In 2006, the Byrdine School of Nursing at Georgia State University began offering a doctoral degree in nursing. The program has 39 students and plans to accept 10 more in the fall.
In the past, nurses sat in classrooms to earn their doctoral degrees. Today, these Georgia State students have gone high-tech and are receiving much of their education online in a Web-based, blended program.
Laura Kimble is an instructor in the nursing doctoral program at Georgia State University's Byrdine School of Nursing.
"We knew there was a great need for doctoral-prepared nurses — both in education and practice," said Cece Grindel, Ph.D., RN, CMSRN, associate director for graduate programs. "The average age of nursing faculty is 53 or 54, so we knew that a dearth of leadership was coming."
School officials also knew that many nurses who are taking the courses couldn't leave their full-time jobs to attend class. The school designed the program with these students in mind, Grindel said.
About once a month, students come to Georgia State for one or two days of classes, depending on how many courses the nurses are taking. The rest of the time, they take classes online.
"Some blended programs bring in students for a week at the beginning of each class, but we thought [that] our idea was more practical and that the workplace might be willing to support one day a month," Grindel said. "We also thought it would allow students to build an ongoing network of support from each other and our faculty."
When Grindel first started teaching, she never expected that using new videocams in a Web-based classroom would be part of her job.
"We all started out apprehensive at first. We're teachers, and we like the one-on-one interaction with students in class, but we all voted to go this way. We could see the time-saving factor," Grindel said. "At the end of the year, we're pleased with how it is going, and we're now ready to try the new videocam equipment."
Teachers weren't the only skeptics.
Doctoral student Susan A. Walsh, RN, MN, CCRN, assistant professor of nursing at Clayton State University, chose Georgia State's doctoral program for its strong curriculum.
"I looked at the programs I could reach realistically and looked at all the syllabi," she said. "When they asked me how I would feel about taking courses online, I wasn't sure. I knew how much you learn from your colleagues in a graduate program."
Now Walsh loves both the rigor of the program and the ease of its delivery method.
"This is my third time going for a degree, and I've worked [at a nursing job] through all of them," Walsh said. "You forget what a grind it is — the going to class at night, the commute, the parking. You have to be highly motivated to get an education. I don't know if I would've done it if I had to go to class every week. This allows me to do it and work."
The program has been such a success that Georgia State is moving its nursing master's-degree program online this fall, as well.
Taking classes at home on a computer and having a vast selection of research materials online through Georgia State's libraries are convenient for students. At first, Walsh found faculty comments to be a little cold, but, after meeting them at the monthly in-person classes, she found that that impression was caused by the limitations of the technology.
"They're there when you need them," she said. "They give you their home numbers and will talk with you on the weekends about your research. At this stage in our careers, we don't have little questions, we have big ones, and [faculty members are] available almost 24/7 by e-mail.
"I teach online, too, so I'm learning to be less formal and include exclamation points. Reading something is different than hearing it."
Walsh has spent her professional life going back and forth between bedside nursing and teaching, but she has found nursing's 12-hour shifts to be harder as she gets older. After completing her doctorate in nursing, she plans to teach and do research full time. "I love to teach and find better ways to turn out dynamite nurses," she said.
Georgia State nursing doctoral students are required to complete research projects. It takes about two years to complete the courses and another couple of years to write their dissertations.
"Our greatest challenge has been to maintain the quality of our doctoral program while offering it online," Grindel said. "We wanted to keep it strong. You can't promise someone a strong doctoral program and not deliver."
"It's rigorous," Walsh added, "but a sane way to get an education. You can learn and work and have a life. I'd recommend it to anyone."