Quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa

Abstract

The number of doctoral programmes in nursing has rapidly multiplied in many countries of the world, with each doctoral programme varying not only between countries, but also between higher education institutions within countries. This has led to a concern about the quality of doctoral education in nursing and the development of quality criteria, standards and indicators (QCSI) for doctoral education in nursing that can be applied globally. This study is part of an international collaborative study to compare the quality of doctoral education in nursing among Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA) using the QCSI criteria, i.e. the nature of the mission, the quality of academic personnel, doctoral students, curriculum, programme administration and infrastructure, the availability of institutional resources and evaluation of the programme. In South Africa, no study has ever been conducted at a national level to evaluate the quality of doctoral education in nursing. Linking to the global need, this research aimed to explore and describe the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa and to develop a strategy to improve the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa. The aim was achieved through five objectives: exploring and describing the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa from the perspectives of nursing deans, academic personnel, doctoral graduates and doctoral students with regard to the nature of the mission, the quality of academic personnel, doctoral students, curriculum, programme administration and infrastructure, availability of institutional resources, and evaluation of the programme. A further objective was to develop a strategy to improve the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa. The design of the study was quantitative, with exploratory, descriptive and contextual research strategies. The research followed specific steps that consisted of two phases. Phase one consisted of the first four objectives of the study and entailed a comprehensive literature review and empirical research using four structured (Likert-type) internet-mediated (by v email) questionnaires to explore and describe the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa from the perspectives of nursing deans, academic personnel, doctoral graduates and doctoral students. Sixty-two (62) problems were identified from the literature review and the empirical research, which served as the evidence base towards developing a strategy for improving the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa in phase two, which consisted of objective five of the study. The strategy for improving the quality of doctoral education in nursing in South Africa was developed using a strategic process to develop a vision, mission, values, principles, assumptions, strategy objectives, and functional tactics, based on Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy_ Finally, the research was evaluated, limitations were identified and recommendations were formulated for practice, education, research and policy.