The College of Nursing is a fully accredited component of the distinguished University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. With over 50 years of service, the College of Nursing constitutes a vital resource for the State of New Mexico by maintaining a full range of superior programs in traditional areas while addressing the special needs of a highly diverse population with thoughtfully designed programs to make nursing education available to everyone in the state.. The PhD in Nursing Program at the University of New Mexico focuses on the health care needs of vulnerable women, youth, and families. Other priorities include rural health, disease prevention, and health promotion. The PhD Program is delivered online with a required annual 1-week summer residency and attendance at the annual Western Institute of Nursing Research Conference. Graduates of the PhD program will demonstrate the following competencies:

• Assume the role of the doctorally prepared nurse in teaching, scholarship, leadership, and service.
• Accept the responsibility for self-directed scholarly development in an ongoing research program focused on patient care improvement especially for women, children, and families.
• Conduct independent formal inquiry pertaining to health care, reflective caring practice, critical synthesis of existing knowledge, and generation of new knowledge and theory.
• Practice nursing reflectively, guided by theory based on best evidence and integrating creative and critical thinking.
• Cultivate research expertise relative to a particular population setting or human response to health or illness.
• Evaluate and critique social policy relevant to the organization and delivery of health care.