Engaging baccalaureate clinical faculty

Role theory was utilized in this descriptive study to investigate clinical faculty in baccalaureate nursing programs. The Clinical Faculty Role Questionnaire was developed and employed to study 134 full-time and part-time clinical faculty members. Theory derivation was used and the concept of role engagement was empirically supported. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships among the variables. T-test results identified differences between full-time and part-time faculty members on role variables of status, role conception, and role engagement. The relationships between study concepts and areas of educational content related to the teaching role were explored and identified as supportive of the clinical educator role. Ancillary qualitative investigation resulted in the identification of several themes: the need for clinical competence; for part-time faculty, a desire to be included in program planning.