Cebuano nurses in non-nursing doctoral degrees

Historically, a number of famous nurses finished non-nursing doctoral programs. The melting of different body of knowledge into the paradigms of nursing helped into the development of its own innovative frameworks. Inasmuch as these learnt concepts borrowed and shared from other discipline helped in the development of nursing theories, there is a need to recognize that doctoral education for nursing should be in nursing science. In Cebu City, Philippines, it was observed that nurses were taking doctoral programs that are not in the mainstream of nursing. It was the intention of this research to explore the lived-in experiences of these nurses and the reasons behind their choices utilizing Collaizi’s seven steps data analysis. Furthermore, it attempted to identify the weaknesses, demands and scenario of the doctoral nursing offering in the area. Results revealed that: (1) nurses are forced to take non-nursing programs because of inaccessibility; (2) only one nursing school is offering a doctoral program and Gerontology is the sole major; (3) they tend to look for alternative programs that is related to their field of interest; (4) less access to scholarships for schooling in other places; and (5) there is a conflict in matching specific nursing interest with the non-nursing programs they are taking. With the call for transformation and advancement in nursing and its practice, nurses must grow professionally by taking doctoral program in different nursing concentrations and not with other or related disciplines.