Expert clinician to clinical teacher: Developing a faculty academy and mentoring initiative

The lack of sufficient numbers of qualified nursing faculty to prepare nursing students for entry into the field of nursing is of national and international concern. Recruiting expert clinicians and preparing them as clinical teachers is one approach to addressing the faculty shortage. Adequate training for the new role is paramount to promote job satisfaction and reduce attrition. Various models for orienting and preparing expert nurse clinicians as clinical educators are reported in the literature with little consensus or research to support a single approach. This paper describes a collaborative effort to prepare experienced registered nurse clinicians for new roles as part-time clinical faculty. Using a blend of learning strategies (face-to-face, online, simulation, and group mentoring sessions), this training experience was designed to cover content while promoting discussion of issues and challenges and providing much-needed mentorship. Outcomes include 12 new clinical faculty, 25% from groups underrepresented in nursing, with nine newly employed as part-time clinical teachers.     

Who will educate our nurses? A strategy to address the nurse faculty shortage in New Jersey

Background

The nurse faculty shortage hampers the capacity of the nursing workforce to respond to the demands of the evolving health care system. As a strategy to address the shortage in New Jersey, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation implemented the New Jersey Nursing Initiative Faculty Preparation Program to prepare nurses for the faculty role. This article highlights program implementation successes and challenges, scholar and faculty perceptions of the program, and provides recommendations for others interested in preparing nurse faculty.

Methods

This evaluation uses data from scholar surveys and focus groups, interviews with grantees, and grantee reports.

Results

Findings suggest that a program that includes generous monetary support, socialization to the nurse faculty role, and formal education courses produces graduates who readily assume a faculty position and are committed to at least a part-time career in nursing education.

Conclusions

This evaluation emphasizes the need to carefully design programs that integrate faculty preparation and advanced clinical training.     

Factors contributing to the shortage of nurse faculty: a review of the literature

There is an abundance of literature documenting the shortage of nurse faculty, both in Australia and internationally. This shortage has repercussions for the next generation of nurses, contributes to the overall nursing workforce shortage, and holds implications for the development of nursing research and continued practice development. The literature suggests a multitude of factors contributing to the shortage, including the ageing of current nurse faculty, and an undersupply of doctorally prepared nurses to take their place. To date, most nurse academics come from a clinical background with little preparation for the complex faculty role; despite this there is little exploration of their experiences transitioning to academia. The limited available evidence suggests that this new role may be accompanied by feelings of uncertainty, anxiety and isolation associated with changed responsibilities, an emphasis on scholarly activities and teaching, and the unique culture of the academic environment. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical review of the literature, identify issues relevant to the nurse faculty shortage and provide direction for further research.     

Primary care providers' views of precepting nurse practitioner students

PURPOSE: To explore perceived barriers to and facilitators of precepting as viewed by experienced community-based preceptors. DATA SOURCES: Twenty-four nurse practitioner and physician preceptors participated in a 20-minute telephone interview, using a semi-structured format. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Constant comparative analysis was used to organize the preceptors' responses into thematic categories. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, most preceptors were satisfied with the precepting experience; however, many preceptors cited increasing difficulty with teaching students in primary care sites due various organizational constraints such as the imperative to increase productivity. Good communication with school of nursing faculty was cited as the key factor to continued willingness to precept. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Understanding factors that are important for preceptors continuing in their clinical teaching role is important for schools of nursing, especially given the increasing time-limitations that many providers face due to social and economic changes in health-care delivery.     

Part-Time Nursing Faculty Perceptions of Their Learning Needs During Their Role Transition Experiences

The purpose of this study was to explore and interpret the part-time nursing faculty's perceptions of their need to learn pedagogical skills during their role transition experiences from an expert clinician identity to a clinical instructor identity while teaching at a rural 2-year institution (community college). A qualitative design with Moustaka's phenomenological methods approach was conducted with 3 nurses as they transitioned into their clinical instructor identities. Analysis of the data yielded 5 themes: (a) development of their clinical instructor identity; (b) perception of similar and different learning needs; (c) incentive and motivation to learn; (d) the necessity of prior and current nursing experience; and (e) the importance of other faculty and resources. Study results propose the use of Illeris' Transformative Learning and Identity theory as a framework for associate degree nursing program administrators to use in the development of successful part-time faculty orientation and professional development programs.     

Evaluating Association Degree Nursing Faculty Job Satisfaction

This study identified factors of Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) faculty job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Qualified applicants are denied admission to nursing programs because of faculty shortages, but little is known about the factors that support faculty retention. A nationwide survey was conducted and found that factors of dissatisfaction were salary, organizational policies, and workload. Factors of greatest satisfaction were interactions, professional status, and autonomy. These findings provide important information from which to create innovative solutions to retain current faculty.     

