PhD Areas of Interest

Duquesne was founded in 1878 to educate new immigrants to Pittsburgh, development of the mind, heart and spirit is foundational to a Duquesne education. These values embody and give life to the curriculum, classroom, and online and residency experiences, and they are especially visible in our relationships with each other. In the School of Nursing, faculty and staff work collaboratively with PhD students to develop and deepen nursing science. Much of our special focus and expertise in scholarship and research involve working with vulnerable populations, persons who experience health disparities, immigrants and refugees, and persons in the penal justice system. Our sustained commitment to transcultural understanding and social justice make Duquesne students, faculty and graduates citizens of the world.

Cognate Courses

To support and augment the important focus and philosophy of our program, we offer a variety of online cognate courses. The cognates offer a breadth and depth of knowledge to inform your dissertation and launch a research trajectory.

Cognate Course Opportunities

You can choose two from the following list but are not limited to these selections.

PhD Concentrations

Each concentration is designed to complement your current professional practice and to personalize your approach to teaching and patient care.

Nursing Education and Faculty Role Concentration

Develop your teaching competencies through active engagement in courses that focus on:

• Designing innovative curricula and evaluating outcomes.
• Applying learning theories in practice.
• Assessing classroom and clinical learning.
• Developing, implementing and evaluating classroom and simulation teaching plans.

The Nursing Education concentration also meets the eligibility criteria for the NLN sponsored Certified Nurse Educator designation.

Transcultural Nursing

Bridge the gap between culture and health care. Transcultural care emphasizes and embraces the emotional and spiritual connections that influence health care decisions. You will learn how to view patient preferences through a new lens that significantly impacts patient care outcomes. This advanced perspective can help you make a difference with vulnerable populations where you live and work, as well as around the world. Please note that any tuition discounts that graduate students receive are not applicable to study abroad courses.

Forensic Nursing

It's one thing to collect evidence; it's another to know how to communicate what the evidence means. Learn how to do exactly that with the potential to become a trusted expert when evaluating crimes like sexual abuse, physical assault, and accidental or intentional death. From detail-oriented analysis to court depositions that lead to prosecutions, this concentration will prepare you for a role in the criminal justice system and to be eligible to sit for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) certification exam.