| Course | NUR 601 Scientific Role Development I Engaging and Committing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | APA role paper |
| Length | About 847 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 601 Module 1
Retirements, Doctorates and a Call to Lead: Four Trends Shaping the Nurse Scientist I Am Preparing to Become
Student Name
Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University
NUR 601: Scientific Role Development I: Engaging and Committing
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Retirements, Doctorates and a Call to Lead: Four Trends Shaping the Nurse Scientist I Am Preparing to Become
Introduction
I entered the PhD program after ten years as an intensive care nurse and three as a clinical educator, carrying a question the bedside never answered for me: why do proven sepsis practices take so long to reach patients? This course asks what kind of nurse scholar the profession will need in the coming decade. This paper examines four trends in nursing and healthcare drawn from six research-based sources, assesses their implications for the preparation of nurse educators, scientists, leaders and change agents and describes how I will prepare and the role I see for myself after the PhD.
Trend 1: A Wave of Faculty Retirements
Nursing education faces a demographic cliff. An analysis of national faculty data estimated that roughly a third of full-time nursing faculty would leave through retirement over 2016 to 2025, with the largest losses among doctorally prepared and senior faculty, the people who mentor new scientists and lead programs (Fang & Kesten, 2017). The implication for preparation is twofold. The profession needs PhD graduates who are ready to teach as well as conduct research, and new faculty will reach senior roles faster, with less time to learn leadership on the job. For me, this means that teaching competence cannot wait until after the dissertation.
Trend 2: The Shift in Doctoral Enrollment
Over the past two decades, enrollment in practice doctorates has grown far faster than enrollment in research doctorates. Leaders in doctoral education have argued that the two degrees serve complementary purposes, the DNP preparing experts in translating evidence into practice and the PhD preparing scientists who generate new knowledge, and that confusion between them threatens the supply of nurse scientists (Bednash et al., 2014). The implication is that PhD-prepared nurses will be fewer and in greater demand, and that they will increasingly lead teams that include DNP-prepared colleagues. Preparing for this role means learning to design studies that DNP partners can implement and evaluate in practice settings.
Trend 3: Two National Reports Ask Nurses to Lead and to Advance Equity
Two national reports frame the profession's agenda. The 2011 report urged nurses to use all of their training, pursue more education and share fully in redesigning health care (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The 2021 sequel put health equity first and asked nurses to act on the conditions that shape health and to lead research and policy aimed at closing gaps (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021). The implication for the scientist and change agent roles is clear: research questions that ignore equity will be less relevant, and nurse scientists will be expected to translate findings into policy. For my interest in sepsis, this means asking not only how to speed adoption of best practices but also why rural and safety-net hospitals lag behind.
Trend 4: Doctoral Persistence
The final trend concerns doctoral students themselves. A review of doctoral persistence among nurses found that many students are mid-career, employed and balancing family roles, and that completion depends on mentorship, socialization into the scholarly community and institutional support (Cohen, 2011). The implication is that preparation for any of the four roles depends first on finishing, which requires deliberate habits from the first semester.
Implications Across the Four Roles
| Role | Implication of the trends | What preparation requires |
|---|---|---|
| Educator | Faculty retirements create urgent teaching needs | Coursework or experience in teaching, mentored teaching in the program |
| Scientist | Fewer PhD graduates, higher demand, equity focus | A focused program of research, methods training, early publication |
| Leader | Rapid movement into senior roles | Leadership development, team science skills |
| Change agent | Expectation to translate findings into policy | Policy literacy and partnerships with practice and community |
How I Will Prepare
First, I will build a program of research from the start, choosing course papers that each contribute to a single question on the spread of sepsis practices to under-resourced hospitals. Second, I will seek a teaching assistant role and complete an education elective, so I graduate ready to teach. Third, I will write every week, aiming to submit a literature review for publication by the end of my second year. Fourth, I will join a health policy interest group to learn how research reaches legislators. Finally, I will meet with my mentor monthly and treat the relationship as an apprenticeship.
The Role I Envision
After the PhD, I see myself as a faculty member in a research-intensive college of nursing with a joint appointment at a health system, leading implementation studies in community hospitals and teaching graduate research courses. This hybrid role answers all four trends: it adds a doctorally prepared teacher to a shrinking faculty, contributes scarce research capacity, places me in leadership within a health system and creates a direct path from findings to policy and practice.
