Scope and Significance to Nursing
Study scope was limited to online faculty teaching part-time. Definition of part-time online nursing faculty was any nursing faculty who are contracted term-to-term and based on program need. Full-time online faculty, who were not also teaching at other institutions, were excluded from the study. The research presented is significant to nursing education.
With the influx of online learning opportunities, nursing programs often depend upon educators to serve in a part-time, visiting, or affiliate teaching capacity (AACN, 2015). Part of this growth has been attributed to the call for nurses to earn advanced degrees secondary to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) groundbreaking 2010 publication, The Future of Nursing. The report proposed the need to make higher education in nursing a priority to better meet the demands of the future healthcare environment (Claywell, Wallace, Price, Reneau, & Carlson, 2016). This call for increased advanced nursing education can present challenges for online programs, as the part-time faculty members’ engagement with the university or college’s mission may not be adequate (Akroyd, Patton, & Bracken 2013; Brannagan & Oriol, 2014). It is this lack of engagement that could impact the student experience (Yen & Abdous, 2013). Both faculty and student engagement in online nursing education are of primary concern to leadership within online nursing programs. The significance to nursing is data to provide evidence based policy for improving part-time online nursing faculty engagement and ultimately part-time faculty retention. Retaining quality part-time online faculty helps keep recruiting and training costs down (Faculty Focus, 2017). Engaged online faculty actually increase student engagement in online classes to improve student retention (Poll, Widen, & Weller, 2014). Consistent quality part-time faculty helps to maintain the quality of online education for students. Currently there is a lack of research associated with factors influencing the level of engagement for online part-time, nursing faculty to his/her university or college.
Methods
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the factors influencing engagement for part-time online nursing faculty with their online institution. Part time online nursing faculty were defined as, any nursing faculty who were contracted term to term and based on program need. This study is based on self-assessed judgments of the extent of the influences on that person’s sense of engagement. The self-reported belief about such an influence is the same as the actual presence of such an influence.
Research Question.
What factors for part-time online nursing faculty influence engagement with their online institution?
Data Collection
An a-priori sample analysis with medium effect size was conducted to ensure adequate study power. The survey, created and delivered using Survey Planet ®, consisted of 33 questions, which were broken down into three categories: Institutional Culture, Contact with the Institution, and Online Course Design. Each quantitative, non-demographic survey question was answered using the 5-point Likert scale, where (5) meant strongly agree and (1) meant strongly disagree. There were two qualitative questions. The survey also consisted of eight demographic questions querying participants regarding age, gender, length of online teaching, years of being a nurse educator, primary role in online teaching position, highest level of education, and the main reason for teaching online.
The survey tool was tested for content validity and was piloted by six part time online faculty, who are experts in online nursing education and have taught online for at least ten years. The six faculty piloting the survey were excluded from the main study. Clarifications were made to the original survey tool and IRB re-approval was granted. Following the survey modifications, an email with the revised survey link, using Survey Planet ®, was sent to 447 part-time online faculty among the three research sites using convenience sampling. To increase the response rate, two reminder emails were sent, each one week apart.
Study information was part of the email statement to participants notifying them of their auto consent by clicking on the survey link contained in the email. The email for the survey request for participation indicated participation was completely voluntary and no incentives or disincentives were associated for survey completion.
Data Analysis
Data from Survey Planet ® were exported to excel and analyzed with SPSS v. 23 software (IBM Corporation, 2014). The data analysis consisted of measures of central tendency for each of the quantitative survey questions, where the mean was sufficient in answering the survey question. The qualitative responses were examined using thematic analysis with pattern identified and recorded.
Findings
The response rate was 57% with n=257. Respect from supervisors and feeling supported in navigating student issues influenced engagement of part time online faculty with their online institutions with a mean of 4.60 out of 5 and 4.72 out of 5 respectively. Quality of online education provided by the institution influenced part-time faculty engagement with that institution with a mean of 4.61. Communication regarding guidance and support was another factor identified as influencing engagement with a mean of 4.55 out of 5.
Qualitative themes, which reflected the quantitative findings, emerged to include communication, support, respect and value, which are notable in the responses below:
- “Having a manager that supports my actions with students is important.”
- “Demonstrate respect for the expertise of your faculty who have been with you for 3 years or greater and have demonstrated exemplary status.”
- “I can teach anywhere online--being treated respectfully as a colleague and being recognized for the value good faculty bring makes the difference in my selection.”
- “Strong support from faculty administrators is key for on-line instructors.”
Ages of respondents ranged from 30 to greater than70 years. The majority (65.7%) of respondents were >50 years. Of these, 37% were 50-59 years and 26.8% were 60-69 years. The majority of respondents had been teaching part-time online for five to 10 years (59.5%) with 17.9% teaching less than five years. The length of time teaching online part-time for respondents of 10 years or more was 22.6%.
Discussion
The response rate of 57% may indicate that the part-time online nursing faculty were eager to share their perceptions of what factors influenced engagement with their online institutions. Administrative respect for faculty and support with navigating student issues influences faculty engagement with their online institutions. Quality online education increases part time nursing faculty engagement. Because 65.7% of respondents were >50 years, perhaps the data reflected a low importance on the factor of job security and compensation due to plans for retirement or a sense of clarity with pace and direction of their careers. The data reflect the overall demographic of nursing faculty, which NLN (2015) also reflects. Further, it is possible that the number of part-time positions held, or the fact that many are full-time at one institution while teaching part-time at another, may also inform the lack of emphasis on job security as an engaging factor.
Interestingly, 34.4 % of part-time online nursing faculty surveyed, teach online to augment their income with 21% teaching part-time online for multiple employers. A greater number (38.5%) teach part-time for one online employer. Online nursing education leaders need to be flexible in allowing for multiple employers for part-time online nursing faculty. Now that factors, which influence part-time nursing faculty engagement, are identified, more research is needed to evaluate if online nursing programs incorporate these engagement factors when working with part-time online nursing faculty. In addition, research is needed to evaluate if using the identified engagement factors translates into success for the online nursing programs and their students.