Journal of Advanced Nursing. 1992,17,1002-1011
Career pattems and job satisfaction of Canadian nurse educators M Celeste Barrett MScN RN Assistant Professor. School of Nursing. Dalhousie University, Halifax. Nova Scotia
Dolly Goldenberg PhD RN Assoaate Professor
and Sandra Faux PhD RN Assoaate Professor. Faculty of Nurstng. The Umverstty of Westem Ontano. London. Ontano. Canada
Accepted for pubbcahon 18 December 1991
BARRETT M C, GOLDENBERG D & FAUX S (1992) Journal of Advanced Nurstng 17,1002-1011 Career pattems and job satisfaction of Canadian nurse educators The purpose of this study was to descnbe the career pattems and job satisfaction of Ontano university and college nurse educators A descnptive survey design was employed usmg mailed questiormaires The sample compnsed 60 nurse educators, 30 from three universities and 30 from three colleges Forty-four retumed the completed queshonnaire, givmg a response rate of 7i% The vanables about the career pattems and goals of the nurse educators mcluded their past and present job satisfaction Career pattems were descnbed as stable, double-track, mtemipted and unstable Smrulanties and differences were compared and descnbed m relation to these factors Significant differences m job satisfaction were found between uruversity and coUege faculty on rune of the i6 job ciiaractenstics (for example, leadership style, mdependence, autonomy and salary) There were no significant differences in job satisfaction for each of the career pattems and the selected demographic vanables of age, years m nursmg education, educahonal level and salary between the university and college faculty INTRODUCTION Wble nurse educators may represent only a small The demand by consumers for higher educahon and porhon of nurses, they are burdened with the responsieducahonal quabty has been a theme of the 1980s It is bibty of prepanng fiihire nurses and augmenhng the persishng mto the 1990s One result of tbs phenomenon is quabty of nursing care tbough researdi and role modeUmg a greater pressure on nursmg faculty and an mcreased (Barrett & Goldoiberg 1988) In the past, women were woiWoad In addihon, faculty are endeavounng to mam- restnded to careers such as school teadung or nursmg tam educahonal quabty ui spite of ever mcreasmg finanaal Cunently, many womai are pursuing careers m disapbnes constraints and spn-aUmg shident enrobnoits This such as busmess, engmeenng and law Athachon to dilranma could have an effect on faculty job sahsfachon otherfieldsmay redu«; the niunber entenng the profession and/or career pattems of nursing Tbs fador places a greater caius on nurse Corresp,mdenu M C BarreH, Assistant Profe^, School of Nursmg, Dalhous,e ^ducators tO p r o m o t e t h e muihdimensional facetS y.Hdif'a, Nova ScotMB3H 315. Canada nursuig to future students Nurse educators are also 1002
Canadian nurse edticators
enmeshed m an environment m which the nursmg profession IS stnvmg to unprove its unage and to establish a baccalaureate as the mmunal entry to prachce Constant exposure to these challenges is an occupahonal problem expenenced by few other groups
Workload of faculty members Empincal evidence points to a trend in which nurse educators have bgher student-faculty cbrucal ratios, and an mcreasmg number of comrruttee assignments (Fong 1985) In addihon, their work includes planning and prepanng for classroom mstruchon, evaluating students' assignments, counseUmg students, engagmg m corrunimity service, researching, publishing, and bemg professional role models (Mynck 1991) These are potenhal sources of dissahsfaction for nurse educators Other dissatisfiers may include role overload, interpersonal conflicts with students, coUeagues and administration, as weU as concems regardmg job seciuity and advancement (Beehr & Neuman 1978, O'Connor 1978) Oftea the overall behavioural effects are manifested m absenteeism related to lUness, mantal confbcts, decreased quality of work and complaints of job dissahsfachon According to Conway & Glass (1978), less than onethird of nurse educators m uruversihes have doctorates, and