Networking and Partnership are Integral in Nursing Education Initiatives: Transitioning Nurse-Clinicians to Roles as Nurse-Educators

Purpose: Globally there is a significant shortage of registered nurses due in large part to a lack of nursing faculty (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013). Unprecedented, schools of nursing are challenged with finding qualified faculty to teach growing numbers of undergraduate and graduate students (Feldman, Greenberg, Jaffe-Ruiz, Revillard Kaufman, & Cignarale, 2015). In 2016, nursing schools in the United States turned away over 64,000 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs (AACN, 2017). Using an economic model with a labor market approach, it is predicted that, by 2030, global demand for health workers will rise to 80 million workers, while the supply of health workers is expected to reach 65 million over the same period, resulting in a worldwide net shortage of 15 million health workers. Moreover, growth in the demand for health workers will be highest among upper middle-income countries (Liu, Goryakin, Maeda, Bruckner, & Scheffler, 2017). A diverse nursing workforce is essential for progress towards health equity in the United States. Barriers to success include inadequate representation of minorities among nursing faculty (National Advisory Council for Nursing Education and Practice, 2013). The scarcity of those from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds, is also a concern among nursing schools worldwide. A faculty census survey (2016-2017) conducted by the National League for Nursing (NLN) in 2017 publicized 80.8% (n=13,700) of full time nurse educators identified their race/ethnicity as white non-Hispanic (NLN, 2017). In an effort to address the nursing faculty shortage and inequity, the Eastern Shore Faculty and Mentorship Initiative (ES-FAMI) was created in 2011. ES-FAMI is a grant funded collaborative hybrid educational program between three nursing programs and regional practice partners from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA. The ES-FAMI opportunity educates experienced Bachelor’s, Master’s, and DNP-prepared registered nurses for new roles as part-time clinical nursing faculty (Hinderer, Jarosinski, Seldomridge & Reid, 2016). In late 2017, there was an expressed need for ES-FAMI to expand to a satellite location across the state of Maryland in partnership with a fourth nursing program (T-FAMI) to make the program more widely available. Additional objectives of this program were the recruitment of clinical experts in high demand specialties (maternal/newborn, pediatrics, mental health, and community health) and encouragement of graduates to further their education. The T-FAMI experience consisted of 30 contact hours in which students are provided with a face-to-face introductory session, followed by online instruction, simulated clinical teaching sessions, and mentoring workshops. The T-FAMI teaches participants the expectations of clinical faculty: how to design and manage experiences in a clinical setting, the principles of evaluating student performance and how to provide feedback. This presentation includes key components to a successful partnership as well as outcomes from the first joint offering of the Academy at the satellite location. The presentation also invites participants to consider how a collaborative model can be instituted among nursing programs elsewhere to address the nursing faculty shortage. The purpose is to encourage participants to consider constructing a similar collaborative model in their region.

Methods: A mixed method, quantitative and qualitative approach was used. With the University’s Institutional Review Board approval, data were collected from participants of the T-FAMI satellite Participants first completed an online survey, the Academy Experience Evaluation (AEE). This survey asked them to rate the extent to which the course objectives and instructional aims were met, and to provide substantive comments on perceptions of T-FAMI components. Secondly, participants completed an online T-FAMI Content Evaluation in which they rated the various methods of course instruction. Finally, they participated in a focus group conducted by expert external evaluators, to uncover their perceptions of the program.

Results: Demographic data revealed a diverse group of ten females identifying as white (7) and black (3) with varying educational backgrounds, specialty areas and teaching experiences. Many were teaching for area community colleges and universities concurrently.

All ten (100%) students completed the evaluations and participated in the focus group session. Eight of the ten students responded to the open-ended questions on the Academy Experience Evaluation that asked for overall feedback. Overall, participants felt the Academy Experience was a positive experience (80-100% Agree/Strongly Agree). Aspects they found particularly useful included identifying with a community of educators, receiving pre-academy information, meeting in convenient spaces, and engaging in simulation. Students were asked to comment on the statement, “Overall this Academy prepared me well for my role as a clinical educator.” The responses were positive, with all respondents indicating the Academy helped prepare them for their role as a clinical educator. Open-ended responses were as follows: “This helped me to better myself this semester and to evaluate myself as an instructor.” “The Academy has helped me become a better prepared clinical instructor. I now have new ideas to incorporate into my clinical setting” “It helped with situations and talking with other educators and how they handle certain situations as well.” “I gained a lot and I am looking forward to further mentoring to launch out confidently.”

The Content Evaluation provided data on the efficacy of various course instructional methods, rating their agreement with each on a scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Feedback was positive overall with (70-100% Agree/Strongly Agree). The highest-rated areas related to the simulation experiences, and the ability of the instructors to inspire student interest and engagement.

In the focus group discussions, there was universal agreement that the Academy was a worthwhile and informative experience with participants requesting additional simulated teaching encounters. They remarked that having facilitators from several different programs helped them gain a broader perspective on undergraduate nursing education. Most agreed that the face-to-face meetings, and especially the simulation sessions, were the most useful. The simulation session was viewed positively by the participants, but also generated the most suggestions for improvement. Although nearly all participants were animated about their role in the simulations, they were equally as enthusiastic about viewing their colleagues’ videos and receiving feedback. In this way, simulation sessions demonstrated to the participants, its effectiveness as a learning experience.

Discussion/Implications/Conclusion: This programmatic expansion addresses the faculty shortage on a larger, state-wide level as it increased the number of Academy-trained clinical experts who are available to take part time clinical faculty positions within the state. Goals of diversifying the nursing faculty workforce, recruiting for difficult to staff clinical specialties, encouraging enrollment in advanced education, and pursuit of teaching as a full-time career are imperative for all Academy locations. The success of this initiative has spurred a plan for expansion to a third satellite location in January 2019.