Volkert Delene, Candela Lori, Bernacki Matthew
University of West Georgia, Tanner Health Sciences School of Nursing, 1601 Maple St., Carrollton, GA 30118, United States.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Nursing, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States.
Nurse Educ Today. 2018 Feb;61:210-215. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.11.033. Epub 2017 Dec 6.
The demand for doctorally prepared nurses worldwide is higher than ever. Universities have responded with increased numbers of DNP and Ph.D. in Nursing programs. There are more doctoral nursing students than ever before yet they remain one of the least studied student populations. This is concerning given the high attrition rates reported in doctoral programs. The few studies that do exist are typically qualitative and exploratory in nature.
The aim of this national study of Ph.D. and DNP students was to examine how the effects of environmental stressors predict the students' intent to leave their current program of doctoral study.
A descriptive survey design was utilized for the study.
Participation requests were sent by email to deans/directors of all Ph.D. and DNP programs across the United States, with the request to forward to all currently enrolled students.
Eight hundred and thirty-five (n=835) Ph.D. and DNP participants responded to this survey.
The survey was analyzed utilizing path analysis.
Findings of the path analysis indicate that two types of stress significantly predicted students' intention to leave. First, stressors related to program issues, primarily relationships between student and faculty/advisor, significantly predict intent to leave. As program stressors rise, so does intent to leave. The other significant factor was related to support issues, specifically support from family/friends. This inverse relationship indicated as family support declines, intent to leave rises.
It is impossible to remove all stressors from students' lives during their doctoral studies. A better understanding of the environmental stressors that affect them offers the potential for nursing programs looking to incorporate adequate resources and support which will help minimize attrition and promote persistence of their doctoral students. Specific recommendations are provided that may assist programs looking to decrease doctoral nursing student attrition.
全球对拥有博士学位的护士的需求达到了前所未有的高度。大学相应地增加了护理专业的护理学博士（DNP）和哲学博士（Ph.D.）项目数量。攻读博士学位的护理专业学生比以往任何时候都多，但他们仍然是研究最少的学生群体之一。鉴于博士项目报告的高辍学率，这令人担忧。现有的少数研究通常是定性的且具有探索性。
这项针对Ph.D.和DNP学生的全国性研究旨在探讨环境压力源的影响如何预测学生离开当前博士学习项目的意愿。
本研究采用描述性调查设计。
通过电子邮件向美国所有Ph.D.和DNP项目的院长/主任发送参与请求，并请他们转发给所有目前在校的学生。
835名Ph.D.和DNP参与者回应了此项调查。
利用路径分析对调查进行分析。
路径分析结果表明，两种类型的压力显著预测了学生离开的意愿。首先，与项目问题相关的压力源，主要是学生与教师/导师之间的关系，显著预测了离开的意愿。随着项目压力源的增加，离开的意愿也随之增加。另一个重要因素与支持问题有关，特别是来自家人/朋友的支持。这种反比关系表明，随着家庭支持的减少，离开的意愿增加。
在博士生学习期间，不可能消除学生生活中的所有压力源。更好地了解影响他们的环境压力源，为护理项目提供了潜力，使其能够纳入足够的资源和支持，这将有助于减少流失率并促进博士生的坚持。提供了具体建议，可能有助于那些希望减少护理博士生流失率的项目。
