| Faculty nurse leaders, specifically, nursing school deans have been identified as essential in the graduate preparation of new faculty needed to educate the next generation of nurse educators as well as in the undergraduate preparation of nurses needed to enter the workforce. Incoming deans often discover they are not adequately prepared to meet the responsibilities of overseeing a broader range of issues and operations (Kambil & Budnik, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of baccalaureate nursing school deans to gain a deeper understanding of the dean's ways of knowing and the relationship between his or her knowledge development and evolution into an effective academic leader. The study addressed the following research questions: 1) How do baccalaureate nursing school deans know what they know? 2) How do the lived experiences of baccalaureate nursing school deans contribute to knowing how to lead effectively? The researcher described the subjective experiences of baccalaureate nursing school deans informed by Carper's (1978) "Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing.".;A purposive sampling strategy of deans from colleges accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education programs was used to allow the researcher to select individuals who purposefully informed an understanding of the research problem and phenomenon of study (Creswell, 2013). Colaizzi's (1978) method of data analysis was utilized to analyze data phenomenologically, according to his procedural steps.;Study participants included 13 registered nurses with a mean age of 59.8 years. Of those participating in the study, 92% were female. All participants held the academic title of dean for baccalaureate or higher nursing programs at the time of the interview. Participants completed qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data revealed four themes: becoming dean, learning the ropes, leading with grit, and "the business of nursing education." Six subthemes were identified. Each of the themes contributed to the compilation of a vivid description of the dean's dimensions of knowing. Findings of the study suggested succession planning, development of the leader's inner self, and research examining the socialization patterns of baccalaureate nursing school deans all have the potential to impact nursing's leadership crisis. |
