Transition from Clinical Expert to Novice Academic Nurse Educator

Abstract

Background: The current nursing shortage is global in its scope; the current nursing faculty shortage contributes to this lack of qualified nurses. Long-term strategies to increase the pool of nurse educators must focus on the active recruitment of qualified nurse clinicians into the academic setting; however, the transition from expert nurse clinician to novice faculty can be difficult. Understanding this experience can provide helpful information about how to facilitate a successful transition into an academic nursing role. Objective: The purpose of this metasynthesis of the qualitative literature was to describe the experience of expert nurse clinicians in their role transition to novice nurse educators in an academic setting. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken through the Joanna Briggs Institute of Evidence-Based Practice (JBI) (http://joannabriggs.org/about.html). A review protocol was first compiled and reviewed by the editorial review board. A three-step search strategy was utilized in this review. An initial limited search of the Joanna Briggs Library, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Dissertation Database was undertaken, followed by analysis of the text words contained in the title and abstract and of the index terms used to describe the article. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms was undertaken across all included databases. Keywords included role, transition, nursing education, clinician, lecturer and academic nurse educator. Studies were included that had an interpretive research design and whose population focus was masters or doctorally-prepared nurse clinicians who had practiced for at least five years and who were identified as novice nursing faculty and/or were in their first three to five years as a nursing faculty in an institution of higher education (e.g. college or university). The screening process yielded 13 studies that met the inclusion criteria. After critical appraisal by the reviewers, 11 high quality studies were selected to be included in this metasynthesis. Results: The metasynthesis of the 11 primary studies yielded 119 findings that were organized into 18 categories describing clinicians’ experience of the transition to academic nurse educator. Categories were then aggregated into four synthesized findings or themes: unprepared to teach (five categories; 37 findings); no longer an expert (four categories; 16 findings); in search of mentoring (six categories; 34 findings); and from surviving to thriving (three categories, 12 findings). Discussion: New faculty felt unprepared for the workload, for relating to students as their teacher, and for the differences between teaching and practice. They were no longer experts, which elicited fears of failure and losing their clinical expertise. Although mentoring was identified as an essential component to successful transition, no mentoring was a common experience. A healthy transition was characterized by embracing a new identity and beginning to thrive as a nurse educator. Conclusion: Expert nurse clinicians are an important resource for easing the faculty shortage. However, they often are left on their own to navigate becoming a nurse educator. To ease their transition, the academy must create welcoming communities that provide ongoing orientation to the academic culture, intentional mentoring, and professional development in teaching and learning.