1 INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR DOCTORAL EDUCATION IN NURSING QUALITY CRITERIA, STANDARDS, AND INDICATORS (QCSI) FOR DOCTORAL PROGRAMS IN NURSING December, 2004 Introduction This document is the outcome of the work of the QCSI committee that began its deliberations in 2000, soon after the formation of the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing [INDEN]. Extensive virtual correspondence among the committee members during two phases of the work focused on developing the standards of doctoral education in nursing worldwide. The major focus of the QCSI is on research-intensive doctoral programs with or without required coursework. The document was circulated to all INDEN members for the third time in Nov. 2003 and their input is incorporated in this document. Committee members were fully aware that the task of articulating criteria, standards, and indicators that would be applicable in all countries would be full of challenges. We maintained our optimism by reminding ourselves that the desired outcomes are what we should aspire to achieve as fully as possible within the given context, being aware that some of these will not apply at present to all schools/colleges of nursing, let alone to all countries. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that many of the criteria, standards, and accompanying indicators were indeed recognized in many schools/colleges of nursing around the world, implicitly if not explicitly. The committee sought to receive national level information for developing the QCSI document, but this was not possible in the case of some countries. We are grateful that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing continued its leadership in the area of quality of doctoral programs, and published the second edition of its Position Statement titled “Indicators of Quality in Research-Focused Doctoral Programs in Nursing” in November, 2001. With AACN’s permission, we have used the content of its position statement liberally in preparing this document; yet, every effort was made to incorporate information from other countries to make it truly an international document. In the synthesis process of a myriad of comments received from INDEN members, if points were made indicating that some criteria, standards or indicators did not apply to the current situation in some countries, those elements were not included in the final version. 2 We anticipate that as doctoral programs and the environments in which they exist change, the QCSI will be revised periodically to better reflect the evolutionary changes. On behalf of INDEN we thank each member of the committee for her/his contribution to the development of this document, and acknowledge them below: Judith Donoghue (Australia) Sandra Edwardson (USA) Valerie Ehlers (South Africa) Kathleen Galvin (UK) Phyllis Giovannetti (Canada) Morag Gray (UK) Marjorie Isenberg (USA) Soyaja Kim (Korea) Won Hee Lee (Korea) Hugh McKenna (UK) Marie Muller (South Africa) Eloita Neves (Brazil) Maria Cecilia Puntel de Almeida (Brazil) Irene Wronska (Poland) Sincerely, Mi Ja Kim, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair of QCSI Committee College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, USA. Shaké Ketefian, EdD, RN, FAAN, President of INDEN University of Michigan School of Nursing, USA 3 Quality Criteria, Standards, and Indicators for Doctoral Programs in Nursing Criteria Sub-criteria Standard Indicators (recommended requirements) Student Admission Demonstrate intellectual Grade Point Average (GPA)(3.0 on 4.0 scale) or Weighted Average capacity, knowledge and Mark (WAM); experience in research, and Graduate Record Examination (GRE)(50th-60th percentile of all test professional career plan. takers in health fields). Equivalent test may be used where the GRE is not in common use. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language: 550-560 required). Acceptable level of research knowledge and professional career plan during oral interview, if interview is required. License to practice as a professional nurse in their country of origin or where currently living. Licensure for international students required only in home country. Students’ goals congruent with Match between students’ research goals and objectives with faculty faculty expertise and members’ research expertise and scholarship, and institutional institutional resources. resources. Progression Successful in obtaining intra- & Evidence of academic, service, and research awards. extramural academic and research funding and awards. Meets the milestones of the Successful in passing of all assigned work and/or examinations, if program. examination(s) is/are required. Demonstration of acceptable participation and/or presentation in doctoral and other seminars if research is the only component of the doctoral program. 