Stepping into the Academe: The Lived Experience of Adjunct Novice Nurse Faculty

The nursing faculty shortage in the Philippines has reached a critical stage, which has now resulted in recruiting staff nurses without or currently taking master's degree into the academe to become adjunct nurse faculty. This phenomenon is quite new to most educational institutions in the local, regional, and even the national setting, warranting further exploration.

This study explored the lived experience of adjunct nurse faculty. It generated information on their motives, preparations, and how they faced and overcame the challenges.

A Husserlian descriptive phenomenological qualitative design was used in this study, employing constructivism as its paradigm. Eight informants were selected through purposive sampling using a non-discriminative snowball technique. Participants were registered nurses with less than a year of part-time teaching experience in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Excluded were nurses with prior faculty experience. The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Saint Louis University. Data were collected through unstructured individual interviews conducted face-to-face and via Google Meet between January and March 2023 until data saturation was achieved. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, themed, and analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step technique. Rigor was ensured through prolonged engagement, peer debriefing, member checking, and extensive review of transcripts and coding. Reflexivity and bracketing were observed throughout the research process.

Five cluster themes with their corresponding themes emerged from the participants' accounts. These include "The Driving Forces" (Passion to fulfill a dream; Giving back to the school; New experience and advancement; Additional income), "Getting Ready For The New Role" (Being oriented is a must; Getting help from seasoned faculty; Going back to the basics), "Facing the Challenges" (Supervising students for the first time, Overwhelming combined workloads; Role confusion from colleagues), "Making It Through" (Setting boundaries with colleagues on dual roles, Lowering expectations for students, Support from colleagues and the school) "Feeling Good and Fulfilled" (Personal and professional growth, Feels good to be appreciated).

Adjunct novice nurse faculty's experience was rooted and influenced by several driving forces that significantly shaped their journey into becoming nurse educators. They went through a phase of preparation before taking over their new role to equip themselves in an unfamiliar environment. Confronted by the various challenges brought about by their new role, they were able to strive to persevere and make it through. Navigating these experiences can be challenging and rewarding, ultimately contributing to their growth, fulfillment, and joy.