The experience of novice nurse faculty in an associate degree education program

The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the experience of the novice nursing faculty member in an associate degree nursing program. Novice nursing faculty (N = 6) in a community college setting, with 1 to 2 years of experience in a full-time faculty position, were interviewed. Included in the study were field notes and a demographic survey. A phenomenological approach, based on the Colaizzi's School of phenomenology, was used to analyze the data. Four themes emerged: Theme 1—Dancing as Fast as I Can: The Great Learning Curve; Theme 2—Importance of the Team: The Need for Support; Theme 3—From Expert Clinician to Novice Educator: The Role Transition; Theme 4—Meeting Student Needs: The Balance in Faculty/Student Relationships; Theme 5—A Love of Teaching: The Desire to Continue. Study outcomes provide meaning for the establishment of evidence-based methods designed to attract, nurture, and retain nursing educators in associate degree education. Implications for practice, education, and research center on long-term faculty and administrative support for the novice educator. Future research in associate degree nursing education is warranted to further examine the benefits of a functioning team, to study the dynamics of faculty–student relationships, and to explore additional methods to bridge the disconnect between the clinical and academic role.     

The Role of Interdisciplinary Faculty in Nursing Education: A National Survey

BackgroundThe role of interdisciplinary faculty in schools and colleges of nursing has evolved over time. Historically, integration of interdisciplinary faculty into nursing education was as experts in non-nursing content and to fill a gap created by the lack of doctorally prepared nurses. In the 1980s, Lenz and Morton surveyed Departments, Schools and Colleges of Nursing to explore the role of interdisciplinary faculty in nursing education.PurposeOur study adapted Lenz and Morton's work to examine new trends in faculty composition, while also considering the evolution in nursing education, including the integration of doctor of nursing practice (DNP) prepared faculty.ResultsDifferences in enrollments, programs offered, and number of faculty and faculty composition were observed between 1988 and 2017. In 1988 the most common disciplines represented were nutrition, education and psychology, while in 2017 the most common disciplines were pharmacology, statistics and biological sciences. The current study shows a decrease of 15% in interdisciplinary faculty educating nursing students, although this finding may be related to differences in sampling techniques.ConclusionsIntegration of interdisciplinary faculty has the potential to enrich nursing education by bringing in a depth of specialized knowledge from other disciplines. Further faculty role-modeling successful interdisciplinary collaboration is another way to prepare nurses for team-based patient care which is an imperative skill in today's health care arena.     

Partners for NP education: the 1999 AANP preceptor and faculty survey

PURPOSE: To increase understanding of national trends in nurse practitioner (NP) clinical education, the Education Committee of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) conducted a survey at the 1999 National AANP Conference in Atlanta. DATA SOURCES: A convenience sample of preceptors (n = 87) and faculty (n = 42) out of the total attendance of 1,744 responded to a written questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Preceptor respondents provided data concerning the number of NP students supervised, influence of student supervision on productivity, and availability of incentives for precepting. Faculty reported placement and supervision issues, the extent of precepting in their clinical practice site, and recognition and support for this role. Faculty and preceptors disagreed about the types and number of incentives offered for accepting students as well as the congruence of clinical teaching activities and national teaching guidelines. Precepting did not appear to strongly influence preceptor productivity. External funding did not influence opportunities for clinical education. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: In 1998, the graduates of NP programs rose by 15.8% and over half of all nursing students enrolled in graduate nursing programs were seeking a NP education. This increase in students may compromise the ability of schools of nursing to insure quality clinical education of NP students by increasing faculty workload and placing greater demands on expert preceptors in the community. Clinical education is also changing in light of changes in the health care system.     

The impacts of faculty caring on nursing students’ intent to graduate: A systematic literature review

ObjectivesTo examine the current studies about the impacts of faculty caring on nursing students’ intent to graduate and provide recommendations. The nursing profession continues to face nursing shortages. One of the solutions recognized to alleviate the shortage is increasing the number of students graduating from nursing schools. It lacks a literature review synthesizing the current research about the impacts of faculty caring on nursing students’ intent to graduate and indicate areas for future research.MethodsThis is a systematic literature review. The search of the literature was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Databases searched included MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ProQuest Search. Search terms included ‘attrition,’ ‘dropouts,’ ‘graduation rate,’ ‘faculty,’ ‘instructor,’ ‘professor,’ ‘nursing,’ and ‘caring.’ResultsTen articles met the inclusion criteria. The articles were conducted in the Associate Degree of Nursing and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs. Nursing faculties played a significant role in students’ intent to graduate by building students’ confidence, creating a compassionate learning environment, and promoting students’ competence. Faculties’ caring behaviors, including respecting students, showing empathy, and using caring communication skills, were essential characteristics to affect students’ learning environments.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that students’ perceptions of faculty caring can affect their perceptions of the learning environment and sense of belonging, and therefore, impact their intent to graduate. Students’ perceptions of their instructors’ caring behaviors are instrumental in motivating them to continue learning. The capacity of faculty caring plays a significant role in students’ success.     

