Barriers for BSN Students to Pursue a PhD in Nursing and Recommendations to Address Them: A Scoping Review

Background: Increasing the BSN-PhD pipeline could address the shortage of nursing faculty to conduct research, develop nursing science, and train new nurses and faculty.

Purpose: To identify barriers to BSN students' pursuit of PhD education, and to compile recommendations to increase their numbers.

Methods: This scoping review follows PRISMA guidelines, including articles in English that discussed barriers to BSN students' pursuit of PhD education and recommendations to address them.

Findings: Barriers to pursuing a PhD include misunderstanding PhD education and its impact on population-level health, insufficient funding for PhD studies, and perceived need for clinical experience. BSN program recommendations include education on doctoral and postdoctoral options, mentorship, and hands-on research experiences. PhD programs should be accessible, fully funded, and address students' perceived need for clinical experience.

Discussion: The nursing profession must take coordinated action across individual, interpersonal, program, policy, and cultural levels to increase the pipeline of well-prepared BSN-PhD students.