Nursing Faculty Shortage: Nurses' Perceptions as a Key to Administrative Solutions

222 Pages·2013·0.61 MB·English

by  Evelyn M. Klocke

Marshall University
Marshall Digital Scholar
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
1-1-2009
Nursing Faculty Shortage: Nurses' Perceptions as a
Key to Administrative Solutions
Evelyn M. Klocke
[email protected]
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NURSING FACULTY SHORTAGE
NURSES’ PERCEPTIONS AS A KEY TO ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTIONS

Evelyn M. Klocke
Marshall University
Graduate School of Education and Professional Development

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
Marshall University Graduate College
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education
in
Educational Leadership

Committee Chair, Linda Spatig, Ed. D.
Patricia Johnston, Ed. D.
Karen Stanley, Ph. D.
Powell Toth, Ph. D.

Huntington, West Virginia, 2009

Keywords: Nursing Faculty Shortage, Nursing Faculty Role, Qualitative
Copyright 2009 by Evelyn M. Klocke
ABSTRACT

Nursing Faculty Shortage
Nurses’ Perceptions as a Key to Administrative Solutions

The nursing faculty shortage is well documented. Higher education administrators
turn away qualified student applicants because of the lack of qualified nursing faculty.
Furthermore, they find recruitment and retention of qualified nursing faculty a challenge.
The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of the nursing faculty role, causes of
the faculty shortage, and solutions to the shortage as perceived by: 1) nurses currently in
a faculty role and 2) nurses with a master’s degree who were not employed in a full-time
faculty position.
A qualitative study using the phenomenological method was undertaken. Two
groups of nurses were interviewed. The faculty group was eight nurses teaching full-time
selected from faculty teaching in schools of nursing in West Virginia. The service group
was eight nurses with masters’ degrees in nursing but not in a faculty position selected
from nurses licensed in West Virginia. In interviews, participants were asked to describe
their current position, perceptions of the nursing faculty role, causes of the shortage, and
solutions to the shortage.
Participants believed the causes of the shortage included low salaries, lack of
nurses with advanced degrees, nurses without training in teaching, and other career
options. Their solutions included presenting a positive image of the nursing faculty role,
supporting doctoral education, utilizing nurses with masters’ degrees, mentoring new
faculty, and networking with nurses in service positions. Those in both groups described
a passion for nursing and teaching and viewed themselves as educators. The positive
aspects of the faculty role were relationships with the students, watching students develop
into nurses, relationships with colleagues, and flexible schedules.
Nursing administrators will continue to be challenged with recruiting and
retaining qualified nursing faculty. This study found that nurses in both faculty and
service settings enjoyed teaching but they selected their positions based on cost-benefit
analyses. In other words, for these participants, the costs of pursuing faculty positions are
unduly high considering the perceived benefits.
DEDICATION

To my sons, Lee and Christopher, and my mother, Jessie Klocke.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This is to acknowledge the support and guidance of Dr. Linda Spatig, my
committee chair. She stood by me through the many years it took me to complete the
dissertation. I would like to thank Dr. Powell Toth as the professor for the first course I
took in the program and for serving on my committee. I would like to thank my two
nursing colleagues, Dr. Karen Stanley and Dr. Patricia Johnston, for many years of
professional friendship and for serving on my committee.
I would like to thank the nursing faculty at West Virginia University Institute of
Technology for being dedicated to teaching the next generation of nurses, meeting the
challenges of being nurse educators, and encouraging me during my years in doctoral
study. Thank you to Dr. Georgia Narsavage for her leadership, inspiration, and guidance.
I would give a special thank you to Dr. Cynthia Persily for being a mentor to me and
believing in my ability to succeed in doctoral study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ii
DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………….…………………………….vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……………………………..................................... 1
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.....................................................21
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS………………………………………......................... 73
CHAPTER FOUR: PARTICIPANTS……………………………………………….…..83
CHAPTER FIVE: PERCEPTIONS OF FACULTY ROLE……………………………111
CHAPTER SIX: FACULTY SHORTAGE…………………………………………….143
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS………………………...169
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................192
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................202
APPENDIX A: INFORMED CONSENT..................................................................203
APPENDIX B: LETTERS TO PARTICIPANTS......................................................207
APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW GUIDE.......................................................................210
APPENDIX D: DEMOGRAPHIC FORM.................................................................212