few have tenure compared to other acaderruc disapbnes Consequently, nursing faculty may expenence addihonal stressors assoaated with obtammg a legitimate place m the university sethng Tbs could be related, m part, to the fact that nursmg is a practice disciplme, while the uruversity is more comrrutted to scholarly achtivies and the discovery of new knowledge (Hastmgs & WiUiams 1985) Unhl aU nursmg faculty have doctoral degrees, they may not develop the necessary skiUs for research and publicahon (Fong 1985) Their lack of fit and subsequent job dissahs^ction rrught escalate This study, therefore, was undertaken to ldenhfy the job sahsfachon and career pattems of nurse educators employed at university and coUege schools of nursmg m Ontano, Canada
Need for study At present, there exists very bttle information about career pattems of nurse educators m Canada Also, very bttle IS known about ttieir level of job sahsfachon and how this might be related to the development of their career pattems One Canadian study exists regardmg the career development of nurse eductors T b s researdi focused on the careers of 10 doctoraUy prepared nurse educators who
were teadung m Canadian uruversity schools of nursmg (Larsen 1984) Recent bterature on career pattems depicts the development of male career models wbch is descnbed m isolahon to other aspects of their lives (Larsen 1984, Mulvey 1983, Nolan 1985) A career model for women ts currently nonexistent Informahon on career development of aU nurse educators is important as it could prove helpful to nurse administrators in planrung and predictmg future nursing education If it is disdosed that nurse educators are dissatisfied with their work environment because of such factors as workload, lack of preparahon time and deasionmakmg pobcies, then nurse admirustrators should be aware of these sources of dissahsfaction so as to mshtute changes that might attract and retain qualified nurse educators Presently, the number of nahonwide, vacant, fuU-time faculty posihons m nursing conhnues to be a cntical matter in North Amenca Nine hundred such posihons remained unfilled m the 1990 academic year m the United States (National League for Nursmg 1990) Therefore, job satisfaction of nurse educators must contmuaUy be assessed since it has only recently received attention (Chnstian 1986)
REVIEW OF LITERATURE Career pattems The concept of career pattem stems from the researdi on male careers by Miller & Form (1951) and Super (1957) There is no career model for women descnbed m the bterature According to Smith (1982), women and men differ m their defiruhons of a career Women view a career m terms of personal growth, sahsfaction and self-fulfilment while makmg a contnbution to others Men view a career
as a senes of jobs or a path leadmg to upward mobibty Nurses are only concemed with the next step m their career development when extemal factors such as job dissahsfaction or family responsibibhes give them reason to diange jobs (Knopf 1975, Smith 1982) Smith (1982) and McBnde (1985) have advised nurse educators to inform students about trends and issues m nursing m order to assist them with their career plans It is important that nurse adnurustrators and educators prepare graduates who view nursing as a career and not just a senes of jobs According to Knopf (1975), some of the factors wbch affect the career plarmmg of nurses are (a) socio-econonuc condihons m their lives, (b) charadenshcs of the nursuig profession, and (c) mtnnsic needs of nurses themselves In the 15-year foUow-up to her onginal study, Knopf (1983)
1003
MC Barrett etal reported that '6 out of 10 baccalaureate graduates mdicated they would agam diocse nursmg and the baccalaureate program. Also, about seven of 10 diploma graduates would choose nursmg agam but would prefer a dififerent type of basic nursmg educahon' One might ask, then, if career paths differ because of basic level erf education, or because of maturahonal change or dissahsfachon with the profession
