PubMed1991
This article is the first part of a two-part series designed to give the readers an overview of the study, "Faculty Positions as a Career Choice for Professionals." This nationwide study, requested by the AANA Education Committee, investigated the questions, "Why do professionals enter faculty positions?" and "Why do CRNAs with graduate degrees choose to become or choose not to become educators?" An attempt was made to answer these questions by studying demographic, life cycle and certain intrinsic and extrinsic factors of graduate-prepared CRNAs, nursing education faculty, higher education faculty (other than nursing and nurse anesthesia), and nursing service personnel. The authors reviewed the methodology and the results as they applied to the demographic data. The results showed that CRNA faculty were older than practicing CRNAs. Twenty-five percent of the CRNAs had degrees in nurse anesthesia, 16% in education, 13% in nursing, 6% in biology, and 40% in a variety of other disciplines. Sixty-five percent had undergraduate degrees in nursing and 7% in nurse anesthesia. CRNA faculty salaries and practicing CRNA salaries were comparable. The information was presented by the authors at the Assembly of School Faculty Meeting, February 21-24, 1991 in Tampa, Florida. It is hoped that this study will assist nurse anesthesia programs, universities and colleges in their recruitment activities for faculty.