New nurse faculty: core competencies for role development

This study originated from the need to define the role competencies for a beginning nurse educator. A survey of full-time faculty and heads of university and community college nursing programs in Ontario showed a high degree of agreement between the two sets of faculty for teacher role, practice, service, personal and professional growth competencies. Significant differences were noted on competencies involving student evaluation, facilitating student's practice, acting as student's advocate, and research. Agreement was noted on the problems created by role ambiguity and role incompetence, particularly for new faculty. This suggests the need for educational preparation and socialization of nurse faculty.