Role strain of clinical nursing faculty

A survey was conducted of 226 clinical faculty from associate (ADN) and baccalaureate (BSN) degree programs in the Midwest. The purpose of the research was to examine role strain among clinical nursing faculty. Although clinical faculty experienced overall a low degree of role strain, they reported role overload and conflict. BSN faculty had more interrole conflict (t = 2.57, df = 215, P = .01) and role ambiguity (t = 2.37, df = 215, P = .01) than ADN faculty. Faculty with doctorates teaching clinical courses had higher role strain scores than other faculty. Teachers at the sophomore level reported the most role strain compared with teaching other levels of students. As expected, full-time faculty had significantly more role strain and demands on them compared with part-time clinical faculty. Findings from the research provide a framework for faculty orientation and development programs and highlight the importance of learning how to balance the demands and responsibilities of clinical teaching.