A survey of current practices in data management education in nursing doctoral programs.

Abstract

The inclusion of data management instruction within nursing doctoral curricula has not been systematically examined. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of data management education within nursing doctoral programs. Separate surveys were created for DNP (332) and PhD (138) program directors. Survey questions were based on the stages of the UK Data Service Research Data Lifecycle. One hundred and four nursing doctoral program directors responded, a 22% response rate. Sixty-seven (64%) were from DNP programs while 37 (35%) were from PhD programs. Although program directors reported that they were teaching stages of the research data lifecycle, data management is mostly being taught through individual mentoring or a single lecture within a required course, and that students' project data were not being preserved. Nursing doctoral programs need to develop consistent data management education, build an awareness of data policies, and clarify student project data sharing and ownership.