Focus on retention: Identifying barriers to nurse faculty satisfaction

There has been a great deal of attention focused upon the professional and faculty nursing shortage. Retirement rates of seasoned nurse faculty, fewer nurses pursuing academic roles as nursing faculty, and insufficient numbers of nurses in doctoral programs hinder the ability to educate willing students to become professional nurses. The aim of this descriptive, quantitative study in the New England region was to determine barriers to job satisfaction as reported by nurse faculty. A 32-item survey was used with questions about workload, satisfaction, and identified barriers to satisfaction. Responses from 226 nurse faculty support findings regarding factors essential to job satisfaction, including work environment and workload. Implications for the study findings include the need for attention to the complexity of the academic work environment, specifically in nursing education.