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

Competence of the academic clinical nurse educator: A concept analysis

BACKGROUND

The shortage of nursing faculty has made the competence of academic clinical nurse educators (ACNE) crucial for effectively educating and evaluating nursing students. Many nursing faculty members are hired without specific training in nursing education or necessary skills, impacting the quality of future nurses.

AIM

This study aimed to define the competence of the ACNE by using Walker and Avant's concept analysis method.

METHOD

Walker and Avant's concept analysis method was used to analyze the concept of competence as it applies to the ACNE.

RESULTS

The analysis identified factors contributing to ACNE competence, including maintaining licensure, obtaining advanced nursing degrees, practical clinical experience, and institutional support. The defining attributes of ACNE competence include the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to educate, mentor, and evaluate nursing students effectively. The study highlighted the importance of ongoing professional development, mentorship, and a commitment to lifelong learning.

CONCLUSION

Regular assessment of ACNE competence can guide mentorship and faculty development needs. Continuous development, evaluation, and support are essential for evolving competence. Further research is needed to establish best practices for developing, maintaining, and evaluating ACNE competence as well as to provide better preparation and structured orientation for novice ACNEs.

Addressing Shortages in Nursing with Male Representation: A Literature Review

The nursing shortage in the US and all over the world continues to skyrocket. An untapped channel of recruitment that some are considering is men in the nursing profession. Currently a large disparity exists in the representation of men in nursing causing issues with quality of care, diversity, and staffing. Research suggests that nursing recruitment should occur before licensure in order to better address gender stereotypes and prejudice. Early exposure is revealed as a defining factor in enticing men into the profession. Further research reveals that issues related to nurse educator staffing must first be considered to include more men into the profession. Without nurse educators, schools are unable to increase class sizes and admit more men into programs.

Addressing the Shortage of Academic Nurse Educators: Recommendations for Educational Institutions Based on Nominal Group Technique Research

AIM

The purpose of this qualitative study was twofold: 1) explore factors contributing to the shortage of academic nurse educators (ANEs) and 2) identify opportunities to address these factors from the perspectives of nursing education institutions.

BACKGROUND

The nurse faculty shortage is a major national concern, with inadequate recruitment and retention. Addressing the nursing faculty shortage is important to maintain a sustained nursing workforce.

METHOD

Using a nominal group technique (NGT), a group of 45 diverse nurse educators from across the United States formed a virtual workgroup.

RESULTS

Findings led to an action plan formulated to guide educational institutions with ways to decrease the ANE shortage through recruitment and retention.

CONCLUSION

The evidence demonstrates the need for educational institutions to concentrate efforts on recruiting and retaining ANEs to combat the nursing shortage. The analysis offers recommendations to institutions to increase the number of qualified ANEs.

Nurse Externships: Exploring Innovations to Recruit and Mentor Clinical Adjunct Faculty

BACKGROUND

Recruitment and mentoring of clinical preceptors for adjunct clinical faculty positions is essential to easing the nursing faculty shortage. This exploratory study investigated an academic-practice partnership through a summer nursing externship to recruit and mentor clinical preceptors for the clinical educator role.

METHOD

This exploratory longitudinal study examined the success of recruiting and mentoring adjunct clinical educators at a Magnet hospital in the northeast United States. Reflective qualitative survey data from externs, extern faculty, and preceptors in baccalaureate and associate degree prelicensure programs were analyzed.

RESULTS

The findings revealed successes and challenges in recruiting and mentoring 21 adjunct faculty.

CONCLUSION

Nursing externships proved to be successful in recruiting and mentoring clinical adjunct faculty. Implementing new models for recruitment and mentoring are essential for the success of nursing programs and the education of students. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(12):728-732.].

Preparing New Clinical Educators: 10-Year Outcomes of a Hybrid Program

BACKGROUND

Recruitment and retention of new clinical educators is of urgent concern as it coincides with a growing need for qualified RNs. One solution is to provide intensive training experiences for expert clinicians who can become educators.

