A comparative study between the Iranian Nursing PhD curriculum and the American Duke School of Nursing

Nursing training courses play a vital role in educating nursing students and they need to be of high quality to be able to train students to provide safe and quality care as qualified individuals. The aim of the current study is a comparison of the Iranian Nursing Ph.D. curriculum and the American Duke School of Nursing.

The current study is descriptive-comparative. In the study, the Iranian Nursing Ph.D. curriculum is compared with the Duke School of Nursing in the US. Data have been collected through searching on the websites of the Ministry of Health in Iran, the Duke School of Nursing, together with Persian and English databases. The adjustment between the two curricula is done using the Beredy method, which includes four steps of description, interpretation, proximity and comparison.

The Ph.D. curriculum in nursing in Iran is older than Duke School. Despite the centralized student admission method in Iran, Duke College operates independently in this regard. The presented courses in Duke Curriculum are more diverse and there is a lot of emphasis on statistics and research methods in the curriculum. The mission of Iranchr('39')s curriculum is defined at the national level, but Duke School has a cross-border perspective in expressing its mission.

Considering the existing challenges in the Iranian curriculum, it is necessary to seriously review the Iranian Nursing Ph.D. educational program to align with the needs of society, the health system, nursing and the needs of professors and students.