PMID- 27649594 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20170627 LR - 20181202 IS - 1532-8481 (Electronic) IS - 8755-7223 (Linking) VI - 32 IP - 5 DP - 2016 Sep-Oct TI - The Keys to Success in Doctoral Studies: A Preimmersion Course. PG - 358-63 LID - S8755-7223(16)00019-3 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.01.005 [doi] AB - This article will review an innovative on-line preimmersion course for a hybrid doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and a traditional face-to-face doctor of philosophy nursing program. The doctoral candidates include both postbaccalaureate and postmaster's students. The authors of the preimmersion course developed and initiated the course in order to address various issues that have surfaced in discussions between students and faculty. Examples of common themes identified include writing skills, statistics, life-work-school balance, and navigating instructional technology. Doctoral studies may pose challenges to students studying nursing, in regard to academic rigor and experiencing on-line education for the first time, especially for students who have been out of school for an extended amount of time or are not accustomed to a nontraditional classroom; thus, having a preimmersion course established may facilitate a smooth transition to rigorous academic studies in a hybrid program. The course, which was developed and delivered through Blackboard, a learning management system, includes the following 9 preimmersion modules: academic strategies (learning styles, creating an effective PowerPoint presentation), library support (introduction to the university library, literature review tutorial, and citation styles), mindfulness, wellness, statistics essentials, writing express, DNP capstone, netiquette, and DNP/doctor of philosophy mentorship. Each module consists of various tools that may promote student success in specific courses and the programs in general. The purpose of designing the preimmersion course is to decrease attrition rates and increase success of the students. While the majority of students have succeeded in their coursework and been graduated from the program, the authors of this article found that many students struggled with the work, life, and school balance. Future work will include the evaluation of results from graduate students enrolled in the program. CI - Copyright (c) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FAU - Salani, Deborah AU - Salani D AD - Assistant Professor of Clinical, University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Coral Gables, FL, 33146.. Electronic address: dsalani@miami.edu. FAU - Albuja, Laura Dean AU - Albuja LD AD - Assistant Professor of Clinical, University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Coral Gables, FL, 33146. FAU - Azaiza, Khitam AU - Azaiza K AD - Senior Instructional Designer, University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Coral Gables, FL, 33146. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20160112 PL - United States TA - J Prof Nurs JT - Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing JID - 8511298 SB - IM MH - Curriculum MH - Education, Distance/*methods MH - Education, Nursing, Graduate/*organization & administration MH - Humans MH - Inventions/*statistics & numerical data MH - Student Dropouts MH - Students, Nursing/*psychology MH - *Writing OTO - NOTNLM OT - Academic success OT - Graduate nursing students OT - Hybrid approach OT - Modules OT - Online preimmersion course OT - Rigorous academic studies EDAT- 2016/09/22 06:00 MHDA- 2017/06/28 06:00 CRDT- 2016/09/22 06:00 PHST- 2015/05/01 00:00 [received] PHST- 2016/09/22 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2016/09/22 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2017/06/28 06:00 [medline] AID - S8755-7223(16)00019-3 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.01.005 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Prof Nurs. 2016 Sep-Oct;32(5):358-63. doi: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.01.005. Epub 2016 Jan 12.