Challenges to research productivity of doctoral program nursing faculty

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Health Workforce Studies
• Academic Nursing

Background:

• The Institute of Medicine recommends increasing baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses to 80% and doubling doctorally prepared nurses by 2020.
• A significant number of senior nursing faculty are retiring.
• The influx of doctorally prepared nurses into academia is insufficient to fill the gap left by retiring faculty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the challenges faced by nursing programs in expanding capacity to meet Institute of Medicine recommendations.
• To analyze the impact of these challenges on the scholarly productivity of nursing faculty in doctoral programs.
• To identify strategies for enhancing scholarly productivity among doctoral nursing faculty.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of issues impacting nursing doctoral programs.
• Review of literature on faculty scholarly productivity.
• Exploration of creative strategies for faculty development.

Main Results:

• Increased program capacity demands strain faculty resources.
• Balancing teaching loads with research expectations is a key challenge.
• Creative strategies are needed to support and promote faculty scholarly output.

Conclusions:

• Nursing programs face significant hurdles in expanding capacity while maintaining scholarly productivity.
• Proactive and innovative strategies are essential to support doctoral faculty.
• Addressing faculty scholarly productivity is crucial for the future of nursing education and practice.