Academic Nursing and Faculty Practice

Abstract

Background: Many challenges are inherent in academic nursing, and additional unique challenges exist for faculty and nursing programs that simultaneously engage in or offer faculty practice. To date, little has been published on faculty practice and academic nursing outside of the mission of education. Purpose: To describe faculty practice within the context of academic nursing as it pertains to scholarship and research, annual evaluations, promotion, support of faculty practice, and additional benefits and challenges. Methods: A convenience sample of faculty and administrators was surveyed from 6 different universities in the United States. Results: A total of 25 faculty members and 11 administrators participated. Results indicate faculty practice offers both benefits and challenges to the noneducational aspects of academic nursing. Conclusion: The benefits and challenges should be carefully considered within the context of the future of academic nursing and faculty practice.

Faculty Practice as an Educational Strategy

“…Eleven administrators participated representing all 6 universities. 13 Administrators were between the ages of 44 and 72 years, with an average age of 58 years. Administrators had been in their current administrative role for a range of 1 to 11 years, with an average of 4 years.…”

“…18 Limitations of the study as previously reported include small sample size, setting limited to large universities, and self-reported survey data. 13 Additional limitations not previously identified include the inclusion of universities that do not require students to live near campus, thereby limiting the number of students who complete clinical hours with practicing faculty, the focus on NP education, and that nonpracticing faculty were not included in the study.…”

“…Three surveys were used for data collection: a survey each for students, faculty, and administrators. Surveys were developed on the basis of knowledge and expertise in survey development, expertise in faculty practice, review of the literature, and the author's previous study findings10 as reported 13. The student, faculty, and administrator surveys are available as Supplemental Digital Content, Figures 1-3 (available at: http://links.lww.com/NE/B271, http://links.lww.com/NE/B272, and http://links.lww.com/NE/B273, respectively).…”

“…The study received institutional review board approval. Recruitment included emailing a contact person from each university a description of the study, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the consent document, link to the surveys, and requesting they forward the email to eligible participants 13. Eligible participants were emailed up to 2 times.…”

“…The data used are a subset from a larger descriptive study, and results related to faculty practice within the context of academic nursing have previously been reported. 13 The settings were 6 nursing programs located in the central United States identified as having faculty practice. A convenience sample of NP students, NP faculty, and nursing program administrators was recruited from these nursing programs.…”