key: cord-0708042-l4d59xyo authors: Power, Pamela J.; Warren, Gabri M. title: The Leap to Faculty in the Time of COVID19 date: 2020-11-26 journal: J Prof Nurs DOI: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2020.11.008 sha: 5f0b9609146a69c295b23c3966c0603101d809dc doc_id: 708042 cord_uid: l4d59xyo Nurses are essential workers, particularly in a pandemic. Increasingly complex patients and an ever-changing health care environment are a few of the challenges that nursing faculty have to prepare novice nurses for, now more than ever, but it is proving difficult due to the limited number of nursing faculty. In order to continue to prepare nurses for practice, schools of nursing are looking for ways to recruit and retain new faculty. The transition from clinician to academia is challenging due to anxiety related to new expectations, adjusting socially into a new environment, and loss of a previous identity as a clinician; however, for faculty hired during the COVID19 pandemic, these challenges have been amplified due to the loss of learning through observation and social interactions. The idea that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context is rooted in Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. This paper gives voice to two novice faculty who undertook the challenge of starting a ranked faculty role while working remotely during the COVID19 pandemic. Due to the increased likelihood of another pandemic occurring in the relative near future due to globalization; the second role of this paper is to propose measures for faculty enculturation, based on the Social Learning Theory, which can be implemented safely from home. Improved nursing recruitment into academia, and retainment, will improve the education of future nurses facing the challenges of modern healthcare. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports faculty vacancy rates to be approximately 7.9% (2019). As a result, the AACN (2019) reports that nursing schools in the United States turned away 75,029 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2018 due in part to faculty shortages. Recruiting, welcoming, and retaining new faculty into schools of nursing across the country is an important imperative. Strategies are needed to make the transition less daunting and more seamless in order to entice master's and doctorate prepared candidates from the practice setting into the academic setting where their skills can contribute to the education of future nurses. The transition from a clinical or acute care nursing role to a ranked faculty position is fraught with challenges including, anxiety related to new expectations, fear of not fitting into a new social network, and the loss of a previous identity as a clinician expert (Weidman, 2013) . These challenges are amplified today as a global pandemic sends J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof novice faculty across the country home to redesign course content and clinical experiences from in person to online learning experiences. Examining this phenomenon is worthwhile because of the likelihood that such an unplanned event could be repeated in the future (Glasper, 2020) . The global spread of disease is an increasing threat due to globalization, urbanization, and climate change. This is evidenced by the following recent outbreaks which have taken place The analysis of this remote onboarding experience has been conducted using the theoretical framework of Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory. Social Learning Theory states that learning takes place in the context of social interactions and is based on the five key assumptions listed here (Bandura, 2002 anxiety, and lack of confidence (Weidman, 2013) . Other challenges most noted include a lack of preparedness for the teaching, scholarship (research) and service triumvirate (McDermid et al., 2016) , and a lack of core knowledge and skills related to teaching and facilitating learning (Bagley et al., 2018) . The development of resilience, defined as, "the ability to bounce back or cope successfully despite substantial adversity" (Holtz et al., 2018) , has been cited as a key strategy for success for new and transitioning faculty. It is also evident in the literature that the building of supportive relationships is a crucial element of resilience and, therefore, an essential element to successful transitioning of new faculty to the academic environment (Holtz et al., 2018; McDermid et al., 2016) . Other effective strategies for faculty support involved social connections such as teaching in teams, mentoring relationships in various designs as well as group workshops with new faculty where both skills and relationships could be developed (Hellier & Davidson, 2018; Hunter & Hayter, 2019; Sanderson et al., 2012) . The problems that arose in the weeks and months that followed March 17, 2020 can be broken into three categories: a). Lack of socialization, b) lack of know-how, and c). students with new and unique needs. While they overlap, it will be helpful to examine them each individually. Social learning theory tells us that we learn, in part, by observing and modeling others (Grusec, 1992) . In a new faculty role, it is ideal that the novice work with and work near successful experienced faculty. Skills that could be learned through this socialization include J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof softer skills such as time management, structuring of the work to be done, and navigation of the social and political aspects of the organization to effectively do the work required. In a work from home environment the loss of this social learning was very impactful to us as novice faculty. Because resilience is correlated with successful transitions and resilience is greatly enhanced by strong trusting relationships (Holtz et al., 2018; McDermid et al., 2016) , novice faculty were disadvantaged in both skill acquisition and relationship and resilience building while isolated at home. It also must be noted that while traversing the experience of being new to the faculty role, we, and all of our colleagues, were also experiencing the full weight of a global pandemic that created huge uncertainty about the future on a personal and global level. Living this in relative isolation was an experience shared by novice faculty, experienced faculty, and entire communities across the country and the world. As novice faculty there were experiences that we described as "not knowing what we don't know". For example, investing time in developing test questions only to learn that a test bank was available, unbeknownst to the novice. Another example in this category includes the best use of the online learning platform for maximum impact and efficiency; how to accomplish something in two clicks and not six. Lastly, requirements related to the industry were often learned through trial and error. For example, registrar requirements for reporting student attendance and specific steps required when students appear to be unsuccessful. In these instances, learning would have been somewhat fluid and effortless in the campus setting surrounded by experienced peers. In the rapid transition to home, students also found themselves in Our department has successfully adopted team teaching to help ease the conversion of courses from in-person to online during the COVID19 pandemic and eased the transition of new faculty into the teaching role. While faculty vacancies continue to impact the ability of colleges and universities to accept qualified nursing applicants, fostering a Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing Transition to nursing faculty: Exploring the barriers. 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