4 The administration should have Presence of a monitoring system for regular and appropriate systems in place to ensure that supervision of student progress. Written documentation of reviews faculty provides regular and of student progress, and outcomes; a record of actions are kept in an appropriate supervision of appropriate administrative location. student progress. Establish a pattern of productive Evidence of presentations and written scholarly papers appropriate scholarship, collaborating with for publication or presentation at national and international meetings researchers in nursing and other disciplines in scientific endeavors. Graduation Demonstrate qualification for Pass qualifying examination, if required. This may involve both graduation as specified by the written and oral examinations. program. Pass a final oral examination, defending the dissertation. Approval of dissertation research proposal and completed research. Publication in national and international journals. Presentations at national and/or international conferences. Other indicators specific to the program. Time Frame Graduate within acceptable A majority of full time students graduate within 3-5 years post period. master’s degree. [Note: while it is not common in most countries to require the master’s degree, a large number of programs within the US require the MS degree. The issue is under consideration]. Faculty Teaching, Provide students with Evidence by student report of the degree of diverse intellectual advisement, and challenging learning experiences perspectives (e.g. analytical and leadership strategies for dealing mentoring with social, ethical, cultural, economic, and political issues related to nursing, health care, and research). 5 Research and Qualified for doctoral education. Faculty have earned doctorates in nursing or related fields. scholarship Faculty demonstrate sufficient evidence of scholarship. Faculty demonstrate evidence of extramural support for their research and for their success in obtaining funding support for their students, such as fellowships or stipends). Teaching experience in nursing education prior to working with doctoral students. Have expertise on the subject Evidence of expertise on content/subject areas. area appropriate for student learning. Have track records of research Evidence of research track records through the presentation of and scholarship. complete faculty resumes or vitae. Research and Meet the requirements of the Satisfy the requirements of the parent institution for research and teaching parent institution for graduate doctoral education. research and doctoral education. Practice and Demonstrate clinical Evidence of certificates of nursing specialties and membership in Service competence. professional organizations/societies. Provide service to professional organizations/societies at national and international levels. Teaching, Fulfill diverse responsibilities Demonstrate fulfillment of diverse faculty responsibilities and roles research, practice and roles of faculty with including teaching, research, service, and mentoring. and service competence. 6 Program Curriculum The emphasis of the program of Consistency with philosophy and mission of the parent institution study is consistent with the and nursing program. mission of the parent institution and the discipline of nursing. Include core courses and other Description of core courses such as nursing science, theory courses appropriate for doctoral development, research methodologies for qualitative and degree in nursing, if courses are quantitative research, ethical considerations in research, dissertation required. seminars; other courses such as leadership, political and policy analyses. Research areas are presented to Students have an opportunity to hear descriptions of faculty research familiarize students with in concentration areas (e.g. women’s health, bio-behavioral science, faculty’s research expertise. methodological development, application to practice areas). Emphasis is on nursing science Evidence of emphasis on nursing science and research training in and research training. the curriculum, through course syllabi and student evaluations. Quality of dissertation or thesis Evidence of presentation or publication in national or international meets acceptable norms for peer reviewed journals. doctoral study. Protection of Human/Animal All students receive formal training in ethics and the protection of subjects in research. human and animal subjects during research. Course descriptions are written Description of courses regarding credits, hours, methods of teaching and available to students and and evaluation. faculty in detail. Different types of courses are offered, including dissertation research, and a balance exists across different types of courses. 7 Scholarship The importance of research is Explicit commitment to research by the parent institution and the clearly stated as a goal by both nursing program, as demonstrated by available resources, laboratory the university and the school of space, support personnel, release time from teaching assignments for nursing (SON). research, and the like. The institution/SON value, Evidence of publications (articles and books) in peer-reviewed support, and provide rewards to journals and by reputable publishing company, and presentations at faculty and students for their national and/or international conferences. research and scholarly activities. The institution/SON should have Evidence of mechanisms in place that foster quality research a well-developed system to training (e.g., supervised research experiences, peer review, foster quality research. mentoring, consultation, exchange of expertise). Learning The environment is supportive of Evidence of mentorship, intellectually challenging environment, and environment students’ learning. financial assistance available for students. The program has a process in Mechanism in place for socialization among students, and between place that fosters socialization of students and faculty members. students to doctoral education, Evidence of close mentor-student relationships (e.g. number of and facilitates interaction among regular meetings, e-mails, or chat rooms). students, and faculty and In the case of distance education, e-mail and internet access is students. available, accessible and affordable. “Chat rooms” on the Internet are set up for students pursuing research in related fields. 