research Methodology I: Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
NURS 711 | Research Methodology II: Quantitative Design | 3 |
NURS 712 | Research Methodology III: Nursing Measurement | 3 |
NURS 714 | Research Methodology IV: Analysis of Existing Data | 3 |
NURS 725 | Analysis of Leadership and Health Policy | 3 |
NURS 735 | Socialization into the Role of the Nurse Scientist | 1 |
NURS 736 | Dissemination of Research Findings | 1 |
NURS 737 | Grant Proposal Development | 1 |
NURS 738 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 1 |
Advanced Statistics Courses | 6 | |
Three Cognates | 9 | |
DOCT 600 | Doctoral Candidacy | 0 |
Minimum Total Hours | 40 |
DNP-PhD Coursework
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
NURS 700 | Theoretical Basis of Nursing | 3 |
NURS 702 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
NURS 710 | Research Methodology I: Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
NURS 711 | Research Methodology II: Quantitative Design | 3 |
NURS 712 | Research Methodology III: Nursing Measurement | 3 |
NURS 714 | Research Methodology IV: Analysis of Existing Data | 3 |
NURS 735 | Socialization into the Role of the Nurse Scientist | 1 |
NURS 736 | Dissemination of Research Findings | 1 |
NURS 737 | Grant Proposal Development | 1 |
NURS 738 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 1 |
One Cognate | 3 | |
Two graduate level statistics courses | 6 | |
DOCT 600 | Doctoral Candidacy | 0 |
Minimum Total Hours | 31 |