A Qualitative Exploration of Nurse Faculty Experiences Related to the Sudden Unanticipated Death of a Nursing Student.

BACKGROUND: Nurse faculty serve as teachers, role models, and mentors to nursing students. This unique relationship results in a myriad of feelings when a student dies. Limited research exists in examining faculty grief related to the sudden unanticipated death of a nursing student. PURPOSE: To explore the experiences of nurse faculty following the sudden unanticipated death of a nursing student. METHODS: Researchers conducted a phenomenological qualitative study. The source of qualitative data included a demographic questionnaire and in-depth interviews with 13 participants throughout the geographical regions of the United States. RESULTS: Six following themes emerged: (1) leadership response, (2) grief experience, (3) role uncertainty, (4) grief triggers, (5) cannot help but think what if, and (6) acknowledging a life unfulfilled. CONCLUSION: This study yields a rich understanding of the unique grief experiences of nurse faculty, warranting the need for further dialogue, faculty education, policy development, and supportive interventions for faculty and administrative leaders.

Work-life balance and professional quality of life among nurse faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The rapid transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic created additional stress and workload issues for nurse faculty. Burnout has been reported in nurse faculty who cite workplace factors that influence satisfaction and work-life balance as major contributing factors. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine life balance and professional quality of life among nurse faculty (N = 216) in 2021 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and to describe the challenges of delivering virtual learning experiences. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was utilized to survey nurse faculty using the Life Balance Inventory and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated. RESULTS: Nurse faculty reported an unbalanced life balance (median = 1.76), average compassion satisfaction (median = 40.00), average burnout (median = 24.00), and low secondary traumatic stress (median = 21.00). Narrative themes included (1) COVID-19 pandemic has made balance nearly impossible, (2) Intentional disconnection from work activities, (3) Challenging/changing priorities, (4) Promoting a healthy work environment, and (5) Moral distress and exhaustion. DISCUSSION: Understanding the factors that influence nurse faculty delivery of virtual learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic may provide opportunities to improve nurse faculty work-life balance and professional quality of life.

Cultural Competence of Baccalaureate Nurse Faculty: Relationship to Cultural Experiences.

BACKGROUND: Introducing and fostering cultural competence development in nursing students only may occur with well-qualified, committed nurse faculty who are self-aware of their own cultural values and beliefs, unfortunately, there is limited research on the factors that influence the development of nurse faculty cultural competence. PURPOSE AND METHODS: This descriptive, correlational study examined cultural experiences of 118 full-time nurse faculty in the United States (U.S.). Marianne Jeffreys' Cultural Competence and Confidence (CCC) model was used to examine cultural experiences and transcultural self-efficacy (TSE), or confidence. Jeffrey's Transcultural Self-Efficacy Tool (TSET) was used to measure nurse faculty cognitive, affective, and practical nursing skills as influenced by cultural experiences. RESULTS: Results indicate that nurse faculty are most confident about their attitudes (8.61), and least confident about their transcultural knowledge (7.39). Study results identified nurse faculty TSE as influenced by cultural experiences within the U.S. (rs = 0.23, p < .01), teaching transcultural nursing care concepts in courses (rs = 0.35, p < .01), and formalized preparation in training and workshops (rs = 0.30, p < .01). In addition, nurse faculty lacked international experiences abroad, teaching transcultural nursing care concepts, and formalized education training and workshops. CONCLUSIONS: Nurse faculty are most confident about their attitudes and least confident about their transcultural knowledge. The results of this study indicate that nurse faculty cultural experiences within the U.S., development in teaching cultural nursing care concepts, and preparation in training and workshops influence nurse faculty TSE and overall cultural competence.

Measuring and improving ambulatory surgery patients' satisfaction.

The pressure on perioperative services to improve quality for health care consumers creates both challenges and opportunities. To make positive changes, many health care organizations contract with Press Ganey (PG), which processes an extensive database of more than 9.5 million surveys annually and provides benchmark reports to same-type organizations. To measure and improve ambulatory surgery patient satisfaction at one health care network in northeastern Pennsylvania, the nursing leaders in the ambulatory surgery center and OR undertook a quality improvement project focused on educating perioperative nurses on the use of PG reports. After we reviewed the PG reports and implemented changes with nursing staff members in perioperative areas, PG patient satisfaction scores improved regarding information about delays (4.1%) and center attractiveness (0.2%).