8 The program should have Generally each faculty member should serve as the major sufficient number of faculty to adviser/chair for no more than 3-5 doctoral students in total during facilitate learning. the dissertation phase; and several students in earlier phases of study. Administration The administration should have Evidence that faculty meet regularly with students and monitor systems in place to ensure that student progress through accepted system and policies within the faculty carry out regular and institution. appropriate supervision of the students’ progress. Program Sufficient materials and Appropriate information is provided on program features and description information are available about requirements. These may include brochures, catalogues and/or the school and job opportunities websites describing the program, faculty profile, financial support, for students. scholarships, grants, fellowships, facilities, resources, and parent institution etc. Evidence of career advising and placement (e.g. faculty provides recommendation letters when needed). Resources Human Number of faculty is appropriate Judgments are made in view of faculty responsibilities in various for the number of doctoral units of the institution; thus, variation would be expected. students. Number of support staff is Number of technical staff and support staff is commensurate with sufficient to support faculty and the size of the program. students. Salaries should be appropriate Competitive to market levels within the region or country for all for the titles and roles. personnel. 9 Support services Research infrastructure is Administrative structure is in place with appropriate technical staff 1) Office of appropriate for facilitating for consultation on statistics, and peer discussion/evaluation of research research and education. research projects. 2) Information Advanced computing facilities Advanced computing facility with Internet access to national and technology with Internet access are in place. international networks available. Advanced information Advanced information technology available for distance education. technology should promote education at off-sites. 3) Library Library has sufficient holdings, Library holdings include international literature search facilities, search engines, and databases. data base resources, and systems for inter-library loans. 4) Institution School building provides Adequate space available for teaching and research, such as offices, and nursing unit sufficient space for faculty and seminar/conferences, and students’ socialization (e.g. student student activities. lounge, locker space and mail box, etc.). School is equipped with Adequate resources available for teaching and research (e.g. sufficient resources. computers, printers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, video, teleconference capability, and audiovisual materials). School has relevant and ancillary Adequate resources such as clinical agencies and other ancillary facilities for education, training resources available (e.g. affiliated hospitals, community health and research. agencies, private clinics, etc.). The school has various sources Evidence of internal and external funding sources for students (e.g., of funding for student research. fellowships, traineeships, studentships). Reports of the percentage of doctoral students fully and partially supported with financial aid. 10 Evaluation Program Program evaluation system is in Students function as effective scholars upon graduation. evaluation place to demonstrate the school’s Evidence that program objectives are met. ability to provide intellectually challenging learning experiences to students. Program evaluation system is in Students demonstrate gradual and cumulative fulfillment of program place that is systematic, and goals as they progress through the program. ongoing, and focuses on areas identified under Program. Evidence of ongoing and periodic evaluation mechanisms in place. Similarly, summative program The evaluation includes process and outcome data related to the evaluation is carried out every 5- school’s specific mission and goals. 7 years. Program evaluation system Confidentiality and rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses are adheres to established ethical practiced and utilized. and process standards for formal Program assessment done by relevant stakeholders: (e.g. evaluation program evaluation. by faculty, by students at exit interviews, and by graduates, peer groups, employers and external examiners). Program evaluation system Evidence of national rankings and/or comparative statistics available provides comparison of program for the program. processes and outcomes with the standards of its parent university and selected peer institutions within nursing at national level.