Abstract
Producing scholarly work is a core expectation of academic faculty in higher education, alongside responsibilities in teaching, service, curriculum development, and academic advising. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing defines academic nursing as the integration of practice, education, and research within baccalaureate and graduate programs. Nursing faculty are therefore expected to demonstrate a commitment to inquiry, generate new disciplinary knowledge, connect practice with education, and lead scholarly endeavors that advance health and health care. Yet, barriers such as limited funding and institutional support, overloaded teaching schedule and service duties, insufficient skills and knowledge in research, and role conflict between educator and researcher identities often hinder faculty engagement in scholarship. Against the backdrop of faculty and research funding shortages, this paper explores the discourse of scholarship in nursing, a practice discipline, by integrating the notion of synergy in scholarship development. Drawing on Boyer’s definition of scholarship and the National League of Nursing’s nurse educators’ competencies, viewing academic nursing as a synergistic interplay of teaching, scholarship, and service could help us broaden our understanding of nursing scholarship and inform strategies to foster the applicability, sustainability of faculty engagement in scholarship, and consequently, retain and grow nursing faculty and advance scholarship development.
Notes
References:
Alotaibi, K. (2023). Barriers to conducting and publishing research among nursing faculty members at Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study. Nursing Open, 10(10), 7048–7057. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1963
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
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2018, March 26). Defining scholarship for academic nursing: Task force consensus position statement. AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org
Halstead, J. A., & National League for Nursing, issuing body. (2019). NLN core competencies for nurse educators: a decade of influence (J. A. Halstead, Ed.). NLN, National League for Nursing.
Rajendran, R. U., Pai, M. S., Nayak, B. S., Nayak, S. G., Noronha, J. A., Krishnan Venkata, S., Ramoo, V., Oommen, A., & Renjith, V. (2025). Challenges and needs of nurse researchers on research publication in health universities of Karnataka, India: A cross-sectional survey. Journal of Research in Nursing. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/17449871251347840
Sigma Membership
Nu Psi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Advances in Education, Faculty Development, Mentoring and Coaching, Competence, Nursing Education, Scholarly Method, Boyer's Model of Scholarship, Synergy
Recommended Citation
Chou, Fang-yu, "Harnessing Synergy: Advancing Nursing Scholarship Development" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 210.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/210
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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
2026-08-25
Harnessing Synergy: Advancing Nursing Scholarship Development
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Producing scholarly work is a core expectation of academic faculty in higher education, alongside responsibilities in teaching, service, curriculum development, and academic advising. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing defines academic nursing as the integration of practice, education, and research within baccalaureate and graduate programs. Nursing faculty are therefore expected to demonstrate a commitment to inquiry, generate new disciplinary knowledge, connect practice with education, and lead scholarly endeavors that advance health and health care. Yet, barriers such as limited funding and institutional support, overloaded teaching schedule and service duties, insufficient skills and knowledge in research, and role conflict between educator and researcher identities often hinder faculty engagement in scholarship. Against the backdrop of faculty and research funding shortages, this paper explores the discourse of scholarship in nursing, a practice discipline, by integrating the notion of synergy in scholarship development. Drawing on Boyer’s definition of scholarship and the National League of Nursing’s nurse educators’ competencies, viewing academic nursing as a synergistic interplay of teaching, scholarship, and service could help us broaden our understanding of nursing scholarship and inform strategies to foster the applicability, sustainability of faculty engagement in scholarship, and consequently, retain and grow nursing faculty and advance scholarship development.
Description
Scholarly engagement is a core responsibility of academic nursing faculty. However, limited funding, time, and institutional support often hinder engagement in scholarship activities. This paper examines the discourse of nursing scholarship through the lens of synergy—integrating teaching, practice, and service—guided by Boyer’s model of scholarship and aligned with nurse educator competencies.