title: Profession at the crossroads: A dialog concerning the preparation of nursing scholars and leaders.
abstract: The purpose of a practice discipline's terminal degree is to develop wise scholars to guide the profession in anticipating and meeting the health-related needs of those served via philosophical, conceptual/theoretical, and empirical inquiry on behalf of professional practice. Each of these dimensions is important for the discipline's ability to meet its obligations to society. However, contemporary circumstances have created a context within which the maturation of the profession may be threatened by an imbalance among the three dimensions of PhD education. Specifically, we discuss the possibility of a tilt toward the empirical at the expense of the other two. Yet, the philosophical and conceptual/theoretical dimensions are those that have permitted core disciplinary knowledge to be developed. We aim to create a dialog about current challenges and the responsibilities of the discipline's scholars for stewardship of the discipline and offer some strategies to ensure balance among the three equally important dimensions.
authors.affiliation: William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. Electronic address: pamela.grace.2@bc.edu.
authors.forename: Pamela June
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.affiliation: William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
authors.forename: Danny G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.affiliation: William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
authors.forename: Callista
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
authors.forename: Dorothy A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Disciplinary stewards; Moral imperative; Nursing inquiry; Nursing scholarship; PhD curricula