A descriptive study of faculty productivity in schools of nursing.

The purpose of this research was: to describe the perceptions faculty held regarding the importance of nine aspects of the faculty role to them and to their employing institution; to determine if a discrepancy exists between the value faculty attach to each of nine role functions and the perceived value that their institution places on the same functions; to describe the discrepancy if it existed; and to identify factors that were perceived to affect individual productivity efforts. A random, stratified sample of 1,050 full-time, tenured or tenure-track Nursing; faculty from 88 schools with NLN-accredited graduate praograms throughout the United States was selected. An 8-page survey was constructed to meet the study purposes of which 567 were returned, coded and analyzed. Analyses of both qualitatve and quantitative data revealed that respondents assigned the highest rating to teaching while scholarly activities and research received ratings that were ranked 4th and 6th, respectively. Respondents perceived that retention, promotion and tenure (RPT) processes at their institutions emphasized research and scholarship activities above teaching. There was a statistically significant difference (p < .001) between the importance that the respondents attached to nine faculty role activities and the importance they perceived their institution's RPT criteria placed on these same activities. The time that respondents spent on the nine activities was incongruent with the assigned importance. Family responsibilities were the most often identified personal factor that affected individual productivity. The findings suggest that Nursing; faculty do place a different degree of importance on aspects of their role than does their employing institution. This difference could be a source of frustration and conflict which could affect faculty productivity.