First Advisor

Copeland, Darcy

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2019

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Nursing, Nursing Student Work

Abstract

Given the critical shortages of nurses in the United States and the corresponding shortfall of qualified faculty, the need to support adjunct faculty to meet the challenges of higher education is paramount. Comprising nearly half of the professoriate across institutions of higher education and nearly 50% of instructional time in associate and baccalaureate programs, adjunct clinical nursing faculty play a significant role in nursing education. Despite empirical research to support the need for training, development, and mentorship, ample evidence indicated lack of institutional support. Consequently, adjunct faculty experience numerous challenges accessing institutional services, struggle in their roles, and report job dissatisfaction. Along with organizational commitment, job satisfaction has been determined to be a precursor to retention and intent to stay in higher education. Therefore, the development of strategies aimed at improving levels of job satisfaction in higher education must be a primary focus. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effect of program-specific training using the asynchronous video discussion platform, Flipgrid (n.d.), on social capital and job satisfaction in 64 adjunct clinical nursing faculty teaching in a baccalaureate nursing program. The findings addressed the identified gap in knowledge related to perceived social capital and job satisfaction in this group of educators while also demonstrating the strong relationship between the constructs of social capital and job satisfaction. The results provided additional empirical support for a psychosocial, rather than structural, conceptualization of job satisfaction while reinforcing the need for managerial strategies that build and strengthen social relationships in the workplace. Together, the outcomes of this study added to the growing body of literature pertaining to adjunct clinical nursing faculty--an important but underrepresented population in nursing education research.

Extent

134 pages

Local Identifiers

Quimba_unco_0161D_10749.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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