Nursing Ph.D. Doctoral Program Philosophy

The underlying beliefs of the Barbara H. Hagan School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Molloy University are rooted in its humanistic framework. In keeping with this framework, Molloy University makes a unique contribution to the nursing profession through its doctoral program. It is the role of the nurse to stand against the occurrence of dehumanization that may happen in health care settings. In an environment where there may be a devotion to technology and cost containment and where others may be less concerned with the patient as a human being, the Molloy Ph.D. prepared nurse will lead in knowledge development and nursing interventions that demonstrate value and respect for persons vulnerable to illness.

Leadership by the Molloy University Ph.D. prepared nurse will be directed to transforming vulnerabilities to strengths and to attain and maintain optimum health. Humanistic nursing behavior, rooted in the principles of caring, is a goal of the doctoral program. A curriculum enriched by the study of the humanities assists in achieving that goal.

Faculty who teach and supervise PhD students believe that health equity and inclusion are instilled in our students through the lens of research and leadership.

• As a research focused program, faculty examine inequity through a lens of inquiry to discover how to make these issues visible in health care – and how aspects of theory including critical race theory and implicit bias – is incorporated into the students’ academic work to guide them in changing policy and advocacy.

• Faculty foster safe intellectual academic learning environments to raise the interest and comfort within the language of inquiry; and using the scientific processes that address contemporary problems related to inequity.

• By building confidence in scientific discourse, faculty integrate the issues of inequity and disparities through threads in courses, cognates, and development of students’ learning to stimulate research and produce advocates in promoting health equity and inclusion, making them more visible in the national community of scholars.

Students in the PhD program are recruited from known underrepresented and diverse backgrounds and are admitted with an understanding of their multiple credible holistic attributes that aim for achieving the goal of inclusive excellence.