"Sink or Swim": An Ethnographic Study of Nurse Educators in Academic Culture

The aim of this study was to describe the cultural context of academic nurse educators through the use of ethnography.

This cultural context has seldom been explored from the perspective of nursing faculty.

Twelve interviews, followed by ethnographic data analysis, identified domains with related components describing this culture.

Participants cited metaphors of water (e.g., sink or swim, keeping head above water) in describing the culture. Challenges included demanding workloads, challenging interchanges, negotiating a complex bureaucracy, and finding trusted individuals willing to provide a network of support. Faculty reported interactions to be guarded, uncivil, and conflict avoidant within a bureaucracy of slow pace of work, resistance to change, heavy workloads, and requirements for scholarship that are not clear or consistently enforced.

Clinical nurses who enter the academic culture must learn patterned ways of thinking and earn credibility. A key to adaptation is finding colleagues who will provide a support network.