Nursing Education and Concept of Mentoring, Scholarly Endeavor and Scholarship Discovery

Mentoring
for Faculty In Nursing Education

    The
faculty role is a multifaceted one with multiple demands. Faculty, especially
those new to the role, find that having a mentor, or mentors, is beneficial to
establishing and succeeding in an academic career. Mentors are helpful for the
career development of senior faculty as well as novice faculty (Halstead and
Frank, 2011). 

    Singh, Pilkington, and Patrick (2014) studied the orientation and
mentoring needs of nursing faculty. Mentoring related to “establishing a
program of research included how to plan a program of research, creating
partnerships, developing an awareness of funding mechanisms, hiring research
and graduate assistants, grant writing, publishing, and time management to
balance demands of teaching, research, service, and a personal life” (p. 7). 

    As
can be seen from this brief description related to developing a research
program, many aspects of the process could benefit from the input of a more
experienced faculty and researcher. Faculty should carefully reflect on their
career development needs and seek out mentors who can help them achieve their
career goals.

Teaching
as a Scholarly Endeavor In Nursing Education

    Boyer
(1990) first proposed a new paradigm for scholarship that encompassed all
aspects of the faculty role but placed a renewed emphasis on teaching as a
scholarly endeavor. In Scholarship, reconsidered: Priorities of the
Professorate, Boyer called for the development of a balance between research
and teaching when measuring the faculty member’s success in academia. 

    He
described four types of scholarship in which faculty engage: the scholarship of
discovery, the scholarship of integration, the scholarship of application, and
the scholarship of teaching. In these four types of scholarship, the previously
narrow view of scholarly productivity that rested only on the careful discovery
of new knowledge through research has been greatly expanded.     

    Boyer’s model
supports the practice model of nursing, which calls for more than the discovery
of knowledge; it also calls for the application and integration of knowledge
into professional practice. 

    As Boyer stated: We believe the time has come to
move beyond the tired old “teaching versus research” debate and give the
familiar and honorable term “scholarship” a broader, more capacious meaning,
one that brings legitimacy to the full scope of academic work . Surely,
scholarship means engaging in original research. 

    But the work of the scholar
also means stepping back from one’s investigation, looking for connections,
building bridges between theory and practice, and communicating one’s knowledge
effectively to students. 

    Specifically, we conclude that the work of the professorate
might be thought of as having four separate, yet overlapping, functions. These
are: the scholarship of discovery; the scholarship of integration; the
scholarship of application; and the scholarship of teaching. (p. 16)

Scholarship of Discovery In Nursing Education

    The
scholarship of discovery is the traditional definition of original research or
discovery of new knowledge (Boyer, 1990). The scholarship of discovery may be
considered the foundation of the other three aspects of scholarship because new
knowledge is generated for application and integration into the discipline, as
well as for teaching.

    It
is through the scholarship of discovery that scientific methods are used to
develop a strong knowledge base for the discipline. Evidence-based practice in
nursing builds on the knowledge generated by the scholarship of discovery. 

    Most
federal funding has traditionally been appropriated for the scholarship of
discovery, and until recently tenure decisions in many universities have been
based primarily on the faculty member’s commitment in the generation of new
knowledge. 

    The scholarship of discovery remains an important aspect of the role
of many faculties, including nursing faculties. 

    At the federal level, research
efforts in nursing are supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research
and content specific institutes such as the National Institutes of Health and
the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as private philanthropic
foundations. 

    The Scholarship of Integration The scholarship of integration
involves the interpretation and synthesis of knowledge within and across
discipline boundaries in a manner that provides a larger context for the
knowledge and the development of new insights (Boyer, 1990). 

    The scholarship of
integration requires communication among colleagues from various disciplines
who work together to develop a more holistic view of a common concern. The
combined expertise of all who are involved leads to a more comprehensive
understanding of the issue and results in more thorough recommendations for
solutions to the phenomena of concern.

