Nursing doctoral education in Turkey.

Quality health care is an issue of concern worldwide, and nursing can and must play a major and global role in transforming the healthcare environment. Doctorally prepared nurses are very much needed in the discipline to further develop and expand the science, as well as to prepare its future educators, scholars, leaders, and policy makers. In 1968, the Master of Science in Nursing Program was initiated in Turkey, followed by the Nursing Doctoral Education Program in 1972. Six University Schools of Nursing provide nursing doctoral education. By the graduating year of 2001, 154 students had graduated with the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.), and 206 students were enrolled in related courses. Many countries in the world are systematically building various collaborative models in their nursing doctoral education programs. Turkey would like to play an active role in creating collaborative nursing doctoral education programs with other countries. This paper centres on the structure and model of doctoral education for nurses in Turkey. It touches on doctoral programs around the world; describes in detail nursing doctoral education in Turkey, including its program structure, admission process, course units, assessment strategies and dissertation procedure; and discusses efforts to promote Turkey as a potential partner in international initiatives to improve nursing doctoral education.