National study highlights link between certification and nurse educator retention
OHSU School of Nursing research suggests academic certification increases job satisfaction and the intent to stay.
There is a national shortage of nurse educators to train students, and retaining those educators is a challenge. More than 70% of nursing schools reported faculty vacancies in 2023-24, according to a 2023 American Association of Colleges of Nursing study by Carrie Byrne, Jenny Keyt and Di Fang.
Meanwhile, there has been little evidence of what improves job satisfaction and keeps educators in their roles—until now.
A recent anonymous national study of 711 nurse educators, including an invitation for OHSU School of Nursing faculty to participate, found academic certification is associated with a higher intent to remain in academia and increases in overall job satisfaction for more than 90% of respondents. Certification also influences workplace conditions and recognition.
Left to right, Joanne Noone, Ph.D., RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, co-author of a national study on the link between academic certification and job satisfaction, and nursing student Trisha Gross, B.S.N., RNC-NIC.
“Academic certification is a modifiable retention lever,” said Joanne Noone, Ph.D., RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, who co-authored the national study. Noone is an A.B. Youmans Spaulding Distinguished Professor, and director of the Master’s in Nursing Education Program and the Oregon Nursing Education Academy, which supports recruitment and retention of nurse educators.
Certification predicts retention
Clinical certification had no effect on satisfaction or retention; only teaching-focused certification mattered, according to the results of the study that sampled current faculty from across the United States who teach in undergraduate or graduate nursing or advanced practice registered nurse programs.
One notable result showed higher scores in workplace factors like achievement recognition and added responsibility once the certification was earned.
Certification improves the odds of faculty staying on the job and being satisfied, but it doesn’t fully solve retention challenges by itself, the study authors report.
Equity gap
Not all respondents reported that the extra education added value.
“Individuals or educators who identified as nonwhite reported significantly lower job satisfaction across all the subscales,” said Trisha Gross, B.S.N., RNC-NIC, a student in the OHSU Master of Nursing Education Program and co-author of the research.
More than 90% of study respondents were female and 85% reported being white.
This outcome “… could reflect the added burden of underrepresentation … or structural inequities and shows that there needs to be institutional attention beyond just academic certification,” added Gross.
Future directions
The researchers suggest that nurse educators can use certification as a professional development pathway to build teaching competence and strengthen their commitment to education. Learning about teaching is especially valuable for professionals transitioning from clinical roles.
The researchers encourage institutions to support academic nurse educator certification and measure the outcome by tracking retention rates of certified versus non-certified faculty.
The study, “Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction and Retention of Nurse Educators,” was presented as part of the OHSU Sc=hool of Nursing’s Research Matters symposium in May. It was hosted by the school’s research advisory group.
The National League of Nursing Ruth Donnelly Corcoran Research Award funded the study.
Story by Rhonda Morin, APR
Photos by OHSU. Image by GettyImages
