Nursing doctoral theses
e-theses
Links to electronic theses from university repositories, international gateways, and the British Library (BL) EThOS service (when the full text is publicly available) are included on the RCN library catalogue. Recent additions include electronic donations many as part of the Akinsanya award for innovation in doctoral studies in nursing.
Investigate donations of e-theses to the RCN that are not available on a repository or from the BL EThOS service. Go to e-theses donations.
To view e-theses only, go to the catalogue, search for full text theses, and choosethe URL (link) to go to either the full-text or to the BL EThoS service where you will need to type in the author surname and the thesis title found in the RCN library catalogue. Researchers must register to use the BL service and download a thesis for individual use.
Steinberg Collection
The RCN Steinberg Collection is a unique reference collection of UK doctoral theses in print format (see access details below) from the 1950s to the present day, plus masters dissertations to 2000, completed by nurses and others on topics of relevance to nursing.
Finding a thesis
All titles are included in the online RCN library catalogue, (select "thesis search" to limit results to theses and dissertations), and those up to 25 years old are housed in the RCN UK library. The parts of the collection more than 25 years old are stored in the RCN archives in Edinburgh.
For theses published in the last five years go to catalogue search for theses.
Access
Printed theses can be consulted by RCN members at the UK-wide library in London but members should contact the UK library in advance if items held in the RCN archives are required. By prior arrangement members can also request access to selected theses at the RCN Scotland Learning Hub, RCN Wales or RCN Northern Ireland libraries. Non-members should contact the UK library to arrange a visit.
Copyright
Copyright of theses is held by the individual author. No quotation from a thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. You may not use any thesis for commercial purposes. The RCN does not hold any obligation to take legal action on behalf of the depositor in the event of breach of intellectual property rights, or any other right, in the material deposited.
Donating a thesis
Doctoral theses written by nurses, on nursing topics or of interest to nurses are welcomed in print or electronic format and will be considered for the collection. Authors are asked to complete and sign a permission form when donating a thesis.
Go to the thesis donation permission form (PDF 39.2KB) [see how to access PDF files].
For more information about donating a thesis to the collection, telephone the UK library: 0845 3373368 or email acquisition.services@rcn.org.uk.
RCN Research Society Doctoral Student Network
The Doctoral Student Network has been created to act as a support network for those undertaking doctoral studies.
RCN Research Society Akinsanya Award for Innovation in Doctoral Studies in Nursing
This annual award is given to the most innovative thesis in the nursing disciplines. For more information and details of how to enter go to awards.
Postdoctoral funding opportunities
Now that you have finished your PhD, you may be thinking about a postdoctoral career. Go to RCN research funding for information on opportunities and grants.