Pursuing Success in a Hybrid PhD Nursing Program.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about hybrid PhD nursing students' experiences. METHOD: The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the experiences of PhD nursing students in a hybrid program using a convergent mixed methods design. Recent nursing PhD alumni (n = 18), and current PhD students (n = 4) were recruited at a research-intensive university in the southwestern United States. RESULTS: Four metainferences were identified: (1) the facilitator of faculty as both advisors and mentors; (2) the facilitator of peers as support, motivation, and a source of advice that preceded advisors; (3) the barrier of receiving conflicting feedback from advisory and dissertation committees; and (4) the barrier of not understanding the PhD student process. CONCLUSION: Peer support is fundamental for hybrid PhD nursing student success; conflicting feedback and not understanding the process are significant barriers. Strategies are recommended to mitigate barriers to facilitate hybrid PhD nursing students' success. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(5):328-331.].

An Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives in Research on Nature-Based Interventions and Pain.

Chronic pain results from a complex series of biomechanical, inflammatory, neurological, psychological, social, and environmental mechanisms. Pain and pain-related diseases are the leading causes of disability and disease burden globally. Employing nature-based interventions for the treatment of pain is an emerging field. Current theory driving the suggested mechanism(s) linking the pain reducing effects of nature-based interventions is lacking. A two-step approach was taken to complete a theoretical review and analysis. First, a literature review was completed to gather a substantive amount of research related to theoretical frameworks on the topic of nature-based interventions and pain. Secondly, a theoretical analysis as proposed by Walker and Avant was completed to explore current theoretical frameworks accepted in the literature on nature-based interventions and pain. Stress reduction theory and attention restoration theory were the most common theoretical frameworks identified. Neither theoretical framework explicitly identifies, describes, or intends to adequately measure the concept of pain, revealing a limitation for their application in research with nature-based interventions and pain. Theoretical development is needed, as it pertains to nature-based interventions and pain. Without this development, research on nature-based interventions and pain will continue to use proxy concepts for measurement and may result in misrepresented findings.

Patterns of Knowing and Being in the COVIDicene: An Epistemological and Ontological Reckoning for Posthumans.

The crucible of the COVIDicene distills critical issues for nursing knowledge as we navigate our dystopian present while unpacking our oppressive past and reimagining a radical future. Using Barbara Carper's patterns of knowing as a jumping-off point, the authors instigate provocations around traditional disciplinary theorizing for how to value, ground, develop, and position knowledge as nurses. The pandemic has presented nurses with opportunities to shift toward creating a more inclusive and just epistemology. Moving forward, we propose an unfettering of the patterns of knowing, centering emancipatory knowing, ultimately resulting in liberating the patterns from siloization, cocreating justice for praxis.

Experiences of dual PHD-DNP nursing students during doctoral education.

BACKGROUND: Nursing doctoral education now includes an option with a growing national interest: the PhD-DNP dual degree. Although programs have existed for 10 years, little is known about experiences of dual PhD-DNP degree nursing students (DDNS) during doctoral education, including their perceptions of mentorship during coursework, comprehensive exams, and dissertation readiness. OBJECTIVE: To explore and describe the experiences of DDNS during hybrid dual doctoral education at one Southwestern university. METHOD: Using a qualitative descriptive design, DDNS (n = 4) at a Southwestern university were interviewed about their experiences during coursework and comprehensive examinations. RESULTS: Three categories fundamental to DDNS were identified through an inductive and deductive iterative process: coursework experiences, including the key findings of in-betweenness and isolation; mentorship; and comprehensive examination experience. Categories of dissertation readiness and DDNS recommendations were inductively derived. CONCLUSION: Current interest in the PhD-DNP dual degree underscores the importance of knowing more about the experiences of DDNS. The key findings of in-betweenness and isolation have previously not been described in the nursing literature and need to be considered for the DDNS. Facilitators and inhibitors, mentorship experiences, and mentor attributes affect progression of DDNS through coursework. Strategies for success for DDNS, faculty and program success are provided.

The Prismatic Midparadigm of Nursing.

The disciplinary perspective of nursing is guided in part by its metaparadigm, which includes the concepts of human beings, environment, health, and nursing. While relevant to the discipline as a whole, these abstract concepts are not meant for operationalization into the practice environment. The authors in this paper introduce a midparadigm of nursing-namely, the prismatic midparadigm-for applications in research, practice, policy, and education. It is a framework of concepts that are less abstract, but congruent with, the metaparadigm and more specific to the practice environment with the context of vulnerability as central.