v
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Demographics of Faculty Group Page 85
Table 2 Demographics of Service Group Page 98

vi
NURSING FACULTY SHORTAGE
NURSES’ PERCEPTIONS AS A KEY TO ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTIONS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Over the years the supply and demand for nurses in the United States has
fluctuated between oversupply and shortage (Brendtro & Hegge, 2000). Currently, many
nursing leaders are saying nursing is again facing a major nursing shortage. During the
20th century, the nursing shortage did not result in a shortage in the ranks of the nursing
faculty. The nursing faculty work force was able to keep up with the demand. With the
current nursing shortage, however, the number of qualified nursing faculty has declined.
This faculty shortage threatens to make the overall nursing shortage worse due to the lack
of enough faculty members to educate the new nurses (Brendtro & Hegge, 2000).
Higher education administrators are facing the problem of not being able to admit
all of the qualified students to the nursing programs because of the lack of qualified
nursing faculty. This is validated by a survey in 2002 conducted by the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in which they found that 5,283 qualified
applicants were not admitted to nursing programs at all levels including baccalaureate,
master’s and doctoral programs. In 41.7 % of the schools responding, this was due to the
insufficient number of nursing faculty members (AACN, 2003). Higher education
administrators cannot afford to lose prospective students because of insufficient numbers
of faculty.
1
In addition higher education administrators are facing the issue of recruiting and
retaining qualified nursing faculty. Even though the standard is for faculty teaching at the
collegiate level to have a doctorate, only half of the full-time nursing faculty across the
country in 2001 held a doctorate degree. Of those nursing faculty members with doctorate
degrees, only 58% held doctorates in nursing (Berlin & Sechrist, 2002). The results of the
special survey conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
in 2003 indicated that the faculty vacancy rate has increased to 8.6% which is up from a
7.4% vacancy rate in 2000. Of the 614 faculty vacancies reported by 300 nursing schools,
59.8% of the vacancies required a doctoral degree (AACN, 2004).
The literature indicates several factors that are contributing to the decline in
nursing faculty which include age, fewer nurses receiving master’s and doctorate degrees,
lack of competitive salaries, faculty workload, and alternative career choices (AACN,
2003; Berlin & Sechrist, 2002; Brendtro & Hegge, 2000; De Young & Bliss, 1995; Fong,
1993; Hinshaw, 2001; Princeton, 1992). Administrators in higher education need to
understand how these factors contribute to difficulties in recruiting and retaining nursing
faculty. The current perceptions of the nursing educator role and the faculty workload
may contribute to nurses choosing or not choosing to pursue the role of a nursing
educator. The purpose of this study was to explore the current perceptions of the nursing
faculty shortage by nurses currently in education positions as compared to those who
have at least a master’s degree in nursing but are not in an education position. This study
also explored the perceived attractions and barriers to nurses choosing the nursing
educator role.
2
Theoretical Lens: Evidence-Based Practice Model
More and more professionals are expected to base their practice on research and
data-based studies. This is very true in the medical and nursing professions (Jennings &
Loan, 2001). Ingersoll (2000) has defined evidence-based practice in nursing as “the
conscientious, explicit and judicious use of theory-derived, research-based information in
making decisions about care delivery to individuals or groups of patients and in
consideration of individual needs and preferences” (p.152). Goode and Piedalue (1999)
expanded the evidence to include other forms of data beyond research. They have defined
evidence-based practice as “the synthesis of knowledge from research, retrospective or
concurrent chart review, quality improvement and risk data, international, national and
local standards, infection control data, pathophysiology, cost effectiveness analysis,
benchmarking data, patient preferences, and clinical expertise”(p. 15). Goode and
Piedalue (1999) acknowledged that there are other sources of data that are used to make
practice decisions. Ingersoll (2000) further revised the definition so that it could be used
in the practice area of nursing education. Evidence-based practice in education was
defined as “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of theory-derived, research-
based information in making decisions about education options and approaches with
individuals or groups and in consideration of individual or group needs and preferences”
(p. 152).
For education K-12, the United States Department of Education developed a
guide for identifying and implementing educational practices based on rigorous evidence
(U. S. Department of Education, 2003). The assumption is that if practitioners can
identify evidence-based interventions, then they will be able to improve American
3