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Becoming a nurse faculty leader: Taking risks by being willing to fail
Author(s) -
Pardue Karen T.,
Young Patricia K.,
HortonDeutsch Sara,
Halstead Judith,
Pearsall Catherine
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
nursing forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.618
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1744-6198
pISSN - 0029-6473
DOI - 10.1111/nuf.12244
Subject(s) - narrative , psychology , phenomenology (philosophy) , hermeneutic phenomenology , nurse educator , nursing , qualitative research , higher education , medical education , lived experience , pedagogy , medicine , nurse education , sociology , political science , social science , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology , psychoanalysis , law
Background Higher education is undergoing rapid transformation requiring nurse faculty leaders to engage in risk taking. Consequently, what is known about the experience of taking risks? How do leaders decide what constitutes a risk worth taking? How do leaders who take risks tolerate failure? The purpose of this study was to explicate the leadership practices of risk taking in nurse faculty leaders. Method Interpretive phenomenology was used to explore the experience of risk taking among 15 self‐identified nurse faculty leaders. Unstructured audio recorded interviews were conducted in which participants described their experiences of taking risks. Transcribed interviews were analyzed by a research team to uncover themes in the narrative data. Results A theme, willingness to fail , and three subthemes, enacting a culture of experimentation, working hard for success , and learning from failure are reported. Conclusion This study provides practical know‐how and an evidence‐base to support nurse academic leaders in the practice of risk taking during these challenging times in higher education.