Other Titles
The Faculty Crisis: Safe Starts: Leveraging Psychological Safety in Faculty Mentoring
Other Titles
PechaKucha Presentation
Abstract
Faculty burnout and incivility are key factors in nurse faculty turnover, with a 2023 study noting 85% of faculty reporting burnout. As a strategy to retain nurse faculty, many institutions adopted structured onboarding and mentoring programs. Even with structured mentoring programs, institutions continue to experience faculty turnover and increased time to promotion. Creating a psychologically safe environment is a strategy for improving civility and supporting mental well-being, thus reducing faculty burnout.
The purpose of this project is to explore the integration of psychological safety strategies into structured faculty onboarding and mentoring programs and examine the impact on faculty retention and job satisfaction.
Early indications suggest psychological safety measures support smoother role transition, reduce faculty burnout, and enhance belonging.
This model provides a replicable example for academic institutions to foster supportive faculty cultures. Intentional design of onboarding with psychological safety techniques may help address the national nurse faculty shortage.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
References:
Anderson, M., Taylor, N., Rowley, T., Owens, C., & Iacob, E. (2024). Understanding factors influencing nursing faculty departure and intentions. Nurse Educator, 49(4), 222–226. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001612
Hardie, P., O’Donovan, R., Jarvis, S., & Redmond, C. (2022). Key tips to providing a psychologically safe learning environment in the clinical setting. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), 816. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-0382-9
Laird, L., Bloom-Feshbach, K., McNamara, T., Gibbs, B., & Pololi, L. (2024). Psychological safety: Creating a transformative culture in a faculty group peer-mentoring intervention. Chronicles of Mentoring & Coaching, 8(1), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.62935/hz7383
Satoh, M., Sato, N., Tamura, N., & Fujumura, A. (2024). Psychological safety in enhancing the competence of nurse educators among early career nursing faculty in Japan: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 6, 100254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2024.100254
Watson, M. (2024). Perceptions of burnout among nursing faculty: A qualitative study. In M. Shelley, O. Ackman, & S. Turgut (Eds.), Proceedings of IHSES 2024—International Conference on Humanities, Social, and Education Sciences (pp. 81–86). ISTES.
Zangaro, G. A., Rosseter, R., Trautman, D., & Leaver, C. (2023). Burnout among academic nursing faculty. Journal of Professional Nursing, 48, 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2023.06.001
Sigma Membership
Alpha Xi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Mentoring/Coaching, Mentorship, Nursing Faculty, Faculty Development, Onboarding, Employee Orientation, Personnel Retention, Professional Burnout, Psychological Safety
Recommended Citation
Herbert Harris, Eboni Takia and Nguyen, Lan Angela, "Safe Starts: Leveraging Psychological Safety to Mentor and Retain Nurse Faculty" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 54.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2026/presentations_2026/54
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-04-29
Safe Starts: Leveraging Psychological Safety to Mentor and Retain Nurse Faculty
Washington, DC, USA
Faculty burnout and incivility are key factors in nurse faculty turnover, with a 2023 study noting 85% of faculty reporting burnout. As a strategy to retain nurse faculty, many institutions adopted structured onboarding and mentoring programs. Even with structured mentoring programs, institutions continue to experience faculty turnover and increased time to promotion. Creating a psychologically safe environment is a strategy for improving civility and supporting mental well-being, thus reducing faculty burnout.
The purpose of this project is to explore the integration of psychological safety strategies into structured faculty onboarding and mentoring programs and examine the impact on faculty retention and job satisfaction.
Early indications suggest psychological safety measures support smoother role transition, reduce faculty burnout, and enhance belonging.
This model provides a replicable example for academic institutions to foster supportive faculty cultures. Intentional design of onboarding with psychological safety techniques may help address the national nurse faculty shortage.
Description
Faculty burnout and incivility contribute to nurse faculty turnover despite structured mentoring. This project explores integrating psychological safety strategies into onboarding and mentoring to enhance retention and job satisfaction. Early findings suggest psychological safety supports smoother transitions, reduces burnout, and fosters belonging, offering a replicable model to address the national nurse faculty shortage.