Affiliate Faculty in Nursing Clinical Education: Student and Faculty Perceptions

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Academic-Practice Partnerships
• Clinical Education Models

Background:

• Academic-practice relationships are crucial for high-quality prelicensure nursing education.
• An academic health center and nursing school developed the affiliate faculty model for clinical education.
• This model offers a viable and sustainable approach to clinical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the effectiveness of the affiliate faculty model.
• To gather student and faculty perspectives on the model's impact over seven years.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, descriptive survey design.
• Mixed-methods approach using electronic surveys.
• Data collected from prelicensure nursing students and affiliate faculty.

Main Results:

• Participants agreed affiliate faculty enhance safe patient care preparation.
• Affiliate faculty help students connect classroom learning to clinical settings.
• Key themes included health system knowledge, bedside support, teaching enjoyment, and fostering "light bulb moments".

Conclusions:

• The affiliate faculty model strengthens academic-practice partnerships.
• This model effectively addresses the nursing faculty shortage.
• It contributes to advancing nursing education quality.