Job satisfaction The nursmg bterature is replete with papers on nurses' job sahsfedion, but bttle research has mvolved nurse educators Investigators studymg factors assoaated with nurses' job sahsfaction have ated the foUowing (a) a desire for accompbshment, (b) responsibibty, (c) recogruhon, (d) autonomy, (e) educahonal opporturuhes, and (f) advancement m the organizahonal envu-onment (CrorunShibbs 1977, Davis 1980, Froebe et al 1983, Herzberg 1966, McQoskey 1974, Seybolt ei al 1978, Ubidi 1978) Wandelt ei al (1981), m a study of 3500 nurses, found salary, regulatory laws, lack of nursmg admmistrahve support, lack of duld care services, m-service and frmge benefits as job dissahsfiers Simpson (1985) idenhfied that 'nurses at aU levels of the nursmg berarchy are reportmg dissahsfaction with aspects of their work and work environment' Mamner & Craigie's (1977) survey of Amencan nurse faculty revealed that salary and geograpbcal locahon were considered most when choosmg a teachmg position However, mtnnsic factors such as responabibty, adiievement, acaderruc fi-eedom and autonomy were ranked as more unportant than extrinsic factors such as parkmg faabhes and faculty lounge Respondents were found to be relahvely dissahsfied with the job condihons they deemed most important Lenz & Waltz (1983), on the other hand, noted that extrmsic fadors such as salary, gec^raphical locahon, admirustrahve leadersbp style and the school's reputahon were the most unportant factors m faculty choice of posihon From these and other studies that have mveshgated Ditnnsic and extrmsic fadors assoaated with faculty job sahsfadion, it can be seen that the results are mconsistent, and therefore rrusleadmg (Bonjean et al 1982, Lenz & Waltz 1983, Mamner & Craigie 1977, Plawecki & Plawecki 1976, Smith 1979) Further mveshgahons are warranted
2 3
4
5
Definitions Career pattem Career pattem is defined as the succession of events or roles viewed m terms of mamage, family and employment as defined accordmg to four dassifications of Super's model (1957) These pattems were measured accordmg to the foUowmg cntena 1
2
3
4
1
What are the career pattene of ruirse educators at uruversihes and
1O04
Stable career pattem one of entenng the work force after leavmg professional school, remammg unmamed, and embarkmg upon a career which becomes one's bfe work Occasional time may be taken for contmumg educahon Double-track career pattem one of workmg foUowmg complehcm of educahon, mamage, and contmumg with a double career of working and homemakmg Only occasional tune may be taken for duldbearmg Interrupted career pattern, one of a generaUy long penod of homemakmg between penods of work (two or less mterruphons of more than 1 year's duration) One worics for some time, mames, has children and when the duldren are mdepoident, retums to work. Unstable career pattem one of relahvely short
altematmg penods of woricmg and homemakmg (three or more mterruphons of more than 1 year's durahon) Job satisfaction
Job sahsfachon is defir^ as a respondent's posihve, subjechve evaluahon of seleded aspeds m the workmg environment Tbs was measured by a queshonnaire enhtled 7ob Sahsfachon and Mobility of Nursmg Educators' (Mamner 1975) Job sahsfachon factors utilized in tbs study were 1
RESEARCH Q U E S T I O N S
Is there a relahonship between selected demograpbc fadors and nurse educators'' career patterns? Are there any sigruficant differences m job satisfachon between nurse educators employed at uruversihes and coUeges? Is there a significant difference or relationsbp between job satisfadion and each of the idenhfied career pattems for nurse educators at uruversihes and coUeges? What are the sources of job sahsfaction for nurse educators at university and coUeges?
Intnnsic fadors related to the domg of a job with the possibility of aduevmg professional growth which indicates success m performance to an mdividual, sudi as auton(»ny, advancemoit, recogruhon, responsibility (Herd)a^ 1966)
Canadian nmse educators
Job
Career pattems UNIVERS|-ry
Intrinsic factors 4
COLLEGE
Extrinsic factors
Stable Double-track Interrupted Unstable
Figure 1 Career pattern/job satisfachon framework.
