Joint appointments: perspectives of nurse executives

Today's nurse executives must seek ways to combine the talents of the academic community with the talents of the practice setting to promote the development of professional nursing. One such strategy is through the selected use of joint appointments. The opinions of nurse executives (deans/directors of university schools of nursing and of senior nurse administrators of health care agencies) about joint academic/clinical appointments in nursing are reported in this article. Data, from 10 deans/directors and 36 nurse administrators, were collected through self-administered questionnaires and are part of a larger study. Views of the nurse executives on perceived benefits of joint appointments, identification of potential problem areas, and desirable characteristics of joint appointees are presented. Suggestions for planning and implementation of joint appointments are provided.