Abstract
Nursing faculty at non-research-intensive universities must develop and demonstrate literacy in research topics to support the education of their students. Many faculty members at research-intensive universities are considered to be experts in their fields of research methodologies and funding acquisition. Although faculty at non-research-intensive universities may not be engaged in managing large research programs, they are teaching students in research-focused courses at the BSN, MSN, and DNP levels. At the DNP level, faculty must be able to demonstrate and understand quality improvement methodologies. This activity will describe an innovative program developed at a non-research-intensive university to address the research literacy needs of nursing faculty.
The Research Committee, a part of the shared governance structure of the university, conducted a needs assessment to understand the research literacy needs of faculty at the university. The needs assessment was an evidence-based survey sent to all faculty. Based on the survey results, a program was devised to meet the learners' needs. Respondents indicated topics that were very interesting, moderately interesting, or not interesting to them. The program planners attempted to focus on topics that were considered to be very or moderately interesting. A lunch and learn format was used to deliver content by expert speakers, and time for interaction with the speaker was included in each session. The meetings took place monthly via Zoom as the faculty live in many different parts of the country. The speakers for the session were faculty at the university who had experience and expertise in the topic to be presented. The meetings were recorded each month. The planners created an evaluation tool to elicit feedback for each session. The participants indicated that the sessions were valuable to their understanding of the topics, and they appreciated the interaction with the presenters in which they could ask questions in a nonjudgmental environment. The sessions were well-attended, with most participants attending them synchronously via Zoom. The decision was made to continue these sessions.
Often, we focus on the research literacy needs of our students. This program demonstrates the importance of supporting nursing faculty in non-research-intensive universities to ensure they have the knowledge and information they need to successfully support their students in research and quality improvement endeavors.
Notes
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Chi Pi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Continuing Education, Workforce, Virtual Learning, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Research Literacy, Quality Improvement Methodologies
Recommended Citation
Swint, Charlotte and Kent, Kelsey, "Responding to Faculty Research Literacy Needs at a Non-Research Intensive University" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 177.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/177
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
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
2025-12-03
Responding to Faculty Research Literacy Needs at a Non-Research Intensive University
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Nursing faculty at non-research-intensive universities must develop and demonstrate literacy in research topics to support the education of their students. Many faculty members at research-intensive universities are considered to be experts in their fields of research methodologies and funding acquisition. Although faculty at non-research-intensive universities may not be engaged in managing large research programs, they are teaching students in research-focused courses at the BSN, MSN, and DNP levels. At the DNP level, faculty must be able to demonstrate and understand quality improvement methodologies. This activity will describe an innovative program developed at a non-research-intensive university to address the research literacy needs of nursing faculty.
The Research Committee, a part of the shared governance structure of the university, conducted a needs assessment to understand the research literacy needs of faculty at the university. The needs assessment was an evidence-based survey sent to all faculty. Based on the survey results, a program was devised to meet the learners' needs. Respondents indicated topics that were very interesting, moderately interesting, or not interesting to them. The program planners attempted to focus on topics that were considered to be very or moderately interesting. A lunch and learn format was used to deliver content by expert speakers, and time for interaction with the speaker was included in each session. The meetings took place monthly via Zoom as the faculty live in many different parts of the country. The speakers for the session were faculty at the university who had experience and expertise in the topic to be presented. The meetings were recorded each month. The planners created an evaluation tool to elicit feedback for each session. The participants indicated that the sessions were valuable to their understanding of the topics, and they appreciated the interaction with the presenters in which they could ask questions in a nonjudgmental environment. The sessions were well-attended, with most participants attending them synchronously via Zoom. The decision was made to continue these sessions.
Often, we focus on the research literacy needs of our students. This program demonstrates the importance of supporting nursing faculty in non-research-intensive universities to ensure they have the knowledge and information they need to successfully support their students in research and quality improvement endeavors.
Description
The purpose of this activity is to describe an innovative program developed at a non-research-intensive university to address the research literacy needs of nursing faculty. This activity will describe the process of creating the program, including conducting a needs assessment, identifying programmatic components to meet faculty needs, implementing the program, and evaluating the program.