Abstract
This review aimed to analyze the trends and contributions of nursing doctoral theses produced in Hong Kong. A total of 56 nursing doctoral theses were included in this review. The most often studied topic was cardiovascular rehabilitation care (n = 9, 16%). More recently, the most often studied topics has been health technology advancements in nursing care (n = 6, 10.7%). The common trend of study methods was to be quantitative in nature. Of the total, 35 out of 56 were quantitative studies. Half were experimental/ quasi-experimental research studies (n = 28, 50%). For theoretical foundations or applications, the majority (n = 21, 36%) of doctoral theses had no specific theoretical/conceptual models as study frameworks. This trend indicates that there is space for improving the theoretical and philosophical foundation of nursing research in Hong Kong. For the contributions of doctoral thesis research, Hong Kong nursing scholars place more emphasis on direct enhancement of clinical practice or the improvement of patient outcomes. This review provides concrete evidence of the status of nursing research and knowledge development in Hong Kong nursing.
Highlights
Doctoral education for preparing nursing scholars commenced in Hong Kong (HK) around 1995
This review provides concrete evidence of the status of nursing research and knowledge development in Hong Kong nursing
Three universities have run taught doctoral programs specific to the professional practice of nursing: the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) School of Nursing has provided a Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) program since 2004; the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Nethersole School of Nursing has provided a Doctor of Nursing (DN) program since 2009; and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) School of Nursing has offered a DN program since 2010
Summary
Doctoral education for preparing nursing scholars commenced in Hong Kong (HK) around 1995. With the global trend of technological advances and interdisciplinary care, the PhD nursing program alone could not meet the challenges of preparing nurses as researchers, teachers, and leaders for the dynamic healthcare environment [1]. The doctoral thesis is the capstone event of doctoral study. While developing their theses, doctoral students discover the cutting edge of the discipline [4]. Reviewing nursing doctoral theses could identify changing trends in the nursing profession as an academic discipline. Of the few published reviews of nursing doctoral research that have studied nursing dissertations/theses [5,6,7,8], none was conducted in HK. With a growing body of nursing doctoral theses in HK, the aim of this review was to analyze the trends and contributions of these existing nursing doctoral theses
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