When the mission is teaching: does nursing faculty practice fit?

Abstract

As nursing faculty practice becomes a part of academic life, nursing programs in liberal arts colleges, where the primary mission is teaching, must document not only that practice is scholarship but also that practice conforms to the teaching mission of the institution. Discussions of scholarly practice from the nursing literature, as well as from Schon and Boyer, serve to validate that nursing faculty practice is scholarship. Attributes of scholarly practice, to be used to evaluate nursing practice outcomes, are identified. Finally, the concept of "scholarship in support of teaching"--the standard used to evaluate scholarship at The College of New Jersey, a medium-sized liberal arts college with a school of nursing--is analyzed as a model to document that nursing faculty practice is not only scholarship but also supports the teaching mission of the institution.