Presenting an Integrative Review of Current Evidence Identifying the Workplace Factors that Influence Retention of Quality Nursing Faculty

Nursing academia is lacking evidence-based knowledge of learning what workplace factors influence retention of quality nursing faculty. The majority of nursing studies which have concentrated on workplace factors focused on relationships between nurses in the acute care setting. The few studies that were conducted on the nursing academic workplace environment identified negative experiences that have direct implications in retaining quality nursing faculty. Heinrich (2006) reported several incidents of incivility existing between nursing faculty members. Furthermore, Heinrich reported nursing faculty who demonstrated unhealthy behaviors toward their colleagues were described as ‘joy-stealers’ who were disadvantageous to the retention as well as the recruitment of nursing faculty. Heinrich stipulated that enhancing the development of nursing academic communities would promote learning and scholarship. Likewise, Lacy and Sheehan (1997) proclaimed that a sense of community and relationships between colleagues were two predictors of job satisfaction. Whereas Glass (2003) revealed that violence was dominate in the schools of nursing in comparison to the whole university. Doughty, May, Butell, and Tong (2002) identified there is minimum content known about the work environment of nursing faculty in the academic setting. This issue reveals the need to further study this issue in order to learn from evidence on how best to address retention of nursing faculty. With the decreasing number of quality nursing faculty already occurring internationally, there is an imperative need to address the factors that influence retention of quality nursing faculty. This presenter will offer solutions from this integrative review of literature on how to retain quality nursing faculty for nursing schools internationally.