Nurse faculty practice: from theory to reality

This article discusses the developmental stages involved in moving the concept of faculty practice from theory to reality. Bennis, Benne, and Chin's theories for planned change and Hage's theory for organizational change with a dominant coalition form the theoretical bases for this redical innovation. Smith's Time Line serves as the framework for tracing the development of the plan over its 6-year history. The political, logistic, and financial promoters and constraints at each stage of development are identified. Faculty reaction to the idea of faculty practice is presented, and the mechanisms used to bring about group consensus are described. The key elements for the successful transition of this plan are a small and resilient group of faculty planners and adaptation of existing organizational systems to accommodate nursing's interests. Finally, the practice plan is presented at its present stage of development with its future goals.