Bridging the gap: creating faculty development opportunities at a large medical center

Faculty development often focuses on developing practicing professionals into teaching experts within a classroom setting. As such, the topic of nursing faculty development is often written about from the standpoint of an employing traditional academic institution. Nursing faculty also have development needs related to practice within a clinical education institution. How do faculty members maintain a current perspective on endless changes in the clinical setting? This becomes particularly challenging if faculty are not actively engaged in nursing practice at the bedside and utilize a clinical facility for education sporadically throughout an academic year. This article describes the method one large academic medical center used to partner collaboratively with schools of nursing to create opportunities for faculty development. A need for clinical faculty development was recognized and a clinical facility faculty day was created and implemented. Information shared during this faculty development day included institutional practice changes, the implementation of a computerized medical record documentation system, general orientation policies, and procedures related to the conducting of business within the institution. A networking opportunity was also provided for faculty and the institutional healthcare leadership staff. Anecdotal evaluation information is also shared.