METHOD

This mixed-method research reports on 10-year outcomes of one hybrid program and the improvements made to align with best practices in learning in an online environment.

RESULTS

From 2012 to 2021, a total of 264 participants completed the program, with 71% taking teaching positions in 21 of 26 Maryland nursing programs. Aggregate data from surveys and focus groups revealed a need for improvements in the organization of program materials, strategies to help participants manage the program's pace, and further efforts to create an ongoing sense of community.

CONCLUSION

In the past 10 years, the Faculty Academy and Mentorship Initiative of Maryland has recruited, educated, and inspired clinicians for educator roles while using data to drive change and improve the participant experience. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(12):701-705.].

Predictors of Nursing Faculty Job and Career Satisfaction, Turnover Intentions, and Professional Outlook: A National Survey

BACKGROUND

Retaining talented and experienced nurses in clinical practice and academia is crucial for maintaining continuity, ensuring high-quality care and education, and fostering a positive work environment. Although factors influencing nursing staff retention are well documented, little is known about how workplace factors impact nursing faculty retention outcomes.

METHODS

A national survey involving 645 nursing faculty across Canada was undertaken. Multivariate regression analysis with interaction effects was conducted to determine the association between work-related factors (i.e., workplace culture and work-life imbalance) and faculty job and career satisfaction, turnover intentions, and professional outlook.

RESULTS

Supportive workplace culture positively influenced faculty job and career satisfaction and professional outlook, while it negatively impacted turnover intentions. Conversely, work-life imbalance decreased faculty job and career satisfaction and professional outlook (i.e., confidence in nursing program, profession), and it increased intentions to leave the job.

CONCLUSION

Our results offer insights into the work-life experiences of Canadian faculty members and shed light on key factors that impact their job-related outcomes. In the context of competing resources, every effort must be made to improve modifiable workplace factors such as the academic work environment and create targeted interventions and policies to promote faculty retention.

Motivators for nurse educators to persist in their profession: A phenomenological research study

BACKGROUND

Nursing education has increasing challenges for recruiting and retaining nurse educators. Qualitatively understanding nurse educators' motivators to persist within the field assisted in understanding nursing education practices that retained participants.

OBJECTIVES

This study explored nurse educators' motivators to uncover factors that influenced their decisions to persist in the profession.

DESIGN

Phenomenological qualitative study.

SETTINGS

Participants worked in one of three purposefully selected universities-two in the midwestern and one in the southwestern United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Nurse educators (n = 16) who were teaching in nursing academic settings, had taught in academia for at least five concurrent years, and planned to continue teaching in nursing. All participants had worked as nurses in clinical settings prior to becoming nurse educators.

METHODS

This qualitative study followed Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological methodology, utilizing criterion sampling, semi-structured interviews, and verbatim transcription. Analyses included open coding, theming, and horizontalization. Researchers established methodological rigor through data saturation, audit trails, confirmability audits, dependability audits, emic and etic triangulations, epoche, member checking, inquiry audit, negative case analysis, prolonged engagement with data, reflexivity, and thick descriptions.

RESULTS

Findings included intrinsic and extrinsic motivators comprising participants' persistence in the professional field of nursing education. Sub-aspects of intrinsic motivators included love of teaching, desire to learn more, satisfaction from professional service, and seeking professional challenges. Sub-aspects of extrinsic motivators included flexibility and professional advancement/opportunities.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants experienced more intrinsic than extrinsic motivators regarding their persistence in the profession. Nurse educators were attracted to and remained in academia when academic settings provided them with the opportunity to advance their formal education.

Mentoring students in doctoral nursing programs: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Academic mentorship usually involves an ongoing, supportive relationship between experienced academics and research candidates, and is fundamental to establishing and nurturing scholarship and the skills for dealing with the changing demands of the academic environment. Mentoring is a valuable strategy for the development of students enrolled in doctoral nursing programs (Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing - PhD, Doctor of Nursing Practice - DNP, Doctor of Nursing Science - DNS, and Doctoral Education in Nursing - EdD).