2
Exhinsic factors which are not assoaated with the job itself but with the condihons that surround the job such as admmishahon, fnnge benefits, wortang hours and working condihons, salary (Herzberg 1966)
Nurse educator
A nurse educator is a registered nurse who is employed m a full-time teadung posihon at a uruversity or a coUege school of nursmg This term is used synonymously with the term 'faculty'
T b s converuence s
Career pattems and job satisfaction of Canadian nurse educators M Celeste Barrett MScN RN Assistant Professor. School of Nursing. Dalhousie University, Halifax. Nova Scotia
Dolly Goldenberg PhD RN Assoaate Professor
and Sandra Faux PhD RN Assoaate Professor. Faculty of Nurstng. The Umverstty of Westem Ontano. London. Ontano. Canada
Accepted for pubbcahon 18 December 1991
BARRETT M C, GOLDENBERG D & FAUX S (1992) Journal of Advanced Nurstng 17,1002-1011 Career pattems and job satisfaction of Canadian nurse educators The purpose of this study was to descnbe the career pattems and job satisfaction of Ontano university and college nurse educators A descnptive survey design was employed usmg mailed questiormaires The sample compnsed 60 nurse educators, 30 from three universities and 30 from three colleges Forty-four retumed the completed queshonnaire, givmg a response rate of 7i% The vanables about the career pattems and goals of the nurse educators mcluded their past and present job satisfaction Career pattems were descnbed as stable, double-track, mtemipted and unstable Smrulanties and differences were compared and descnbed m relation to these factors Significant differences m job satisfaction were found between uruversity and coUege faculty on rune of the i6 job ciiaractenstics (for example, leadership style, mdependence, autonomy and salary) There were no significant differences in job satisfaction for each of the career pattems and the selected demographic vanables of age, years m nursmg education, educahonal level and salary between the university and college faculty INTRODUCTION Wble nurse educators may represent only a small The demand by consumers for higher educahon and porhon of nurses, they are burdened with the responsieducahonal quabty has been a theme of the 1980s It is bibty of prepanng fiihire nurses and augmenhng the persishng mto the 1990s One result of tbs phenomenon is quabty of nursing care tbough researdi and role modeUmg a greater pressure on nursmg faculty and an mcreased (Barrett & Goldoiberg 1988) In the past, women were woiWoad In addihon, faculty are endeavounng to mam- restnded to careers such as school teadung or nursmg tam educahonal quabty ui spite of ever mcreasmg finanaal Cunently, many womai are pursuing careers m disapbnes constraints and spn-aUmg shident enrobnoits This such as busmess, engmeenng and law Athachon to dilranma could have an effect on faculty job sahsfachon otherfieldsmay redu«; the niunber entenng the profession and/or career pattems of nursing Tbs fador places a greater caius on nurse Corresp,mdenu M C BarreH, Assistant Profe^, School of Nursmg, Dalhous,e ^ducators tO p r o m o t e t h e muihdimensional facetS y.Hdif'a, Nova ScotMB3H 315. Canada nursuig to future students Nurse educators are also 1002
Canadian nurse edticators
enmeshed m an environment m which the nursmg profession IS stnvmg to unprove its unage and to establish a baccalaureate as the mmunal entry to prachce Constant exposure to these challenges is an occupahonal problem expenenced by few other groups
Workload of faculty members Empincal evidence points to a trend in which nurse educators have bgher student-faculty cbrucal ratios, and an mcreasmg number of comrruttee assignments (Fong 1985) In addihon, their work includes planning and prepanng for classroom mstruchon, evaluating students' assignments, counseUmg students, engagmg m corrunimity service, researching, publishing, and bemg professional role models (Mynck 1991) These are potenhal sources of dissahsfaction for nurse educators Other dissatisfiers may include role overload, interpersonal conflicts with students, coUeagues and administration, as weU as concems regardmg job seciuity and advancement (Beehr & Neuman 1978, O'Connor 1978) Oftea the overall behavioural effects are manifested m absenteeism related to lUness, mantal confbcts, decreased quality of work and complaints of job dissahsfachon