Abstract
The United States continues to face a persistent nursing faculty shortage despite increasing demands for competency-based education and the development of clinical judgment among nursing graduates. Academic Clinical Nurse Educators (ACNEs) frequently transition from clinical practice to teaching roles with limited preparation in andragogy, student evaluation, and feedback. These gaps may affect educator competence, self-efficacy, student outcomes, and nursing workforce sustainability. This dissertation's three manuscripts explore ACNE competence development through conceptual clarification, evidence synthesis, and evaluation of a simulation-based faculty development intervention. Chapter 2, Competence of the Academic Clinical Nurse Educator: A Concept Analysis, applies Walker and Avant’s method to define ACNE competence and identify its key attributes, antecedents, and consequences, establishing a foundation for measurement and faculty development interventions. Chapter 3, Factors that Predict Competence in Academic Clinical Nursing Faculty: A Scoping Review, synthesizes empirical literature to identify individual, institutional, and developmental factors associated with competence in the ACNE role. Findings from the concept analysis and scoping review informed the development of a simulation-based faculty development intervention evaluated in Chapter 4. Chapter 4, Evaluation of a Simulation-Based Faculty Development Program to Enhance Nurse Educator Competence and Self-Efficacy, presents findings from a single-site, one-group repeated-measures study evaluating a three-hour simulation-based faculty development workshop followed by four weeks of reinforcement activities. Educator competence was measured using the Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Skill Acquisition Tool (ACNESAT), teaching self-efficacy was assessed using the Clinical Nurse Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (CNT-SES), and evaluation performance was evaluated using a rubric-based assessment of written student feedback. These outcomes were assessed at baseline (T0), immediately following the simulation training component (T1), and at four weeks post-intervention (T2). Analyses examined within-group change over time and associations between competence and self-efficacy using descriptive statistics, repeated measures analyses, post-hoc comparisons, effect size estimation, and correlational analyses.
Date of publication
Spring 5-7-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
english
Committee members
Kevin Gosselin, Ph.D., ME.d., M.S.; Christy Gipson, Ph.D., RN, CNE, ACUE; Diane Monsivais, Ph.D., RN, CNE, ANEF
Degree
PhD in Nursing