Doctor of Nursing

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Are you an experienced professional with an ambition to be at the forefront of your field? The University of Notre Dame Australia is dedicated to building a strong and innovative research culture. The Doctor of Nursing offers an applied three-year program to suitably qualified individuals, leading to a thesis of approximately 80,000 words. Your thesis should bridge the theory-practice gap and practically contribute to industry-based or professional knowledge. Make the most of your career today.

The Professional Doctorate is a research degree designed to meet the needs of professionals who aspire to achieve academic excellence and lead the development of knowledge within their profession. The program seeks to examine crucial professional topics and integrate professional experience with scholarly inquiry.

In particular, it aims to generate a research-based approach, providing answers to questions relevant to the professions or industry and encouraging a systematic way of collecting, analysing and interpreting data. For this reason, we recommend you seek the support of a relevant professional body, employer or industry group in defining your research area.

The Professional Doctorate comprises coursework and a substantial research component leading to the submission of a thesis. The coursework component includes four compulsory research training courses to be completed as a prerequisite to your individual research project.

• RSCH7000 Quantitative Research Methods
• RSCH7001 Qualitative Research Methods
• RSCH7002 Scholarly Reading and Writing
• RSCH7003 Developing a Research Proposal
• RSCH7027 Supervised Research - Nursing

The coursework will provide opportunities for you to formulate substantial elements of your planned research (e.g. topic refinement, identification and justification of the preferred research method(s), preparation of a draft proposal), and to develop personal competencies in critical analysis and scholarly writing relevant to your profession.

The completion of the coursework is facilitated by a course delivery schedule which takes into consideration that you may also be in employment during your candidature.

Full details of the program are contained in the Program Requirements.

Please note: the availability of these courses is indicative only and may be subject to change.