VHL Community:

Perceptions Regarding the Effect of Doctoral Teaching on Faculty Ability to Maintain a Program of Scholarship

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Perceptions Regarding the Effect of Doctoral Teaching on Faculty Ability to Maintain a Program of Scholarship Author(s): Sharts-Hopko, Nancy C.; Wise, Nancy J.; Smeltzer, Suzanne C.; Cantrell, Mary Ann; Heverly, Mary Ann; Jenkinson, Amanda Abstract:

Session presented on Saturday, April 13, 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify perceptions among faculty members teaching in DNP and PhD programs about the effects of their involvement in doctoral education, barriers and facilitators to scholarly productivity, and faculty characteristics related to success in maintaining an ongoing program of scholarship .

Framework: The significance of this study was supported by findings of the IOM report on The Future of Nursing that recommends doubling the number of doctorally prepared nurses by 2020.

Methods: Participants participated in two focus groups, one conducted at a national research conference (N=13) and one conducted at a conference for DNP faculty (N=17) in the fall of 2012. Data were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed.

Findings: Demographic data from 24 participants indicated that 95% teach full-time. A majority (43.5%) are age 51-60 and none were under the age of 41. Nearly 48% had a PhD degree while 43.5% have a DNP degree, and nearly 46% teach in a PhD program, while over 75% teach in a DNP program.

Themes that emerged from content analysis of the focus groups included the demands of teaching, including the quantity and nature of “invisible” work, and faster rhythms of academic life in recent years; the importance of institutional structure and climate, which includes subthemes of the mission of the school, expectations related to boundary-setting, and roles of junior versus senior faculty; and self, institutional, and disciplinary sustainability, which includes the personal costs to faculty of teaching doctoral students, issues related to work-life balance, characteristics of unsuccessful faculty, characteristics and strategies related to success, and issues related to scholarship and stewardship of the discipline.

Conclusions and implications: Characteristics of successful faculty members were identified. The findings indicate that workload expectations for doctoral nursing faculty have implications for recruitment and retention of doctoral faculty. Description: Creating Healthy Work Environments. Held at the JW Marriott, Indianapolis

Antecedents and Consequences of New Graduate Nurses' Experiences of Workplace Mistreatment

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Antecedents and Consequences of New Graduate Nurses' Experiences of Workplace Mistreatment Author(s): Read, Emily Alicia; Laschinger, Heather K. S. Abstract:

Session presented on Saturday, April 13, 2013

Background and Purpose: Given the impending nursing shortage and high turnover intentions of nurses within the first two years of practice, recent reports of workplace mistreatment targeting new graduate nurses are unsettling. Coworker and supervisor incivility and bullying negatively influence nurses’ work and health however it is unclear whether these forms of workplace mistreatment have similar precipitating factors and outcomes. This study examines an exploratory model of antecedents and outcomes of three forms of workplace mistreatment. Methods: Secondary data analysis was performed on data from a larger study of new graduate’s worklife. From a random sample of 709 registered nurses newly registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) within the last two years, 342 nurses responded (48% response rate). Participants were asked to complete a study questionnaire which was mailed to their home address between July and October of 2010. The study was approved by the research ethics board at Western University. Findings: Workplace incivility and bullying had similar antecedents including empowerment, a sense of community, authentic leadership, and psychological capital. All three forms of workplace mistreatment were significantly related to all outcomes except personal job efficacy. Bullying had stronger correlations than incivility to all significant outcome variables. Conclusions: New graduate nurses’ experiences of these three types of workplace mistreatment have similar precipitating factors and outcomes although bullying appears to have stronger negative effects. Our results suggest that authentic leadership and empowering work environments that foster the personal growth of new graduate nurses may be promising strategies for preventing and reducing workplace mistreatment targeting new graduate nurses, thereby contributing to the sustainability of the nursing workforce. Description: Creating Healthy Work Environments. Held at the JW Marriott, Indianapolis

Workplace Violence: Actual and Feared Events in a Southeast Medical Center

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Workplace Violence: Actual and Feared Events in a Southeast Medical Center Author(s): Forehand, Jeffery Wade; Spurlock, Amy L. Abstract:

Session presented on Saturday, April 13, 2013

Healthcare associated work place violence (WPV) remains an ever increasing danger to the nursing workforce. Healthcare workers are much more likely to be injured on the job than other professions with nurses at the highest risk of injury. In a recent year, registered nurses reported over 2,000 assaults and violent acts resulted in an average of 4 days lost from work. Outcomes impacted by WPV include patient care, medication errors, job satisfaction and retention and physical/mental health.

The purpose of phase one of this study was to assess current workplace violence in a southeast medical center with an anticipated need for an educational/behavioral intervention to impact WPV. Workplace violence began to be tracked as a targeted interest of employee health in January 2011 resulting in a perceived under-reporting of violent events.

In an academic-clinical partnership with a university school of nursing, a phase one research project was designed to establish baseline knowledge of actual and feared violent events at work. The investigators surveyed 53 medical center employees with the Violent Events at Work and Fear of Future Violent Events a Work surveys, tools with established test-retest reliability (r₍₃₄₎) =.92, p < .01).

Items on both tools were significantly different by unit worked, including actual and feared physical violent events of hitting and kicking (p < .05) and spitting and biting (p < .05). Fear of future violent events was significantly different by unit worked (X ²₍₃₅₎= 56.634, p < .05). Of the seven employees who reported fear of future violent events at work, five (71.4%) were from the ER or Behavioral unit.

The basis of this research project lay the groundwork for future interventional research aimed at decreasing workplace violence within the healthcare setting. Description: Creating Healthy Work Environments. Held at the JW Marriott, Indianapolis

The Effect of a Workplace-Based Intervention on Moral Distress Among Registered Nurses

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Title: The Effect of a Workplace-Based Intervention on Moral Distress Among Registered Nurses Author(s): Powell, Nancy Miller Abstract:

Session presented on Saturday, April 13, 2013

The purpose of this study was to determine if RN’s attending a workplace-based educational program would have decreased intensity, frequency, and total moral distress, compared to nurses not attending the program. This intervention was operationalized using the AACN program: The 4A's to Rise Above Moral Distress (2005).

Moral distress is an insidious problem affecting many registered nurses, directly and or indirectly, with potentially harmful consequences. Review of the literature revealed that consequences of moral distress produce a negative effect on the overall well being of nurses, their peers, patient care, the work environment, and the efficiency of healthcare institutions.

A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group design was selected for this study. Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Corley’s theory of nurse moral distress served as the theoretical framework. The 38 item, 7-point Likert scale, Moral Distress Scale was used to measure intensity and frequency, and total moral distress.

Four community hospitals were randomly assigned to the treatment and control group. The treatment and control group completed the Moral Distress Scale as a pretest. The treatment group received the education intervention, and both the treatment and control groups completed the posttest.

Analysis of covariance approach to data analysis was used to compare the treatment and control groups on change scores, using the pretest scores as the covariate. There was a statistically significant difference for the experimental group on intensity, frequency, and total moral distress. Nurses employed in Magnet designated hospitals reported decreased posttest total moral distress scores and frequency, compared to the non-Magnet designated hospitals.

Nursing care should be valued and respected. This study may benefit nurses to identify effective strategies to prevent or minimize the experience of moral distress. The findings generated from this study may support staff nurses to explore strategies to enhance healthy work environments among nurses.

Description: Creating Healthy Work Environments. Held at the JW Marriott, Indianapolis