Bridging the Gap: Clinical Practice Nursing and the Effect of Role Strain on Successful Role Transition and Intent to Stay in Academia

The shortage of registered nurses is inextricably linked to the shortage of nursing faculty which has resulted in the turning away of over 40,000 qualified students in 2010. One solution to the faculty shortage has been to recruit faculty from clinical practice. This often becomes problematic resulting in intent to leave academia within five years. Possible factors contributing to this action are role ambiguity and role strain. This study, therefore, examined role strain experienced by nursing faculty and the extent to which role strain predicted satisfaction with the role transition and intent to stay in academia. Findings revealed that role strain does exist among nursing faculty. Role ambiguity and self-assessed competency are significant predictors of role strain, and role strain is a significant predictor of satisfaction with the role transition and intent to stay. The study also looked at whether age, education, and experience affected role strain, and they were found to be poor predictors.