Increasing the number of nursing faculty requires strategic recruitment and retention programs that attract more nurses to faculty work and fully support new faculty as they transition to the role of nurse educator. The need for transition support is not a new concept in nursing. Nursing has successfully implemented nurse residency programs to recruit, retain, and transition new graduate nurses to clinical practice (Edwards, Hawker, Carrier, & Rees, 2015; Lin, Viscardi, & McHugh, 2014).
Structured support systems, such as nurse residency programs, have positively influenced the health of clinical work environments by increasing nurse satisfaction and decision-making, and promoting professional growth and leadership skill development (Al-Dossary, Kitsantas, & Maddow, 2014). Participants in nurse residency programs have reported high levels of professional accomplishments and commitment to nursing (Rosenfeld & Glassman (2016). From an economic perspective, the estimated cost to recruit and retain a replacement registered nurse is $88,000 (Greene, Warren, & Perkins, 2016). For every 1% increase in nurse turnover, an organization invests approximately $300,000 annually to recruit, train, and support new staff suggesting there are benefits to investing in programs that sponsor intra-professional development and support of new staff (Little, Ditmer, & Bashaw, 2013). While there are clear benefits to supporting role transition in clinical settings, nursing has not identified a transition program to support nurses who are transitioning to faculty positions.
The purpose of this presentation is to propose an evidence-based academic nurse residency program (ANRP) designed to support nurses who are transitioning to the faculty role and ultimately, to strengthen healthful work environments for nursing faculty. Evidence was identified through electronic searches of Pubmed, Ovid, CINAHL and ProQuest using the search terms transitioning to nurse educator, nurse residency, nurse faculty shortage, mentoring, and challenges for new faculty. Reference scanning and citation tracking also were used. The search was restricted to evidence published between the years of 2009-2018 and predominantly within the nursing education domain. A few articles outside the date parameter were included if referenced in articles of particular value within the literature search. Approximately 40 articles were retained for analysis. Although additional evidence was available on the topic of nurse residency program effectiveness, several smaller scale studies were excluded in order to minimize redundancy.
The goal of the literature review was to identify development needs of new nursing faculty, a residency program framework, and attributes of nurse residency programs that would guide the development of an ANRP. The reviewed evidence about clinical nurse residency programs and the nurse educator’s transition from practice to academia provides a roadmap for an ANRP. For example, evidence supports the use of four phases of role transition as a model for an ANRP (Schoening, 2013).
This interactive session will include a review of the evidence and recommendations for designing and facilitating an ANRP that includes didactic and practice training and the provision of emotional support and guidance by experienced nurse preceptors in the practice (academic) setting. This session will be beneficial to new and continuing faculty, nursing program administrators, nurses with an interest in the faculty role, and those who design and deliver graduate courses that prepare nurse educators.