FUTURE FACULTY ROLE INTENT OF NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING STUDENTS

Abstract

Current literature supports the nursing faculty shortage, and many of the solutions focused on overcoming the disadvantages of the role; however, there is little evaluation of these proposed interventions, and even less on the perceptions of the role through the eyes of groups other than current nursing faculty. The aim of this study was to determine the intent of associate degree nursing (ADN) students to pursue future nursing faculty roles. The inclusion criteria were students currently enrolled in an ADN nursing program at a North Carolina (NC) community college. Exclusion criteria exempted those who were no longer enrolled. An online survey was sent to students who met the criterion. The survey gathered the percentage of ADN students who intend to pursue a future faculty role and any statistically significant differences in faculty encouragement and role modeling between students with high intent for a future faculty role and those with low intent. The results of this study indicated that 25 percent of students had high intent for a future faculty role. The variables of encouragement (χ2 [df = 1, N = 150] = 4.390, p < 0.05) and role modeling (χ2 [df = 1, N = 150] = 5.613, p < 0.05) were statistically significant for high future faculty role intent between students with high intent and those with low intent. The recommendation is to increase encouragement and role modeling by current faculty members, thus potentially increasing the number of ADN students for a future nursing faculty role.