Expected Roles of PhD Graduated Nurses: A Scoping Review

The aim of this study was to investigate the expected roles of the Doctor of Philosophy graduated nurses and their challenges. This study was conducted as a scoping review based on Arksey and O'Malley’s approach. After a search in valid databases such as Google Scholar, Information Sciences Institute, Science Direct, Ovid, PubMed, and Scientific Information Database between 2000 and 2019 and review the websites of some well-known universities and the contents of some of the global nursing websites such as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, National League for Nursing (NLN), International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing (IDEN), as well as reports such as Institute of Medicine. All data were collected, summarized, and then described narratively. There was much evidence that the Doctor of Philosophy programs had failed to prepare graduated nurses for the related roles and responsibilities. The expected roles of the Doctor of Philosophy graduated nurses in this study summarized in five domains of education, clinical practice, research, leadership and management, and policy-making along with worldwide challenges, especially those highlighted in Iran. It seems that besides clarifications of the expected roles of the Doctor of Philosophy graduated nurses, there should be more thought about the contents of the programs along with roles responsibilities, as well as the establishment of better communications between universities and workplaces.