PURPOSE

To report mentorship experiences among doctoral nursing students and academic mentors, identify positive and negative attributes of mentors and the relationship between mentors and students, and assess the benefits and barriers of mentoring.

METHODS

Relevant empirical studies published until September 2021 were identified using PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus electronic databases. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies published in English language which reported on mentorship among doctoral nursing students were included. Data were synthesized into a scoping review with findings presented as a narrative summary.

RESULTS

The review included 30 articles, mostly from the USA, which reported on the mentoring relationship, experiences, benefits, and barriers of mentoring for the student and the mentor. Students valued mentor attributes such as being a role model, respectful, supportive, inspiring, approachable, accessible, a content expert and a good communicator. Benefits of mentoring included enhanced experience of research endeavours, scholarly writing and scientific publication, networking support, improved student retention, timely completion of the project, and career readiness, as well as developing one's own mentoring skills for future mentoring of others. Despite the identified benefits, there are a number of barriers related to mentoring including access to mentorship support, limited mentoring skills among faculty, and lack of compatibility between students and mentors.

CONCLUSIONS

This review highlighted students' expectations versus their reality of mentoring, which suggested areas for improvement in mentoring doctoral nursing students, in particular the need for mentorship competency, support, and compatibility. Additionally, there is a need for more robust research designs to understand the nature and characteristics of mentorship programs for doctoral nursing students and to assess the expectations and wider experiences of mentors.

The lived experience of nursing students who were unsuccessful in an undergraduate nursing program-A narrative inquiry

BACKGROUND

Historically, attrition rates among nursing students in the United States have been a significant problem. However, beyond academic struggles, little is known about the unsuccessful experiences of nursing students. A glimpse into unsuccessful nursing students' perceptions and stressors, other than academic requirements, provides a framework for nurse educators to develop an identification system for at-risk students.

DESIGN

This study aimed to focus on the student perception of failure, beyond academic results. A phenomenological study using narrative inquiry methodology was used for the study.

PARTICIPANTS

The purposive sampling approach included thirty-seven students who were unsuccessful in a baccalaureate nursing program. All students were interviewed and analysis was completed.

METHODS

Our analysis revealed both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators presented as an important factor for each student's success. Although each participant had unique circumstances, common themes emerged. These findings support the need for support that goes beyond support with academic studies.

RESULTS

Holistic admissions processes need to be utilized, ensuring the best candidates, are admitted to nursing programs. Admission criteria should expand beyond grade point average requirements, and possibly include some form of stress management evaluation, or consideration of extrinsic influences.

The Experience of Being a Full-Time Academic Nurse Educator During the COVID-19 Pandemic

AIM

The aim of this study was to uncover the experience of being a full-time academic nurse educator (ANE) in a baccalaureate or higher degree nursing program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

In 2020, ANEs who were teaching in clinical and classroom settings, conducting in-person research, and engaging in service were suddenly required to work under new COVID-19-induced conditions.

METHOD

A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used for the study. Personal interviews and a demographic questionnaire were utilized to collect data.

RESULTS

Fourteen ANEs participated. Five themes were uncovered through data analysis: riding a rollercoaster, figuring it out, giving and getting help, seeing silver linings, and feeling loss.

CONCLUSION

This study uncovered the experience of being an ANE during the pandemic. The findings inform strategies to enhance working conditions for current and future ANEs during the remainder of the pandemic and in post-COVID-19 nursing education.

Capacity building in nurse educators in a Global Leadership Mentoring Community

Globally, nurse educators participate in the three main role activities of teaching, scholarship, and service. Matching for different global locations and career stages, 12 mentor-mentee pairs completed a one-year coordinated virtual program through Sigma Theta Tau International's Global Leadership Mentoring Community and mentees reported building their nurse educator capacities. The authors describe factors that potentially influence international mentoring such as language, time, technology, and key characteristics of mentoring relationships. Growth in educator roles occurred in the contexts of the culture of academe itself and Boyer's definitions of scholarship. Consistent with Sigma's vision statement, nurse educators have a global presence and responsibility to prepare competent nurses who can advance the health of the world's people. Readers may benefit for future planning of mentoring activities to build capacities in nurse educator roles through international interactions.

