The experience of being a full-time nursing faculty member in a baccalaureate nursing education program

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the experience of being a full-time nursing faculty member in a baccalaureate nursing program. Eight female informants, with an average of 6.1 years of experience in a full-time faculty position, shared their experiences through in-depth personal interviews and a follow-up telephone interview. Field notes and a demographic questionnaire also served as data sources. Data were analyzed using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach based on the Urecht School of phenomenology. Five themes were uncovered through data analysis, including (a) making a difference in the student, profession, and the world; (b) being a gatekeeper to the profession; (c) trying ways to balance multiple roles; (d) support is vital: can't do it alone; and (e) workplace relationships: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Findings have implications for the development of research-based faculty recruitment and retention strategies. Implications for the practice of nursing education focus on current nursing faculty, administrators in nursing education, and those responsible for developing higher education policies. Future research is recommended for exploring the rewards of making a difference, the rationale for incivility in the workplace, and the level of faculty mentoring occurring in nursing education.