Workload and the nurse faculty shortage: implications for policy and research

Although it is hypothesized that workload is a causative factor of the nurse faculty shortage and that nurse faculty workload is not equitable with that of faculty from other academic disciplines, it is not known whether evidence supports this assertion. This paper has three objectives: (1) to identify what is known about nurse faculty workload and its relationship to the nurse faculty shortage, (2) to determine whether evidence supports the assertion that nurse faculty workload is not equitable with faculty workload in other disciplines, and (3) to discuss policy and research implications for addressing workload and the nurse faculty shortage. Science Direct, medline, CINAHL, HealthSTAR databases, and the web were searched using combinations of nurse faculty, workload, academia, and equity. Findings suggest that the majority of research on nurse faculty workload has been limited to a single institution or region. Further, the literature lacks a comparison of nurse faculty workload with that of faculty from other disciplines. A study comparing workload across disciplines would shed light on the workload inequity hypothesis. More importantly, a systematic analysis of nurse faculty workload would facilitate the prioritization of strategies to address the shortage.     

Undergraduate nursing student experience

The purpose of the present qualitative study was to describe and explicate the experience of being a nursing student. A convenience sample of 12 nursing students from a variety of backgrounds at a public university were interviewed using an interview guide with open-ended questions. Their stories provided an insight into the satisfactions, challenges and stresses faced by students. Four major theme clusters emerged from the data: (i) meeting conflicting demands; (ii) feeling overworked; (iii) feeling unprepared and; (iv) seeking respect and support from one's faculty. These identified themes corroborate the findings of other researchers who have studied the student experience. Student's stories provide insights into the current educational environment, which can assist faculties to understand the impact of their pedagogical approaches. This information is particularly important in light of the current worldwide nursing shortage.     

Transition From Expert Clinician to Novice Faculty: A Blueprint for Success

The lack of nurse educators will exacerbate impending nursing shortages, yet graduate nursing education continues to ignore preparation for faculty roles. This gap provides new nurse educators inadequate role socialization and hinders retention. With an intentional approach, new faculty can effectively navigate challenges inherent to an academic appointment. In this article we describe a blueprint for novice faculty to meet the demands of teaching, practice, scholarship, and service.     

Predictors of nursing faculty members' organizational commitment in governmental universities

al-hussami m., saleh m.y.n., abdalkader r.h. & mahadeen a.i. (2011) Journal of Nursing Management 19 , 556–566
Predictors of nursing faculty members’ organizational commitment in governmental universities Background It is essential for all university leaders to develop and maintain an effective programme of total quality management in a climate that promotes work satisfaction and employee support. Purpose The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship of faculty members’ organizational commitment to their job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, job autonomy, workload, and pay. Methods A quantitative study, implementing a correlational research design to determine whether relationships existed between organizational commitment and job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, job autonomy, workload and pay. Results Stepwise linear regression analysis was used to estimate the probability of recorded variables included significant sample characteristics namely, age, experience and other work related attributes. The outcome showed a predictive model of three predictors which were significantly related to faculty members’ commitment: job satisfaction, perceived support and age. Conclusion Although the findings were positive toward organizational commitment, continued consideration should be given to the fact that faculty members remain committed as the cost associated with leaving is high. Implication for nursing management A study of this nature increases the compartment in which faculty administrators monitor the work climate, observe and identify factors that may increase or decrease job satisfaction and the work commitment.     

Alleviating the nurse faculty shortage: designating and preparing the academic nurse educator as an advanced practice registered nurse

A lack of qualified nurse faculty is a persistent problem in the discipline of nursing. It limits the number of nurses prepared to provide safe, quality care in settings around the world. Many individuals, groups, and organizations have studied the nurse faculty shortage and recommended resolutions, yet the shortage persists. This opinion paper contends that designating the academic nurse educator (ANE) as an advanced practice registered nurse and identifying an educational pathway that ensures academic preparation for the role could help to alleviate the nurse faculty shortage. Evidence disseminated by national and international constituents that influence nursing and nursing education supports the perspective and serves as the basis for recommendations that could attract more nurses to faculty positions in nursing education and ensure preparation of ANEs for their role.     

Staff development to university faculty: reflections of a nurse educator

TOPIC: Transition of a staff development instructor to faculty in a baccalaureate nursing program. PURPOSE: This article is a reflection of the transition of a staff development educator in a large medical center to that of a faculty member in a small school of nursing. The seriousness of the faculty shortage and the factors that have led to it serve as a background for this discussion as the need for educators in nursing programs is of high priority. To qualify for an academic position, the educator should have teaching experience, educational preparedness, and clinical expertise. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: This paper is based on a review of the literature, newsletters from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the National League for Nurses, and personal experience. CONCLUSIONS: The intent of this reflection is to encourage other hospital-based educators and clinicians to consider a career change to academia. Clinically expert faculty can strengthen nursing programs and facilitate the education of nursing students on essential competencies for clinical practice.     

Assessing Part-Time Nursing Faculty Needs: A Needs Assessment for a Quality Improvement Project

Part-time nursing faculty need supports to be successful educators. A needs assessment using qualitative and quantitative data was undertaken as a first step of a quality improvement (QI) project aimed to support part-time faculty and ultimately improve teaching effectiveness. The needs assessment provided essential information about strengths and areas for improvement within our department. A strength in this department was the role of course lead, two areas for improvement include development of a department level orientation and online or written resources. This report can serve as a model for other department on how to use local data to design interventions that reflect the unique needs of their department.