According to Conway & Glass (1978), less than onethird of nurse educators m uruversihes have doctorates, and few have tenure compared to other acaderruc disapbnes Consequently, nursing faculty may expenence addihonal stressors assoaated with obtammg a legitimate place m the university sethng Tbs could be related, m part, to the fact that nursmg is a practice disciplme, while the uruversity is more comrrutted to scholarly achtivies and the discovery of new knowledge (Hastmgs & WiUiams 1985) Unhl aU nursmg faculty have doctoral degrees, they may not develop the necessary skiUs for research and publicahon (Fong 1985) Their lack of fit and subsequent job dissahs^ction rrught escalate This study, therefore, was undertaken to ldenhfy the job sahsfachon and career pattems of nurse educators employed at university and coUege schools of nursmg m Ontano, Canada
Need for study At present, there exists very bttle information about career pattems of nurse educators m Canada Also, very bttle IS known about ttieir level of job sahsfachon and how this might be related to the development of their career pattems One Canadian study exists regardmg the career development of nurse eductors T b s researdi focused on the careers of 10 doctoraUy prepared nurse educators who
were teadung m Canadian uruversity schools of nursmg (Larsen 1984) Recent bterature on career pattems depicts the development of male career models wbch is descnbed m isolahon to other aspects of their lives (Larsen 1984, Mulvey 1983, Nolan 1985) A career model for women ts currently nonexistent Informahon on career development of aU nurse educators is important as it could prove helpful to nurse administrators in planrung and predictmg future nursing education If it is disdosed that nurse educators are dissatisfied with their work environment because of such factors as workload, lack of preparahon time and deasionmakmg pobcies, then nurse admirustrators should be aware of these sources of dissahsfaction so as to mshtute changes that might attract and retain qualified nurse educators Presently, the number of nahonwide, vacant, fuU-time faculty posihons m nursing conhnues to be a cntical matter in North Amenca Nine hundred such posihons remained unfilled m the 1990 academic year m the United States (National League for Nursmg 1990) Therefore, job satisfaction of nurse educators must contmuaUy be assessed since it has only recently received attention (Chnstian 1986)
REVIEW OF LITERATURE Career pattems The concept of career pattem stems from the researdi on male careers by Miller & Form (1951) and Super (1957) There is no career model for women descnbed m the bterature According to Smith (1982), women and men differ m their defiruhons of a career Women view a career m terms of personal growth, sahsfaction and self-fulfilment while makmg a contnbution to others Men view a career
as a senes of jobs or a path leadmg to upward mobibty Nurses are only concemed with the next step m their career development when extemal factors such as job dissahsfaction or family responsibibhes give them reason to diange jobs (Knopf 1975, Smith 1982) Smith (1982) and McBnde (1985) have advised nurse educators to inform students about trends and issues m nursing m order to assist them with their career plans It is important that nurse adnurustrators and educators prepare graduates who view nursing as a career and not just a senes of jobs According to Knopf (1975), some of the factors wbch affect the career plarmmg of nurses are (a) socio-econonuc condihons m their lives, (b) charadenshcs of the nursuig profession, and (c) mtnnsic needs of nurses themselves In the 15-year foUow-up to her onginal study, Knopf (1983)
1003
MC Barrett etal reported that '6 out of 10 baccalaureate graduates mdicated they would agam diocse nursmg and the baccalaureate program. Also, about seven of 10 diploma graduates would choose nursmg agam but would prefer a dififerent type of basic nursmg educahon' One might ask, then, if career paths differ because of basic level erf education, or because of maturahonal change or dissahsfachon with the profession
