Motivation of sessional teaching staff to remain employed in pre-registration nursing programs: A systematic review

To identify motivational and demotivational factors for sessional teaching staff to undertake employment in pre-registration nursing programs.

Sessional teaching staff are part of the nurse education team; however high turnover can cause challenges to the university and impact the quality of teaching and learning for students. Understanding the motivational factors for working as sessional staff can help create a more sustainable nurse education workforce.

Systematic review.

The review protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework and the search was conducted in September 2024 using the databases CINAHL, Education Source, ERIC, PsycInfo® and MEDLINE. The inclusion criteria were sessional teaching staff, teaching into pre-registration nursing programs in tertiary education settings. Themes were deductively developed following data extraction. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Four studies were included in this review. Two themes were developed: i) Motivation to remain employed; ii) Demotivational factors to remain employed. The top motivating elements for sessional staff were the enjoyment of teaching, the work flexibility and the ability to nurture the next generation of nurses. Demotivational factors for working sessionally included feeling disconnected from the nursing school and not having adequate resources and support for teaching.

Sessional teaching staff provide benefits to nurse education programs. Universities need to enhance motivational factors such as flexibility and address the lack of sense of belonging, support and resourcing of sessionals to create a sustainable academic workforce and to ensure the quality of nurse education.