ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The nursing faculty shortage affects the number of nurse graduates. Understanding the meaning of being a nurse educator and what attracts nurses with graduate degrees to academia, are important considerations in addressing the recruitment and retention of faculty. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of being a nurse educator and how nurse educators' understand their attraction to academia. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: The sample population included 15 nurse educators with a master's or doctoral degree, currently teaching in an undergraduate or graduate nursing program in a western Canadian city. METHOD: Data were collected through 15 face-to-face semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. FINDINGS: The meaning of being a nurse educator and how nurse educators understand their attraction to academia illustrates, from the perspective of the participants, how they give meaning to being a nurse educator and how they understand their attraction to academia. Six subthemes emerged: (1) opportunities, (2) wanting to teach, (3) seeing students learn, (4) contributing to the profession, (5) the unattractive, and (6) flexibility. CONCLUSION: The faculty shortage is a complex issue, one that will persist into the foreseeable future. Understanding how nurse educators experience academia and how the meaning of these experiences attract them to academia, will facilitate the development of creative strategies to recruit and retain qualified nurse educators.
