Evaluation of a Team-Building Retreat to Promote Nursing Faculty Cohesion and Job Satisfaction

With the growing global shortage of nursing faculty, there is increased need to develop and evaluate strategies to promote nursing faculty job satisfaction. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, a team-building faculty retreat including challenge course activities was evaluated to determine its effects on group cohesion and job satisfaction. Mean Job in General scores for the sample (n = 29) at the start of the study were comparable with national norms for employees with graduate degrees. There were statistically significant increases in Job in General scores and group cohesion scores from pretest to posttest on the day of the retreat. However, the positive changes were not maintained at the end of the semester when follow-up data were gathered. Content analysis of the retreat day reflections revealed the following themes: getting to know each other better, seeing commonalities and differences, spending time together, developing trust, and working as a group. Several themes were identified in the end of the semester reflections: getting to know each other, feeling closer as a group, setting a friendlier tone for the semester, and that the retreat was a positive experience. Based on these findings, we recommend the use of a faculty retreat with challenge course activities to promote nursing faculty cohesion and job satisfaction. However, follow-up activities are recommended to maintain positive results over time.