The Customer is Always Right: the Insidious Impact of Academic Consumerism on Nursing Faculty

This study utilized interpretive phenomenology to investigate the influence of academic consumerism on nurse educators. It aimed to gain insights into the effects of academic consumerism on teaching methodologies, classroom, and clinical management, as well as its impact on faculty satisfaction and their intention to persist in the profession. Semi-structured interviews with undergraduate BSN Faculty were conducted to understand their experiences with academic consumerism. With a looming enrollment cliff and state funding cuts, smaller universities are being forced to compete for student tuition dollars. Once students are enrolled, universities must entice students to stay. These practices put the student in the consumer role and lead to a consumer mindset. Consumer sovereignty invades the classroom and can affect how students are educated. This study found that when a university administration supports the academic policies and disciplinary decisions of the nursing faculty, academic consumerism's impact is mitigated. When the opposite is true, nursing faculty expressed concern about student learning outcomes, delayed professional identity development, poor patient outcomes, and nursing faculty attrition. Understanding the way academic consumerism influences fields that directly impact human life is of great significance. This study has implications for various stakeholders, including universities, healthcare facilities, nursing faculty, and patients. Finally, there are implications for state and federal policymakers to consider the funding distribution for smaller colleges and universities.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Crawford, Julie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Strickland, Haley

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rice, Margaret
• Bray, Leigh Ann
• McDowell, Liz

• Academic Consumerism
• Consumer Sovereignty
• Higher Education
• Moral Distress
• Nursing Education
• Nursing Faculty

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

1107650

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/15357