    Nursing
faculty have long integrated knowledge from various disciplines into their
practice, and have many competencies that enable them to be productive members
of interdisciplinary teams that study a variety of health problems and issues.
With the emphasis in

    Today’s
world on the development of collaborative, team-building, and knowledge sharing
efforts across disciplines, the scholarship of integration assumes an
ever increasing importance for faculty who must remain at the forefront of the
information age. 

    Nursing content often builds on the knowledge students have
learned from other disciplines such as the biological and social sciences. The
scholarship of integration involves designing learning models that guide the
students to apply their previously learned knowledge to clinical situations
such as with the use of high amplitude patient simulation. 

    Much scholarship of
integration is being published in the area of patient simulation at this time.

Scholarship of Application In Nursing Education

    The
scholarship of application, which connects theory and practice is an area of
scholarship in which nursing faculty should also excel. In the scholarship of
application, faculty must ask themselves, “How can knowledge be responsibly
applied to consequential problems?” (Boyer, 1990, p. 21). 

    Service activities
that are directly connected to a faculty member’s areas of expertise warrant
consideration as application scholarship. It is in the performance of service
activities that practice and theory interact, thus leading to the potential
development of new knowledge.

    For
example, in nursing, clinical practice and expertise that result in the
development of examples of nursing interventions and positive patient care
outcomes meet the definition of scholarship of application (Paskiewicz, 2003;
Riley, Beal, Levi, & McCausland, 2002). 

    Activities that encourage students
to use critical decision making, self-reflection, and self-evaluation are
examples of the scholarship of application in teaching. Faculty practice in
nursing centers is another example.

    Faculty
should disseminate the knowledge gathered through practice and service
activities by publishing in professional journals. The scholarship of
application, which includes service to the profession of nursing at the local,
regional, national, and international levels, also involves developing policies
and practices for nursing and health care. Nursing faculty often provide
leadership in professional organizations and on community or national panels
and boards.

Scholarship of Teaching Faculty In Nursing Education

    The
heart of the faculty role can be found in the scholarship of teaching. An
important attribute of any scholar is having the ability to effectively
communicate the knowledge he or she possesses to students. 

    Boyer’s (1990)
definition of scholarship provides a model through which the special
competencies and skills that are an integral part of the scholarly endeavor of
teaching are recognized.

    Developing
innovative curricula, using a variety of teaching methods that actively involve
students in the learning process, collaborating with students on learning
projects, and exploring the most effective means of meeting the learning needs
of diverse populations of students are all examples of the scholarship of
teaching . 

    The scholarship of teaching requires evidence of effective teaching
and dissemination of the knowledge that is acquired as a result of teaching.
Faculty should share their teaching expertise with them colleagues through
publication and presentation of their innovative teaching methods and the
outcomes of their working with students.

    The
scholarship of teaching brings many exciting opportunities for nursing faculty
in classroom and clinical settings. It is based on the scholarship of
discovery, integration, and practice (Shoffner, Davis, & Bowen, 1994). At a
time when health care practice arenas are rapidly changing, curriculum models
are being designed to meet the needs of a global society. 

    The use of technology
in education is increasing, and perspectives on teaching and learning are
changing. The scholarship of teaching provides nursing faculty with the
opportunity to demonstrate their innovation and creativity. It also provides a
means for recognizing the effort spent preparing students to be competent
health care providers for the future.

    Although
the role of the faculty member remains complex, Boyer’s (1990) broad
description of scholarship provides a model that legitimizes all aspects of the
faculty role. Boyer has given credibility to aspects of the faculty role that
extends beyond the creation of new knowledge through research to include
teaching and service to the university, community, and profession. 

    As a
scholarly endeavor teaching is the synthesis of all types of scholarship
described by Boyer. Faculty can combine the role of researcher with the
integration, application, and dissemination of knowledge. 

    Boyer has provided a
model for nursing faculty to use to develop their expertise in teaching as a
scholarly endeavor (Shoffner et al., 1994). Nursing education has moved from
the notion that there is only one way to do something to a broader perspective
that recognizes the creativity and uniqueness of each student. 

    The teacher is
no longer the only expert but instead is someone who joins with the student in
the learning process and evaluates the results of the teaching–learning process
in a scholarly manner.