Top 5 reasons to get a PhD if you're a nurse

hey everybody will martin here so why

should you get a phd why should anybody

get a phd well i'm going to give you

five reasons why i got a phd and they

might be five reasons why you should too

so number five a phd gives you the

opportunity to establish a career in

academia so if teaching is your thing if

you have a passion for it if you have a

talent for it then teaching is probably

where you ought to be but in order to

join the faculty at most universities

you have to have a phd now some

universities will allow you to

enter a tenure track program as a dnp

but most universities at least at this

point still require a phd so consider

getting the phd if academia and teaching

and becoming a professor is really your

goal number four is research so

getting a dnp for example which is a

clinical doctorate will give you a lot

of background in the science of nursing

practice but not quite as much in how to

conduct research

now some dnp programs might provide a

little bit more than others in regard to

research methodology but for the most

part you have to go to a phd program in

order to get the tools that you really

need in order to do that independent

research

that others will expect of you and by

conducting your own research you're

adding to the body of nursing knowledge

number three and this is an important

one for me is it increases your options

you know as you practice for a few years

as a nurse

some of you may want to broaden your

scope you may want to go in if different

directions i mean let's face it nursing

is a hard job

and working at the bedside for years on

end takes its toll

having the option to do different things

even if you decide at the end that

you're going to stay at the bedside

that's great but it's nice to have

options i never wanted to be put into

one area and not have the ability to get

out and do different things with a phd

it gives you the options to do things

away from the bedside whether that be

administration or

consulting or legal consulting

i mean you may not necessarily be an

expert in all corners of nursing but

having a phd

indicates to others that you have

identified a goal and that goal is to

complete the phd and you achieved it and

that's really

what most college degrees represent

is that you have identified a goal and

you've reached it

number two ties in with number three the

universal recognition of the phd

a dnp is a great

degree but

it doesn't give you that research

experience that research training that

you may need if you want to move into

other parts of the health care industry

pharmaceuticals

regardless of the person you're talking

to whether it's

a lay person or someone else in the

health care industry everyone recognizes

the phd as the terminal degree for

almost every profession now there's

professional doctorates of course the md

the do the dnp being another example

but the phd is the pinnacle in the eyes

of many

does it make you an expert nurse no of

course not you're not an expert

in all corners of nursing as a matter of

fact you may not be an expert in any but

what you do know how to do is you know

at the end of your program how to

conduct research and how to get answers

to questions that bedside nurses may

have so by doing that you're advancing

the body of nursing knowledge and that's

extremely

rewarding and number one is

self-satisfaction

now not everything is tied to money and

a lot of people have asked me over the

years do you get paid more because

you're a phd

nurse practitioner and the answer is no

insurance companies don't care that i

have a phd i get reimbursed the same

regardless of how many letters might be

after my name

i didn't get the phd to try to earn more

money necessarily

i got it to advance and increase my

options and so far that's what it's been

doing

it's given me the opportunity to get

involved in administrative work and to

acquire protected time at work so that

at least in my case i'm not at the

bedside as often as i used to be

and

i like that i like to do different

things all the time and

let's face it if you're working in

a high stress setting whether it's

critical care emergency department

almost anywhere you need that time away

and the phd has given me the ability to

do some different things and yet still

be in touch clinically so remember the

phd is a statement to yourself and to

everyone else that you have identified a

goal and you've achieved it it's a big

goal it's not easy

and

for those that have gotten a master's

degree or a dnp you've got an idea of

what you're up against it's just more

and more of it

and uh your writing for example is going

to be

uh at an another level and it you are

going to be expected to

write and communicate to a higher level

than you ever have before

and

regardless of where you are in your

career or your age it's always good i

think to push yourself and try to make

yourself a little bit better

and

obviously getting into a phd program

will do that or

you'll quit one or the other

and that's the goal with anything that

you're doing is to just get better at it

and to increase

the number of tools in your toolbox

so

with that those are the five reasons why

i got a phd and i think there are five

good reasons why you may want to get a

phd as well i'm gonna do more of these

top fives so until next time i'll talk

to you again please if you can subscribe

and and i'd love to read your comments

below so please consider commenting as

well have a good day thanks

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