[MUSIC PLAYING] NATALIE RASMUSSEN: The PhD in nursing program is where ideas are born. 

GISELE TLUSTY: Three reasons why I chose UNMC is because it's affordable, it's close to home, and there's a lot of support and opportunities here. 

MARCIA SHADE: We are a five-campus college, so not only do we have our Omaha division, but we have faculty in Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Norfolk, Kearney. 

NATALIE RASMUSSEN: When I came into the program, I had a general idea of what I wanted to study. And then we were-- each student just really narrows their focus. And you gather so much information in the process, so new ideas develop. And then from those ideas, it just stems out into a dissertation. 

MARCIA SHADE: We're at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is a top-tier academic hospital. So there are a variety of opportunities to collaborate with College of Public Health, College of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and see what other disciplines offer when it comes to research and promote their own scholarship journey. 

JED HANSEN: I was just looking around. I did a survey of all of the programs. There were some in South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas. All of them had great programs, but I really found that why go somewhere else when there was such a strong faculty and such just an abundance of resources from an academic standpoint, locally and at home. 

MARCIA SHADE: What we do with our research as PhDs is what translates into practice and causes change in practice as well as policy, which is important, especially when it comes to healthcare, healthcare costs and things like that. 

ANDY LIM: As an undergraduate nursing, you might be just memorizing and regurgitating information. In PhD program, you really have to use critical thinking to come up with your own research projects, research questions that you want to answer, and ways to answer that question. 

GISELE TLUSTY: And I'm learning managing large data sets and collaborating with other sites, learning how people do things differently, and networking. The networking has been amazing just by being part of those projects. 

NATALIE RASMUSSEN: And so I think when we think about if you get a PhD in nursing, are you really getting away from the patient? And I would actually say, no, we're really helping to fuel the future of where we're headed so that we can provide the best patient care. So they are very much intertwined. 

MARCIA SHADE: A PhD is a journey. And giving that support, as well as that expertise and showing them the scholarly role, you have to be close. 

JED HANSEN: Whether you want to base your research on that hard science, or if you want to look at translational research and being able to improve clinical performance, or if you go the route that I did into policy, advocacy, and the people side of it, you can do that. And the great thing here is that there are experts across that spectrum that can support you and that can make sure that you can be the best person and the best researcher that you want to be. 

NATALIE RASMUSSEN: Don't be intimidated. You can do it. The program will really work with you where you are at in your life. And you can get through it one step at a time. 

GISELE TLUSTY: If you're on the fence about applying for a PhD at UNMC, I would encourage you to attend the open house that is held in the fall, where you can meet with faculty and talk about your research interests and see what it's like. 

JED HANSEN: I'm a better clinician because of my PhD, and I'm a better advocate and a better scientist because of that clinical piece. So they really go hand in glove together. 

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