Conclusion
The trends examined here point in one direction: the profession needs nurse scientists who can teach, lead and change systems, and it needs them soon. Preparing for that role is the work of the next four years, beginning in this course.
References
Bednash, G., Breslin, E. T., Kirschling, J. M., & Rosseter, R. J. (2014). PhD or DNP: Planning for doctoral nursing education. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27(4), 296-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318414546415
Cohen, S. M. (2011). Doctoral persistence and doctoral program completion among nurses. Nursing Forum, 46(2), 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6198.2011.00212.x
Fang, D., & Kesten, K. (2017). Retirements and succession of nursing faculty in 2016-2025. Nursing Outlook, 65(5), 633-642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2017.03.003
Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/12956
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982
NUR 601 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms
The opening seminar of ASU's nursing PhD carries one credit, and its heaviest piece of work is the Role Paper, worth 25% of the grade, due alongside its companion PowerPoint. The syllabus asks you to select 5 to 10 research-based articles about trends in nursing and healthcare or healthcare innovation and to assess their implications for the scholarly preparation of the educator, scientist, leader and change agent. It then asks two personal questions: how you will prepare for these trends and what role you envision for yourself once you have a PhD. Five to 10 pages is the range, and the syllabus discourages going longer. The weekly readings on doctoral success, role development and leadership are a natural starting point.
How the NUR 601 Module 1 example is put together
Built as a structured APA paper, the sample opens with the writer's path to the PhD and the question that drives her. Four trend sections follow, each summarizing evidence from cited sources, stating the implication for scholarly preparation and applying it to the writer: faculty retirements, the shift in doctoral enrollment, the two national reports on leadership and equity, and persistence in doctoral study. A table pulls the implications together across the four roles the prompt names. A preparation section lists five concrete steps, and a section on the envisioned role describes a hybrid faculty-scientist position and shows how it answers each trend. Six sources, all research-based or national reports, fall within the required range.
Reading the NUR 601 Module 1 grading rubric
The Role Paper is worth 25% of the NUR 601 grade, and its rubric is in Canvas. Faculty grading a doctoral role paper usually weigh how strong and relevant the 5 to 10 sources are, accurate synthesis of the trends, a thoughtful assessment of implications for each of the four roles named in the prompt, a specific and realistic preparation plan, a clear picture of the role after graduation and scholarly APA writing that stays under 10 pages. Papers lose points when sources are opinion pieces rather than research-based, when trends are described without implications, when one or more of the four roles is ignored and when the personal sections stay general. Staying within 10 pages is part of the assignment, since the syllabus advises against greater length.
NUR 601 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
The most common weakness is a literature summary that never reaches the personal questions. Spend a third of the paper or more on your plan and your future role. Another is covering only the scientist role; the prompt names educator, leader and change agent too, so address each. Choose research-based sources, such as data analyses, reviews and national reports, rather than editorials. Connect each trend to your own area of interest. Keep to 5 to 10 pages. Use APA 7 throughout, as the syllabus lists it as required. If you send the desk your research interest and chosen articles, it can help you organize the trends and implications.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More NUR 601 and PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation sample papers
- NUR 601 Module 2: PowerPoint: Summary of the Role Paper
- NUR 607 Module 2: Application Paper: Dream Career Trajectory After the PhD
- NUR 606 Module 2: PowerPoint: Summary of the Synthesis Paper
- NUR 608 Module 2: Observation and Reflection Paper
- NUR 602 Module 2: Evidence Table: Ten Studies on Nurse Staffing and Mortality
NUR 601 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 601 Module 1 sample paper?
This page holds a full NUR 601 Module 1 sample: a PhD role paper on four trends in nursing, their implications for the educator, scientist, leader and change agent and the writer's plan.
What does the NUR 601 role paper ask?
Select 5 to 10 research-based articles on trends in nursing, healthcare or innovation, assess their implications for four scholarly roles and describe your preparation and envisioned role after the PhD.
How long should the NUR 601 role paper be?
Five to 10 pages; the syllabus says greater length is not recommended.
How much is the NUR 601 role paper worth?
A quarter of the course grade, with the slide or poster summary carrying another quarter.
What program is NUR 601 part of?
NUR 601 is the first scientific role development seminar in ASU's PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation.