The Growing Shortage of PhD-prepared Nurses: Why It Matters

With over 30 years of professional nursing experience, including a PhD in nursing, and spanning clinical practice, education, and business leadership, I find myself reflecting on the future of nursing and how it may evolve over the next five years.

When I began my Master’s in Nursing in the late 1970s, the scientific foundation of nursing was just emerging. Some of you may remember the emphasis on conceptual frameworks, theory development, and the pioneering work of nurse innovators who understood the importance of building a scientific base for our profession. Their vision—rooted in research—has shaped professional nursing and continues to drive advances in patient care.

In the last decade, the scarcity of PhD-prepared nurses has been a pressing nurse workforce issue globally, with important implications for nursing education, research, healthcare innovation, and the nursing workforce at large. Despite the increasing need for nurse scientists, educators, and leaders, the pipeline of nurses pursuing and completing PhDs continues to decrease in numbers.  

Today, less than 1% of the current nursing workforce in the U.S. holds a PhD, a figure that has remained stagnant or has declined over the past decade. Enrollment in PhD nursing programs has dropped by 12% from 2012 to 2022, despite an increase in the number of doctoral programs available. As of 2024, enrollment in PhD programs continues to face significant challenges, with fewer students entering and completing these programs each year (3).

The number of newly minted PhDs is not sufficient to replenish aging nurse faculty or meet the growing demand for nurse researchers and educators (1, 2, 3, 4). In 2023, over 65,000 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing programs at all levels due to a lack of faculty, preceptors, classroom space, or clinical sites. In particular, a growing number of students have been denied entry into master’s and doctoral programs, where the faculty shortage is most severe (2).

Why Are There So Few PhD Nurses?

The reasons are multifaceted, reflecting how nursing students weigh their academic ambitions alongside future career paths. Choices about time, finances, professional interests, and personal goals all shape the decision between pursuing a PhD or alternative advanced degrees.

Length and Intensity of Programs Doctoral nursing programs are lengthy and demanding, often requiring several years of full-time study and research, which can deter practicing nurses who have work and family obligations (5).

Financial Disincentives. Salaries for PhD-prepared nurses average around $99,000 per year, while DNP-prepared nurses and other advanced practice nurses (such as nurse practitioners) often earn significantly more, with DNP salaries averaging over $110,000 annually (6,7).

Preference for Practice-Focused Degrees. Many nurses opt for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), a practice-focused doctorate that offers a faster, more flexible pathway to advanced clinical and leadership roles, often with higher earning potential and a closer connection to patient care (8).

Limited Awareness and Mentorship. There is a lack of widespread awareness about the opportunities and impact of PhD-prepared nurses, as well as insufficient mentorship and support for prospective doctoral students (9, 10).

Attrition and Completion Rates. Specific 2024 completion rates are not widely published. Historically, PhD nursing programs have struggled with high attrition due to academic, financial, and personal barriers (11)

Consequences of a PhD Nurse Shortage

It’s important to consider the consequences of PhD nurse scarcity, as this shortage affects the overall strength of the nursing workforce, slows scientific advancement, and limits progress in clinical practice.

Nursing Education. A shortage of PhD-prepared nurses directly leads to a shortage of qualified nursing faculty. This bottleneck restricts the capacity of nursing schools to admit new students, exacerbating the broader nursing shortage. Faculty shortages result in increased workloads for existing educators, can disrupt learning processes, and reduce the quality and quantity of nursing education.

The average age of PhD-prepared faculty continues to go up at all ranks of professor (full professor average age is 61.2; associate professor 55.6, and assistant professor 49.6 years old) (1). Many will be retiring in the next 5-10 years.

Research and Innovation. PhD-prepared nurses are critical for advancing nursing science, generating new knowledge, and leading evidence-based practice. Their scarcity limits nursing research output, slowing the continuing development of nursing-specific research that includes building evidence for theory-based practice and innovations.  Doctoral-prepared (PhD) nurses often contribute to global health research and initiatives. A decline in their numbers could affect nursing's contribution to addressing global health challenges (12).

Limited leadership in healthcare organizations and healthcare policy. Nurses with PhDs often serve in leadership roles, influencing healthcare policy and interdisciplinary collaboration. Their absence means nursing perspectives are underrepresented in policy decisions, and opportunities for collaboration with other disciplines are reduced, limiting the overall impact of nursing on healthcare systems and global health initiatives (13).

Additionally, PhD-prepared nurses often take on leadership roles in shaping healthcare policy, upcoming new technologies, and best practices in patient care. Fewer nurses with this level of education can result in less nursing representation in policy-making decisions.

Efforts and Innovations to Address the Shortage

Strategies to address this scarcity include raising awareness of the importance of PhD-prepared nurses, offering more financial incentives (scholarships, grants, loan forgiveness), increasing program flexibility (e.g., part-time or online options), and providing mentorship to encourage nurses' interest in PhD nursing tracks. Partnerships between healthcare organizations and universities can also help create clearer pathways from clinical nursing to research careers (14, 15).

The shortage of PhD-prepared nurses is complex, with wide-reaching impacts on the future of nursing education, research, and leadership. Tackling this issue will take united action at every level—national, state, and institutional.

Solutions must include greater funding, flexible and innovative education options, meaningful financial support, and strong mentorship opportunities. If left unresolved, this shortage will continue to disrupt healthcare systems, hindering patient care, slowing research progress, and weakening nursing’s capacity to meet emerging health challenges.

The steps we take as a profession now will shape nursing’s future, our ability to advance the science of care, and ultimately, whether individuals and communities can count on getting the best outcomes from nursing care.

References

1.      AACN (2024). Fact Sheet: Nursing Faculty Shortage. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Fact-Sheets/Faculty-Shortage-Factsheet.pdf

2.      AACN (April 15, 2024). New AACN data points to enrollment challenges facing U.S. Schools of Nursing. https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/new-aacn-data-points-to-enrollment-challenges-facing-us-schools-of-nursing

3.      AACN (May 2, 2023). New data show enrollment declines in schools of nursing, raising concerns about the nation’s nursing workforce. https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/new-aacn-data-points-to-enrollment-challenges-facing-us-schools-of-nursing)

4.      AACN (July 6, 2022). Data Spotlight: Trends in Nursing PhD Programs. https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/data-spotlight-trends-in-nursing-phd-programs

5.      Dobrowolska, B., Chruściel, P., Pilewska-Kozak, A., Mianowana, V., Monist, M., & Palese, A. (2021). Doctoral programmes in the nursing discipline: a scoping review. BMC nursing, 20(1), 228. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00753-6

6.      Burger, C. (March 7, 2025). NP, DNP, and PhD in Nursing: How high-level nursing salaries compare to MD salaries [updated 2025]. Registered Nursing.org. https://www.registerednursing.org/articles/np-dnp-phd-md-salary-comparison/

7.      Trumble, P (2025). PhD in Nursing Salary - 2025. Nursing Process.org. https://www.nursingprocess.org/phd-in-nursing-salary.html

8.      AACN. (June, 2024). Fact Sheet: The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Fact-Sheets/DNP-Fact-Sheet.pdf

9.      Cleary, M. Deependra K.T., West, S., Lopez, V., Williamson, M., Sahay A., Kornhaber, R. (2023). Mentoring students in doctoral nursing programs:  A scoping review, Journal of Professional Nursing, 45,71-88,ISSN 8755-7223,doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2023.01.010. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755722323000182

10.   Williams, J. K., Sicard, K., Lundstrom, A., & Hart, S. (2021). Overcoming Barriers to PhD Education in Nursing. The Journal of Nursing Education, 60(7), 400–403. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20210616-08

11.   Halabicky, O. M., Scott, P. W., Carpio, J., & Porat-Dahlerbruch, J. (2024). Examining observed and forecasted nursing PhD enrollment and graduation trends in the United States: Implications for the profession. Journal of Professional Nursing: Official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 55, 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2024.09.006

12.   Kapetanovic, T. (May 13, 2025). The Global Landscape of Nursing Research: Challenges and Opportunities. Nursing Research Matters. The Global Landscape of Nursing Research: Challenges and Opportunities

13.   van Dongen, L. J. C., & Hafsteinsdóttir, T. B. (2022). Leadership of PhD-prepared nurses working in hospitals and its influence on career development: A qualitative study. Journal of clinical Nursing, 31(23-24), 3414–3427. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16168. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jocn.16168

14.   Clarke, S. (2024). The PhD in nursing: Questions about a credential at a crossroads. Nursing Outlook (72):3.The PhD in nursing—Questions about a credential at a crossroads

15.   Bond, C., & Jackson, D. (2025). Revisiting the Nursing Academic Workforce Shortage: Where to from here. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 81(4), 2231–2233. Revisiting the nursing academic workforce shortage: where to from here?

Terri Kapetanovic, PhD RN, is a nurse leader, educator, and researcher dedicated to advancing nursing practice through evidence-based innovation. With experience in healthcare leadership, academic nursing, and research, she is passionate about empowering nurses to drive positive change in patient care and fostering a strong culture of research and professional growth.