Abstract
Historically, a number of renowned nurses finished non-nursing doctoral programmes. The integration of different body of knowledge into the paradigms of nursing helped the development of its own innovative frameworks. Inasmuch as these learnt concepts borrowed and shared from other disciplines helped in the development of nursing theories, there is a need to recognise that doctoral education for nursing should be in nursing science. In Cebu City, Philippines, it was observed that nurses were taking doctoral programmes that are not in the mainstream of nursing. It was the intention of this research to explore the lived experiences of these nurses and the reasons behind their choices utilising Collaizi's seven steps data analysis. Furthermore, it attempted to identify the weaknesses, demands and scenario of the doctoral nursing offering in the area. Results revealed that: (1) nurses are forced to take non-nursing doctoral programmes because of inaccessibility; (2) only one nursing school is offering a doctoral programme, and Gerontology is the sole major; (3) nurses tend to look for alternative programmes that is related to their field of interest; (4) less access to scholarships for schooling in other places; and (5) there is a conflict in matching specific nursing interest with the non-nursing programmes they are taking. With the call for transformation and advancement in nursing and its practice, nurses must grow professionally by taking doctoral programme in different nursing fields and not from other or disciplines.