Promoting Faculty Scholarship: A Clinical Faculty Scholars Program

The importance of supporting and promoting faculty scholarship in nursing is acknowledged, but the reality of scholarship for faculty engaged in clinical teaching can be challenging.

The article describes the development and initial results of the scholarly practice program. Mentorship, time, and limited funding are essentials for the program.

After submitting detailed proposals, 15 faculty were chosen to be project leaders in the first 2 years of the program, resulting in 15 presentations, three posters, 19 publications, and a webinar, to date. External continuing funding has been secured by three projects. Additional dissemination efforts are awaiting peer review.

The program has successfully increased the level of scholarship among clinical teaching faculty and contributed to the faculty's professional satisfaction. Faculty have increased experience and ability to conduct clinical quality improvement. Experience supports targeted, substantial support for projects, rather than a general average faculty allocation strategy to promote scholarship. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(2):121-125.].