Reported as the second-ranked concern among doctoral faculty nationally, nurses need institutional support to encourage scholarly productivity (Cullen, 2017; Smeltzer, 2016). Nurse faculty may need assistance in writing publications or other mentoring activities related to scholarship. Nursing faculty who are in a supportive environment not only publish more, but also obtain more grants and are promoted more quickly than non-mentored faculty (Cullen, 2017).
Nurse faculty have the potential to change faculty cultures toward scholarly caring, relationship building, and improved work environments (Heinrich, 2017). Mutual respect and scholarly success (Heinrich) served as the foundation for establishing and sustaining the Scholarship in Progress Peer Support (SIPPS) group. The institutional initiative was developed in February 2017 by faculty members who envisioned an encouraging environment for developing scholarship with peer support.
The Assistant Dean for Non-Tenure Track Faculty Affairs and Advancement and the Assistant Director of the DNP Program championed the SIPPS group. The purpose of the SIPPS group is for faculty to benefit from feedback (constructive, caring, meaningful, feed-forward) in discussion with a committed group of attentive and empathetic peers. The SIPPS group objectives are to: 1) support a community of diverse scholars in advancing scholarship, 2) foster increased connections around common interests, and 3) capitalize on our collective expertise.
The SIPPS group meets monthly for one hour each month in a common room on campus. Faculty attendance is optional, and based on availability. During the session, one to two faculty members present a scholarly work or project (manuscript, presentation, QI, or research) in progress for 15 minutes. Presentations include (but are not limited to) idea development, study/project design, practice for upcoming presentation, and work in progress at varying stages. Faculty presenters choose their preference for style and format of their presentation information. All presentation formats are welcomed, with or without media, such as a PowerPoint, handouts, posters, or informal discussion.
Balancing their roles as educators, practitioners, and researchers, faculty in attendance embrace and commit to sharing their multifaceted expertise in support of their faculty peers. All are responsible for creating an environment of genuine caring about the presenter’s scholarship. At the conclusion of the presentation, faculty peers and the presenter participate in an open-exchange of questions, answers, and feedback.
The SIPPS group has met ten times since its inception, with fifteen presenters sharing their scholarly ideas or works. Topics presented vary in development phase from initial ideas to complete work. Faculty presenters have received encouraging and positive feedback propelling their scholarly idea forward for dissemination - national podium presentations, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and poster presentations. Improvements in areas of development, data collection strategies, project participant recruitment, and data analysis approaches have also occurred.
Faculty presenters and peers (n= 18) participated in a survey about their experience of attending a SIPPS meeting. One hundred percent of the survey participants either strongly agreed or agreed that they felt supported by peers, received peer feedback that encouraged them to pursue next steps in their scholarly endeavors, perceived the feedback they received as constructive and meaningful, and benefited from listening to the feedback given to the faculty presenters.
Nursing is a scholarly discipline and requires a supportive environment for faculty scholarship to flourish. The SIPPS group is a direct outcome of a shared faculty vision for a healthy work environment where innovation, and collaboration are valued (Blake, 2013). The SIPPS group fosters intellectual enrichment and professional development to support the organizational culture of wellness.