Addressing the Faculty Shortage Through Connections: Stories of Becoming a Nurse Educator.

BACKGROUND: The current nursing faculty shortage is projected to continue. This article addresses recruitment and retention by contributing to the public stories of successful nursing faculty. METHOD: Narrative inquiry was used to examine how the ways of knowing of three associate degree nurse educators evolved over time in the community college setting. RESULTS: The educators' early stories portrayed an internal tension that was in sharp contrast to the capability and self-confidence of an expert nurse. Stories revealed their struggle to balance empathy and care (connected knowing) with logic and objectivity (separate knowing) when handling challenging student situations. Over time, the educators developed ways of integrating connected and separate knowing, becoming constructivist knowers. CONCLUSION: The findings validate the importance of providing meaningful support for novice educators. Private spaces to promote reflection and active dialoging with a trusted mentor will assist new faculty as they work through their integration of caring verses objective knowing. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(10):545-550.].

Leveraging the opportunities of mixed methods in research synthesis: Key decisions in systematic mixed studies review methodology.

This article identifies and unpacks three key decision points in a systematic mixed research synthesis, a mixed methods approach to research synthesis. The research community has increasingly recognized the value of synthesis studies in expanding our understanding of phenomena. Mixed-methodology broadly has also gained ground as a pragmatic approach to research investigations. By leveraging mixed methods approaches in a synthesis review, systematic mixed studies review (SMSR) enables a broad and integrated summary of existing research on the topic. Yet SMSRs can be challenging to undertake given the complexity of working with research synthesis and mixed methods requirements. This methods guidance article presents information to assist novice researchers in navigating these critical decisions in SMSRs, and provides examples of how these were addressed by researchers in the two case studies provided. Implications of the SMSRs for the research community and future research directions are also discussed.