Faculty Burnout and Disempowerment in Nurse Educators and Their Relationship to Creativity in Teaching

Abstract

<p>In an effort to ensure creativity and critical thinking are woven into the nursing curriculum and taught on a professional level, a healthy work environment, void of burnout and feelings of disempowerment, must be present to support faculty and inspire creative thinking and learning. Associate degree faculty who were members of the National Association of Associate Degree Nurses were studied during an exploration of a presumed association between creativity and the perceived feelings of burnout and disempowerment experienced in the work environment. This descriptive, quantitative research surveyed faculty aged 20-51+ years. The majority of participants held a master’s degree and considered themselves instructors or professors in their institution. Utilizing SPSS, a significant relationship (personal burnout p = .004; work burnout p = .003; student burnout p = .000) was found between burnout and the creativity of associate degree faculty. There was no relationship (p = .109) between disempowerment and creativity. Creativity is the element in nursing curriculums that allow nurse educators the flexibility to incorporate various learning activities to meet individual learning needs. When the nurse educator lacks the ability to be a critical, creative, and reflective thinker, neglect of the nursing student’s skills ensues.</p>