Academic nursing: a desirable career?

Trends in NIH-funding to schools of nursing in the last 17 years

BACKGROUND

Growing clinical demands, faculty retirements, fewer PhD-prepared graduates, and funding instability are challenges for nursing science.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this analysis was to investigate National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding patterns in schools of nursing (SONs).

METHODS

Data were extracted from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research between 2006 and 2022. Growth modeling examined changes in funding over time between private and public SONs.

DISCUSSION

In the last 17 years, NIH funding for SONs has risen nearly 25% but remains only 1% of the total NIH budget for extramural research. Overall, 109 (75%) of the SONs were public and 36 (25%) were private institutions. Regarding geography, 90% of the States received NIH funding except six: ID, ME, MS, NH, VT, and WY. Private SONs consistently received more funding than public SONs but the difference was only statistically significant in 2022.

CONCLUSION

NIH funding has significantly increased to SONs, there is better geographic distribution but a funding disparity exists between public and private SONs.

Impact of VANA academic-practice partnership participation on educational mobility decisions and teaching aspirations of nurses

This study reports findings assessing the influence of the Department of Veterans Affairs Nursing Academy (VANA) academic-practice partnership program on nurse decision making regarding educational mobility and teaching aspirations. We conducted national surveys with nursing faculty from VANA partnership sites in 2011 (N = 133) and 2012 (N = 74). Faculty who spent more hours per week in the VANA role and who reported an increase in satisfaction with their participation in VANA were more likely to have been influenced by their VANA experience in choosing to pursue a higher degree (p < .05). Sixty-nine percent of VANA faculty reported that they would be very interested in staying on as a VANA faculty member if the program should continue. Six measures were positively associated with VANA's influence on the desire to continue as faculty beyond the VANA pilot; support from VANA colleagues, quality of VANA students, amount of guidance with curriculum development, availability of administrative support, support for improving teaching methods, and overall satisfaction with VANA experience (p < .05). As the popularity of academic-practice partnerships grows and their list of benefits is further enumerated, motivating nurses to pursue both higher degrees and faculty roles should be listed among them based on results reported here.

The nursing faculty shortage: Is there hope?

The present nursing faculty shortage is linked to the general nursing shortage. Without enough nurse educators to teach the increasing number of nurses that are needed, the health of U.S. residents is at stake. This article examines progress made on solutions proposed over the past decade such as increasing graduate and certificate programs for nurse educators, more aggressive recruitment of graduate students into faculty roles, and delayed retirement of current faculty. Potential new solutions are proposed. These include: fast-track bachelor's of science in nursing to doctor of philosophy curricula; recruiting advanced practice nurses (APNs) into faculty roles with arrangements made for clinical practice time; raising the image of nursing education as a prestigious career; developing national certification for nurse educators; and partnering with health care agencies. Linking the general nursing shortage with the faculty shortage may provide a stronger case for public policy and funding initiatives. There are signs that some initiatives are working. Present faculty need to maintain a culture of hope while potential solutions are being implemented.

The shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty: a dire situation

BACKGROUND

The decline in the number of doctorally prepared nursing faculty is a major problem contributing to the overall shortage of nursing personnel.

PURPOSE

This article evaluates the impact of faculty age and retirement timelines on the future availability of doctorally prepared nursing faculty.

METHODS

Age and retirement data were summarized from surveys of faculty conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Additional data about characteristics of faculty and doctoral degree recipients were obtained from other national sources. Linear regression was used to determine average change in age and retirement year.

DISCUSSION

Results showed steadily increasing faculty age, a shortening of time to likely retirement, and a loss of younger faculty.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to current initiatives aimed at increased financial support for doctoral study, nurse educators must rapidly arrive at short- and long-term solutions. Solutions may require examination of some of the sacrosanct traditions of nursing education.

Novice Faculty: Encountering Expectations in Academia

New faculty rarely are prepared educationally or experientially for multiple roles and expectations. This phenomenological study was designed to uncover the meaning of the new faculty experience. A purposeful sample of nursing faculty, who were in their first year in a new position, were interviewed to gain an understanding of their experience. A hermeneutical method of data analysis revealed common meaning in the experience of new faculty. The focus of this article is on one theme--expectations--from the distinct perspective of the novice faculty participants. Novice faculty had expectations of what their new role would involve from their prior experience as students, and they perceived expectations of them by other faculty and students. With limited experience in academia, novice faculty described how they tried to put their own and others' expectations into perspective. The stories of these novice faculty reveal inadequacies in the ways new faculty are prepared and mentored. Implications arising from this study encourage revisiting the practices surrounding the preparation and retention of new nursing faculty.

Academic maturity: qualifications to teach the nurse professionals of the future

In a recent survey of Queensland academic managers and graduates of pre-registration and nursing postgraduate programs, it was found that within levels of management there exists a disparity related to the minimal qualifications of educators of nurses. The preferred minimal level of academic preparation of heads of departments of nursing was generally ess than that proposed by recent consumers of tertiary education. Recent postgraduate and graduate students displayed their academic maturity through their preferences for highly qualified and academically qualified educators at all levels. The variety of educators involved in tertiary education included academics teaching within universities; clinical laboratory teachers teaching the skills of nursing practice; clinical faci itators who are responsible for groups of students in the clinical area; and clinical mentors, the clinicians who support and nurture students on a one-to-one basis. Ten managers of nursing programs (N=20), fourteen postgraduates (N=61) and 90 graduates (n=302) of Queensland tertiary nursing programs responded to the survey. While the final samples were small, the outcomes suggest increasing graduate expectations of thei educators and the need for a re-evaluation of measures of quality in academic teaching.

Nursing faculty: one generation away from extinction?

Concern over an impending shortage of qualified nursing faculty sparked a statewide survey of nurses with graduate degrees in one midwestern state. A return rate of 61 per cent yielded a sample of 288. In general, nursing faculty members were older than nurses with graduate degrees employed in other roles. Three fourths of the sample worked full-time in stable positions in which they intended to remain until retirement. Fewer than one third were nurse educators; one-third were hospital employees. Nearly half the sample had nonnursing graduate degrees despite local availability of two nursing master's programs. Noncompetitive academic salaries, desire for clinical practice, and rising expectations in higher education were factors deterring nurses with graduate degrees from pursuing faculty roles. Improved compensation, greater respect, closer proximity to work, more realistic expectations, and improved opportunity to continue clinical practice were viewed as incentives to entice practicing nurses into faculty roles. Recommendations for addressing these important challenges are summarized. The next generation of nurses depends on strategic planning now to build the pool of qualified faculty for the future.