Expert nurse to novice academic: reflections on the first year of transition from practitioner to academic.

Harper-McDonald, Bruce; Taylor, Gillian

Abstract

Globally, it is widely acknowledged that changing population demographics require increased numbers of registered nurses to meet the increasingly complex health and social care needs of people living longer - but not necessarily healthier - lives. Due to an ageing workforce and existing international shortage of registered nurses, this increase can be achieved only by increasing the number of student places available in universities. Inevitably, this will result in an increased need for nurse academics to deliver this education. Recent Scottish Government (2017) policy highlights the need to increase the availability of student nurse education. However, this policy fails to address who will deliver this education and how nurse academic careers will be promoted. Whilst this policy direction is within a Scottish context, this will resonate internationally; it is therefore timeous to stimulate a scholarly discussion on how registered nurses can be encouraged to transition from practice to academia to meet this demand. Simultaneously, there is limited literature promoting an academic career pathway for registered nurses, further stimulating the need for this discussion. Whilst the current literature mentions the possibility of academic career pathways for registered nurses, this is often written by experienced nurse academics several years into their roles, utilising terminology that may be unfamiliar and unsupportive to registered nurses, and it does little to encourage a transition from a clinical to an academic role. This article aims to capture personal reflections and provide a stimulus for further discussion within the scholarly debate about how to promote and support academic career pathways for registered nurses. This will be achieved by considering the journey of two senior district nurses, who have recently transitioned from practice to academia, with a focus on capturing initial transitional reflections that would otherwise have been superseded by academic experience and will be supportive to registered nurses considering this transition.

Citation

HARPER-MCDONALD, B. and TAYLOR, G. 2020. Expert nurse to novice academic: reflections on the first year of transition from practitioner to academic. Nurse education today [online], 90, article number 104431. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104431

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 6, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Apr 15, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Deposit Date: Jun 8, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2023
• Journal: Nurse education today
• Print ISSN: 0260-6917
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-2793
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 90
• Article Number: 104431
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104431
• Keywords: Nursing practitioners; Nursing academics; Nursing careers; Career transitions; Career pathways
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1982038