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Delivered largely online with short in-person residencies in Fredericton, the program offers nurses a local pathway to doctorate education.

The nursing shortage is often seen in terms of empty shifts and crowded wards. Less visible is another looming shortage: nurses who are educated to teach, conduct research and lead.

To help address this issue, the University of New Brunswick has created its first PhD in Nursing program. Delivered primarily online, it is the only program of its kind in New Brunswick, designed to prepare nurses to lead research, education and policymaking at a time when the profession faces a generational reckoning.

A shortage that reaches beyond the bedside

“We have a critical shortage of nurses in Canada and globally,” said Dr. Lisa Keeping-Burke, acting associate dean, research & graduate studies in UNB’s faculty of nursing and health sciences.

“We are no different here in New Brunswick than the rest of Canada with respect to the nursing shortage, and we need to be able to continue to educate our nurses for the coming years.”

Across Canada, the pool of nurses qualified to teach, supervise research and assume senior leadership and policy roles is declining as they reach retirement age.

In Canada, the number of nurses graduating with PhDs is insufficient to fill existing academic vacancies, she said.

“The last figure I’ve seen was approximately 47 per cent of permanent nursing faculty are over 50 years of age and 17 per cent are over 60 years,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said.

Without a sufficient number of new doctoral graduates entering the system, those roles will be hard to fill. Until now, New Brunswick had no way to educate them locally.

“We were one of the few provinces that did not have a nursing PhD program, so we’re addressing that need directly.”

Establishing a PhD in Nursing program not only addresses current gaps but is a critical solution towards ensuring the sustainability and ongoing advancement of nursing education, research and professional practice.

Why a nursing PhD matters

Although UNB established its nursing program in 1958, New Brunswick nurses seeking a doctorate had limited options.

“With no local PhD in Nursing program, many NB nurses chose to pursue PhDs in interdisciplinary studies or out-of-province,” she said.

She knows this first-hand.

“Years ago, I had very few options,” she said. “I did my PhD in nursing at McGill University, and had I had another option to study in New Brunswick, I certainly would have been interested in that.”

Nursing is a practice-based profession, and a doctorate in nursing focuses on researching questions that often arise directly from point-of-care delivery, education and system design. Without that access, circumstances often pushed nurses into adjacent fields that did not fully reflect their preferred professional lens.

“It is an important option for nurses in New Brunswick to be able to stay closer to home if they choose and to get a PhD in their chosen profession,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said.

How the program is structured

Approved in January 2026, UNB’s PhD in Nursing program is a four-year, full-time program built around intensive research. Instruction is delivered primarily online, combined with several short in-person residencies during the first year.

Students who are admitted to the program complete six required courses in year one: three in the fall semester and three in the winter semester. Each course includes a weekly three-hour live online class, along with additional coursework completed independently.

At the beginning of each term during year one, students attend a three-day in-person residency on the Fredericton campus. The goal is to introduce the cohort to one another, connect them with faculty and orient them to expectations of doctoral-level research.

“They’ll be immersed in working with their peers and faculty to cultivate a sense of belonging,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said.

“It is three days that can be very productive in helping them establish many of their foundational relationships.”

After completing the required coursework, students undertake comprehensive exams and begin their dissertation research over the remaining three years.

Faculty teaching and supervision come from UNB nursing locations in Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton. The graduate program itself, and all residencies, are based on the Fredericton campus.

Dr. Keeping-Burke said access to research material is not a barrier and students can download journal articles and other materials directly through the UNB library system.

She added that while physical presence on campus is still valuable for relationship-building, writing the research proposal, collecting and analyzing data, and writing the dissertation does not require students to be on-site.

“There’s no limit in terms of what you can access online,” she said.

Built around working lives

The hybrid model reflects who the program is meant to serve. Most applicants are expected to be experienced nurses with professional and family commitments.

“It is accessible to working nurses because it is mostly online,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said. “However, it is a full-time program, so immersion happens by default.”

She said it is likely that many nurses will choose to continue to work in some part-time capacity while completing their degree.

While expectations of the doctoral program are high, she said the structure makes study feasible without relocation.

“In the long run, the hybrid delivery model allows nurses to stay closer to their home and continue working towards their doctorate.”

The inaugural cohort, currently being selected and set to start in the fall 2026 semester, will be comprised of four or five students. Dr. Keeping-Burke said the plan is to keep the annual cohort at this size.

Applicants must secure a supervisor before admission, a requirement designed to anchor the student in a mentoring relationship and to help clarify research direction from the outset.

“That relationship is foundational to the success of the student and the program,” she said.

Possible research interests reflect familiar pressures within the healthcare system. Older populations, chronic disease management, dementia care and transitions from hospital to home are possible areas of research, as are mental health, access to care, digital health and nurse retention.

“A lot of doctoral nursing students are interested in exploring many of these issues,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said.

Where the graduates fit

Graduates of nursing doctoral programs sometimes work in academia, training the next generation of nurses. Others move into senior roles in hospitals, health authorities or government, particularly in policy and system planning.

“You also can have careers in administration, in hospitals,” Dr. Keeping-Burke said. “There are opportunities in various levels of government.”

Regardless of setting, doctoral education changes how nurses engage with evidence.

“They all come out of it with greater appreciation for where evidence comes from,” she said. “They’re the leaders for either finding the evidence, creating it or engaging with it.”

Deciding to apply

Dr. Keeping-Burke does not frame doctoral study as a natural next step for every nurse. It requires time, discipline and a willingness to wrestle with complex problems.

“Reach out and talk to people who have been there,” she said. “That will help anyone interested in the program make an informed decision on whether a PhD is right for them.”

However, Dr. Keeping-Burke believes many potential applicants have been mulling over the idea of a PhD in nursing for years.

“They might not have had this kind of access at their doorstep. Now they do.”