Graduate Defense: Glenn Murphy

Dissertation Information

Title: Constructing A Blueprint For A Professional Development Module On Interventions For Bullying And Self-Advocacy For Nursing Faculty

Program: Doctor of Education in Educational Technology

Advisor: Dr. Ross Perkins, Educational Technology

Committee Members: Dr. Yu-Hui Ching, Educational Technology and Dr. Lisa Giacumo, Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning

Abstract

Bullying remains a persistent issue among nursing faculty. Nursing faculty often claim they do not have the communication skills or the confidence to address bullying behaviors and to advocate for themselves. Instead, they often avoid the perpetrators or accept bullying as part of the nursing education environment. One possible solution involves creating a professional development module for nursing faculty. My Delphi study led to the creation of a blueprint for a professional development module on interventions for bullying and self-advocacy for nursing faculty. Over the three rounds of online questionnaires, an expert panel of nursing faculty suggested content areas, recommended instructional approaches, and rated their essentialness for inclusion in the module. Between rounds, I analyzed the open-ended questions using qualitative content analysis and the closed-ended questions using descriptive statistics. In all, there were 40 content areas and 6 instructional approaches that reached the consensus level of 70%. The final blueprint displayed the essential content areas and instructional approaches that reached consensus in priority order, using the mean ratings from the expert panelists. By targeting nursing faculty with a professional development module the cycle of bullying can be interrupted. Nursing faculty can practice and develop confidence in their self-advocacy skills. Nursing faculty can show their students how to stand up for themselves as they teach them the skills, further reinforcing their learning while developing the next generation of nurses.