BACKGROUND: Clinical education is an integral component of nursing education and relies heavily on clinical nursing faculty (CNF). However, there are not enough nurses seeking CNF positions to meet the current demand of the nursing workforce. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and impact of workplace bullying directed toward CNF. METHODS: For this exploratory cross-sectional study, a web-based survey was distributed to CNF working in New England states. RESULTS: A total of 76 participant responses were analyzed. Eighteen percent of the participants met the criteria for being either occasionally or frequently bullied. Nursing staff in the clinical agencies and colleagues and administrators in the nursing program where CNF teach were identified as the most frequent perpetrators. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the prevalence and impact of bullying of CNF helps inform the development of strategies to support and retain these essential members of the nursing education workforce.

Background: The Institute of Medicine and numerous other healthcare organizations have identified the severe shortage of underrepresented minority healthcare professionals graduating into the workforce, and have called for a radical transformation of healthcare educational programs to make them more welcoming and supportive of underrepresented minority students. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of faculty response patterns to the needs of underrepresented minority nursing students. Theory: Yoder’s patterns of faculty interaction formed the conceptual basis for the development of this instrument. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used to develop this instrument. The first phase (item development phase) consisted of work with underrepresented minority nurse and faculty focus groups, individual interviews, and content experts to develop items. During the second phase of this study, psychometric evaluation of 134 survey responses from nursing faculty in the Northeast was conducted. Results: A 10-item scale was developed that measured faculty engagement with underrepresented minority nursing students. The Cronbach alpha for the EFURMS scale was .81. Principle component factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed a 3 factor solution that explained 66% of the variance in engagement with underrepresented minority students. The Cronbach alpha for the 3 factors ranged from .72-.78. The EFURM scale did not demonstrate ceiling or floor effects, or social desirability bias. More positive scores (higher EFURMS Scores) were associated with older faculty who had been teaching longer and had more experience teaching underrepresented minority students. Conclusion and Implications: The results of this study provide preliminary evidence for the reliability (internal consistency) and validity (content, criterion-related, and construct validity) of the 10-item EFURMS Scale. Further testing is needed to test the usefulness of this scale with wider samples of nursing faculty. With further development, the EFURMS Scale could be used to evaluate faculty readiness to engage with underrepresented minority students, and with studies to test the efficacy of interventions designed to improve faculty engagement with underrepresented minority students. A major finding of this study was the significance of age, years teaching, and experience teaching underrepresented minority students with EFURMS Scores suggesting that younger or less experienced faculty could benefit from mentoring by more seasoned faculty who have greater experience teaching underrepresented minority students.

Background: Schools of nursing are experiencing faculty shortages which limit student admissions. The additional time and effort needed to gain competency as an academic nurse educator is one reason for this shortage. Nurse educator web-based courses offer increased flexibility in time management as well as reduced commuting time, however not all nurses embrace the online learning environment. Aim: Expand access to two web-based nurse educator courses at the University of Massachusetts Worcester by offering nurses the choice, within a single course, of completing either a hybrid or fully online course. N620: Teaching and Curriculum Development N623: Identifying and Measuring Outcomes Research Design: Exploratory prospective design. Qualitative data gathered from student focus groups and interviews. Quantitative data gathered through initial, formative and end of course surveys, student assignments, grades. Findings: 1. 50% of the students completed the hybrid course because face to face interaction was highly valued. 2. Students with prior satisfactory online learning experiences and who knew each other from other courses completed the fully online course. 3. Students with no previous experience taking online courses did not anticipate the time commitment. 4. Even a hybrid course format can increase access to graduate courses for busy students with jobs and families. The online format reduced the burden of commuting and allowed for flexibility. Enrollment in N 620 more than doubled from the previous year (four versus nine students). Recommendations: 1. Potential students should complete a self-assessment to determine if they are motivated to be self-directed learners and learn basic computer skills, Powerpoint© and Blackboard Vista© technology prior to beginning a hybrid or fully online course. 2. To facilitate communication in a hybrid or fully online course, course syllabi should contain detailed descriptions of all assignments, grading criteria and due dates. (U Wisconsin Milwaukee Learning Technology Center).

Background: Simulation has been well documented in the nursing literature as an effective strategy to prepare and teach students clinical based situations (Benner, Sutphen, & Day, 2010). Much of the literature addresses the implementation of simulation into nursing curriculum (Hayden, 2010) and the training of nursing faculty in the pedagogy of nursing simulation (Jeffries, 2008). However, the literature does not address how simulation can be used to train and orient new faculty to the clinical environment. Purpose: The purpose of this simulation project was to utilize the six QSEN core competencies to create simulation templates to orient the novice clinical faculty member to the clinical environment. Project Questions: 1) Does a simulation-based clinical nursing faculty orientation program increase self-perceived competence in the clinical nursing faculty role? 2) What are clinical nursing faculty's perceptions of a simulation-based clinical nursing faculty orientation? Methods: The first phase of this project was to merge the QSEN competencies (Cronenwett et al., 2007) and their respective KSAs to create a template for simulation. Because the competencies are written for nurses, they needed to be adapted for nursing educators. Adapted KSAs for nurse educators were developed and scenarios were created for each of the QSEN competencies: (a) patient-centered care, (b) teamwork and collaboration, (c) evidence-based practice, (d) patient safety, (e) quality improvement, and (f) technology and informatics. The second phase was to pilot the six QSEN competency simulations on novice clinical educators.