BACKGROUND: The critical need for more nurses with research doctoral degrees to replace vacancies among retiring nursing faculty and nurse administrators is identified. The Future of Nursing report recommends that the number of nurses with PhD degrees double by 2020. METHOD: Encouraging nursing students to begin doctoral education early in their careers is essential to meeting this goal now and in the future. One method to promote early enrollment into doctoral education is participation in a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) honors program. We describe the recruitment and application process, mentor selection, scholarly activities, and publication of final manuscripts for one such program. RESULTS: The success of one BSN honors program in enabling graduation with university honors and encouraging enrollment and graduation with doctoral degrees is described. CONCLUSIONS: The development of more BSN Honors programs and enhancement of activities of current programs are recommended. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(10):579-582.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.
BACKGROUND: The critical need for more nurses with research doctoral degrees to replace vacancies among retiring nursing faculty and nurse administrators is identified. The Future of Nursing report recommends that the number of nurses with PhD degrees double by 2020. METHOD: Encouraging nursing students to begin doctoral education early in their careers is essential to meeting this goal now and in the future. One method to promote early enrollment into doctoral education is participation in a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) honors program. We describe the recruitment and application process, mentor selection, scholarly activities, and publication of final manuscripts for one such program. RESULTS: The success of one BSN honors program in enabling graduation with university honors and encouraging enrollment and graduation with doctoral degrees is described. CONCLUSIONS: The development of more BSN Honors programs and enhancement of activities of current programs are recommended. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(10):579-582.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.