Developing a virtual community of nursing scholars among PhD students

Session presented on Saturday, July 25, 2015: As the global healthcare landscape continues to evolve from factors such as technological changes, socioeconomic shifts, and chronic disease emergence, a well-equipped cadre of nurse scientists to examine and meet the demands of the world's people is needed. Nurses are beginning to respond to this need for advanced training, and online and distance education options in nursing are becoming increasingly common in higher education today. For graduate students pursuing a research-focused Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, a particular conceRNelates to how one will build a community of scholars so vital to one's future research career while maintaining the flexibility of taking classes online and/or from a distance. This presentation will demonstrate strategies utilized by a cohort of current Nursing Science PhD students in an online/distance program to develop a community of scholars. These strategies included a variety of face-to-face, synchronous, asynchronous, and social media resources. The presentation will conclude with how other students, nursing educators, and even nursing professionals can use similar formats to encourage the development of their own community of scholars regardless of the setting. A brief overview of the Critical Inquiry Model will serve as a context for exploring the multiple facets of education delivered through online/distance formats. Then, presenters will describe the unique environment in which they have thrived in a doctoral education program while offering a plethora of resources for the audience to explore after the session. The presentation will include qualitative descriptions of a cohort's experience highlighting strengths and challenges of distance education while sharing innovative approaches to overcome barriers in learning and networking. The lessons leaRN from synchronous distance education have great potential for application to multi-site research studies and international collaborations. Furthermore, the educational model presented could be used within any higher education setting while admitting students from anywhere in the world. This stimulates a global exchange of knowledge among individual nurses and their affiliated practice settings. Although time zone differences could pose a challenge with the synchronous discussions, the implications for regional development of similar programs inclusive of several neighboring time zones holds great potential for success. Not only does distance education offer flexible teaching and learning strategies, but it also equips future nurse scientists with the skills to advance the science in a changing world where research is no longer confined to one's immediate geographic context. This educational approach has the potential to expand research-training opportunities of the global community of nurses, who can then influence practice, education, research, and health care policy within their local contexts, as well as regionally and globally.