Novel Pedagogical Training for Nursing Doctoral Students in Support of Remote Learning: A Win-Win Situation

BACKGROUND

The need for faculty to educate prospective nurses is urgent: without sufficient nursing faculty, schools regularly reject qualified applicants, despite an increasing need for nurses. At the same time, many graduate-prepared nurses lack preparation in teaching and pedagogical frameworks.

PROBLEM

Literature on how PhD programs in nursing prepare graduates for teaching indicates that there is typically more emphasis on research than pedagogical learning.

APPROACH

With the shift to remote learning under the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of California Irvine created a Graduate Fellows program to provide support to faculty while offering graduate students education in pedagogy and remote learning.

OUTCOMES

Fellows were satisfied and reported increased understanding of challenges in teaching and increasing comfort with nurse faculty roles.

CONCLUSIONS

The collaborative efforts of fellows and faculty provided important resources at a critical time, and insights gained can inform similar projects in nursing faculty development.

Nursing faculty shortage in Canada: A scoping review of contributing factors

BACKGROUND

Strong nursing faculty is paramount to promote disciplinary leadership and to prepare future nurses for practice. Our understanding of the factors associated with or predictive of nurse faculty retention and/or turnover is lacking.

PURPOSE

The aim of this review is to identify and synthesize the existing literature on factors contributing to nurse faculty shortage in Canada and implications on nursing practice.

METHODS

A scoping review based on the Arskey and O'Malley's five stage framework for scoping reviews was undertaken. Utilizing the PRISMA protocol, a comprehensive and structured literature search was conducted in five databases of studies published in English.

FINDINGS

Limited through search inclusion and relevance of research, nine studies out of 220 papers met the criteria for this review and were thematically analyzed. Identified themes were supply versus demand; employment conditions; organizational support; and personal factors.

DISCUSSION

Impending retirement of faculty, unsupportive leadership, and stressful work environments were frequently reported as significant contributing factors to the faculty shortage.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review provides insights into how Canada's schools of nursing could engage in grounded efforts to lessen nursing faculty shortage, both nationally and globally. We identified a gap in the literature that indicates that foundational work is needed to create context-specific solutions. The limited studies published in Canada suggest that this is a critical area for future research and funding.

Missed nursing education: Findings from a qualitative study

AIM

To understand what nursing education activities are missed in the daily life of nursing programmes, by also identifying antecedents and consequences of missed educational activities.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative study according to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research guidelines.

METHODS

A purposeful sample of 32 participants with different roles (nurse educators, clinical nurses, students, and administrative personnel) and working in different settings (university, administrative, healthcare service levels) were involved in three focus groups and nine face-to-face interviews from 2019-2020. Both focus groups and face-to-face interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data that emerged were thematically categorized by induction.

FINDINGS

Missed Nursing Education reflects those educational activities needed in the process of nursing education that are missed or delayed. Direct educational activities missed include clinical rotations, classroom teaching and students' overall learning experience. Indirect missed educational activities concern continuing professional development of nursing faculty members, nursing discipline development and the organizational processes of the nursing programme. As antecedents, missed nursing education is triggered by factors at the organizational, nursing faculty, and student levels. Consequences have been reported for students, nursing faculty, clinical nurses, and patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Missed Nursing Education can be considered a multifaceted, multicausal phenomenon, with multitargeted consequences.

IMPACT

To date, missed nursing care has only been investigated in clinical practice. However, care also permeates the relationship between nurse educators and students. Thus, at the point of 'educational care' delivery, aspects can also be omitted. Educational activities at risk of being missed or delayed affect the quality of nursing education and, in the short- and in the long- terms, also the quality of patient care. Some Missed Nursing Education antecedents can be modified by appropriate strategies that should be addressed by policy, health care and academic institutions.