Nursing scholarship: role of faculty practice

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Academic Scholarship
• Higher Education

Background:

• Nursing education's academic shift emphasizes traditional scholarship: research, teaching, and service.
• Changes in higher education and healthcare necessitate a reevaluation of nursing faculty roles.
• Faculty practice is increasingly prevalent but often unsupported in academic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore deans' and faculty's perceptions of scholarship in nursing.
• To examine how these views align with or diverge from faculty practice.
• To identify challenges and opportunities in defining nursing faculty scholarship.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among deans and faculty in colleges of nursing.
• Data were collected on their views regarding the components and scope of scholarship.
• Analysis focused on identifying themes related to role conflict and faculty practice.

Main Results:

• Nursing deans and faculty define scholarship as generating, disseminating, applying, and advancing nursing knowledge.
• Key components of scholarship include research, teaching, service, faculty practice, and presentations.
• A significant theme was the role conflict and fragmentation experienced by faculty balancing these components.
• Most faculty engaged in practice lacked institutional accommodation or formal expectation for this role.

Conclusions:

• Faculty practice can be integrated into the definition of scholarship.
• Scholarly outcomes must be demonstrable for faculty practice to be recognized as scholarship.
• Addressing role conflict is crucial for supporting comprehensive nursing faculty scholarship.