Attitudes about faculty practice, perceptions of role, and role strain

This study examined the opinions and beliefs of 292 faculty and 53 deans regarding clinical practice of nursing faculty and their perceptions of role and role strain. Research hypotheses were formulated to test for statistically significant differences between practicing and nonpracticing faculty. Respondents ranked their perceptions of the importance of various faculty responsibilities and indicated the degree of difficulty they experienced in fulfilling those obligations. Significant differences appeared. Practicing faculty ranked practice higher in importance than did nonpracticing faculty or deans. They (practicing faculty) believed that being actively involved in the clinical area increased their teaching effectiveness and scholarly productivity. Although the practicing faculty did not rank research as high a priority as did nonpracticing faculty or deans, they reported less role strain and felt more confident in other aspects of the faculty role.