Transforming academic nursing: from balance through integration to coherence

Academic institutions continue to be challenged to enhance their productivity in the face of diminishing resources. Escalating demands on full-time faculty must come from a fundamental transformation in the focus and, hence, design of that work. This article presents a model of a mission transformed from the current representation of the tripartite activities involved with teaching, research, and service to a new representation of the inherent holism of that work. This transformation moves the academy's mission to a single, integrative focus on knowledge work. When the essence of the academy's unique mission is expressed as knowledge work, the unity of knowledge development, dissemination, and application can be actualized in the work lives of a community of scholars. A fuller realization of the inherently holistic nature of this knowledge work is seen as a transformation to coherence at the levels of university, unit, and scholar. Coherence within the academic lives of individuals, the collective community of scholars, and the broader organization is the essential feature for the long-term success of the institution and the career of a scholar.