The tact of teaching RN-to-BSN students.

Abstract

Despite the increased need for highly educated clinical registered nurses (RNs), recruitment and retention of RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students have steadily declined since 1999. To explore the context of this problem in relation to faculty who teach these students, the following research question was addressed: How do faculty perceive the context of their teaching experiences with RN-to-BSN students? By using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, unstructured interviews were conducted with 17 faculty teaching RN-to-BSN students. Data were analyzed with van Manen's (1997) approach to human science research analysis. One overarching pattern, "providing the fertile soil for teaching and learning," was revealed. Integrated into this pattern were three different characteristics faculty brought to their teaching: (1) cultivating, (2) pruning, and (3) drought-ridden. Fluidity was evidenced by faculty using more than one teaching approach. A defining factor for faculty using the cultivating approach was the "tact" that created pedagogical moments of connecting with a student. Data suggested that the accumulation of these pedagogical moments laid the foundation for a faculty member's connection with students. This tact of teaching provides an educational context that might help to recruit and retain RNs returning for a BSN.