Drawing existing literature together and overlaying your own thinking and experiences on top of that knowledge is a sound basis for successful nurse research and will benefit other researchers when you share your paper

The demand for doctorally prepared nurses is growing internationally (Jackson et al 2021). Like every other aspect of nursing education, the quality and nature of doctoral education is important to ensure graduates attain certain attributes. Currently, there is variation in doctoral programmes internationally and the merits and limitations of various programmes are the topic of discussion (Jackson and Cleary 2011). It is generally agreed, however, that a doctoral programme consists of ‘work which is independent, sustained, rigorous, original and at the cutting edge, in that it should add to the body of knowledge in that profession’ (Kirkman et al 2007). A doctoral programme aims to prepare nurses to develop and conduct nursing research to advance the profession and prepare the next generation of nurses (Ellenbecker et al 2017, Oermann and Kardong-Edgren 2018).