Nurse faculty mentoring: Job satisfaction and mentoring of nurse educators in a baccalaureate nursing program

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of mentoring of nursing faculty and job satisfaction with intent of nursing faculty to stay at their current academic institution. A quantitative, descriptive design was used with a convenience sampling of baccalaureate nursing faculty from three mid-central schools of nursing in the United States. A revision of Fagan's Career Development Questionnaire was distributed via SurveyMonkey to professional e-mail addresses of 172 baccalaureate level nursing faculty, both online and onsite, who do not teach in a clinical laboratory or clinical settings. The total number of returned surveys was 54. A result of the study was that a significant amount of participants responded that they did not have a mentor or special person take an interest in their teaching career. Participants who had experience with a mentor continued to answer specific questions regarding their mentoring experiences. Results indicated that participants who had a mentor were likely to remain at their school of nursing for the next year and possibly for the next five years. Participants with a mentor (n = 19) reported their mentor did not influence their decision to stay or leave their current position in academia. An almost equal number of participants (n = 11) with a mentor reported their mentor influenced their decision to remain in academia as a nurse educator. The results of this study indicated nursing programs that utilized experienced faculty as mentors may have an increase in job satisfaction and retention of nursing faculty in their baccalaureate nursing programs.</p>