Job satisfaction The nursmg bterature is replete with papers on nurses' job sahsfedion, but bttle research has mvolved nurse educators Investigators studymg factors assoaated with nurses' job sahsfaction have ated the foUowing (a) a desire for accompbshment, (b) responsibibty, (c) recogruhon, (d) autonomy, (e) educahonal opporturuhes, and (f) advancement m the organizahonal envu-onment (CrorunShibbs 1977, Davis 1980, Froebe et al 1983, Herzberg 1966, McQoskey 1974, Seybolt ei al 1978, Ubidi 1978) Wandelt ei al (1981), m a study of 3500 nurses, found salary, regulatory laws, lack of nursmg admmistrahve support, lack of duld care services, m-service and frmge benefits as job dissahsfiers Simpson (1985) idenhfied that 'nurses at aU levels of the nursmg berarchy are reportmg dissahsfaction with aspects of their work and work environment' Mamner & Craigie's (1977) survey of Amencan nurse faculty revealed that salary and geograpbcal locahon were considered most when choosmg a teachmg position However, mtnnsic factors such as responabibty, adiievement, acaderruc fi-eedom and autonomy were ranked as more unportant than extrinsic factors such as parkmg faabhes and faculty lounge Respondents were found to be relahvely dissahsfied with the job condihons they deemed most important Lenz & Waltz (1983), on the other hand, noted that extrmsic fadors such as salary, gec^raphical locahon, admirustrahve leadersbp style and the school's reputahon were the most unportant factors m faculty choice of posihon From these and other studies that have mveshgated Ditnnsic and extrmsic fadors assoaated with faculty job sahsfadion, it can be seen that the results are mconsistent, and therefore rrusleadmg (Bonjean et al 1982, Lenz & Waltz 1983, Mamner & Craigie 1977, Plawecki & Plawecki 1976, Smith 1979) Further mveshgahons are warranted
2 3
4
5
Definitions Career pattem Career pattem is defined as the succession of events or roles viewed m terms of mamage, family and employment as defined accordmg to four dassifications of Super's model (1957) These pattems were measured accordmg to the foUowmg cntena 1
2
3
4
1
What are the career pattene of ruirse educators at uruversihes and
1O04
Stable career pattem one of entenng the work force after leavmg professional school, remammg unmamed, and embarkmg upon a career which becomes one's bfe work Occasional time may be taken for contmumg educahon Double-track career pattem one of workmg foUowmg complehcm of educahon, mamage, and contmumg with a double career of working and homemakmg Only occasional tune may be taken for duldbearmg Interrupted career pattern, one of a generaUy long penod of homemakmg between penods of work (two or less mterruphons of more than 1 year's duration) One worics for some time, mames, has children and when the duldren are mdepoident, retums to work. Unstable career pattem one of relahvely short
altematmg penods of woricmg and homemakmg (three or more mterruphons of more than 1 year's durahon) Job satisfaction
Job sahsfachon is defir^ as a respondent's posihve, subjechve evaluahon of seleded aspeds m the workmg environment Tbs was measured by a queshonnaire enhtled 7ob Sahsfachon and Mobility of Nursmg Educators' (Mamner 1975) Job sahsfachon factors utilized in tbs study were 1
RESEARCH Q U E S T I O N S
Is there a relahonship between selected demograpbc fadors and nurse educators'' career patterns? Are there any sigruficant differences m job satisfachon between nurse educators employed at uruversihes and coUeges? Is there a significant difference or relationsbp between job satisfadion and each of the idenhfied career pattems for nurse educators at uruversihes and coUeges? What are the sources of job sahsfaction for nurse educators at university and coUeges?
Intnnsic fadors related to the domg of a job with the possibility of aduevmg professional growth which indicates success m performance to an mdividual, sudi as auton(»ny, advancemoit, recogruhon, responsibility (Herd)a^ 1966)
Canadian nmse educators
Job
Career pattems UNIVERS|-ry
Intrinsic factors 4
COLLEGE
Extrinsic factors
Stable Double-track Interrupted Unstable
Figure 1 Career pattern/job satisfachon framework.
2
Exhinsic factors which are not assoaated with the job itself but with the condihons that surround the job such as admmishahon, fnnge benefits, wortang hours and working condihons, salary (Herzberg 1966)
Nurse educator
A nurse educator is a registered nurse who is employed m a full-time teadung posihon at a uruversity or a coUege school of nursmg This term is used synonymously with the term 'faculty'
T b s converuence s
