The future of oncology nursing science: who will generate the knowledge?

393 The current system for doctoral education in nursing does not have the capacity to prepare the number of graduates necessary to replace retiring faculty, nor does it have a sufficient number of nurse researchers to generate knowledge for the discipline (Potempa, Redman, & Anderson, 2008). According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2007), a large percentage of senior nursing faculty members will retire by 2012, and nearly half the current nursing faculty is likely to retire by 2016. Many senior faculty members are PhD-prepared faculty as well as funded researchers. Therefore, in the United States, the nursing profession is at an important crossroads that could determine the direction of doctoral nursing education. Given the projections, doctoral nursing education will need to be re-evaluated, even with the introduction of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree. The practice and research contexts of the nursing discipline will have to be reconnected, and focus will have to be placed on nursing knowledge development (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2009). Many forces influence doctoral education and knowledge development: (a) the nursing faculty shortage; (b) the older age of individuals who complete their PhDs, many on a lengthy part-time basis; and (c) the creation of the nonresearch DNP degree, a professional practice doctorate. In reports by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), student enrollment in DNP programs has increased 176% (N = 3,291), from 1,874 students in 2007 to 5,165 students in 2009 (Fang, Tracy, & Bednash, 2010; Raines, 2010). The extraordinary growth of DNP student enrollment is related to the surge of new DNP programs in that period, 53 in 2007 to 119 in 2009. However, PhD programs have remained stagnant, with an increase in student enrollment of only 5% (N = 204), from 3,973 students in 2007 The Future of Oncology Nursing Science: Who Will Generate the Knowledge?