Cultivating empowerment in nursing today for a strong profession tomorrow

The ongoing nursing shortage requires careful consideration by those in nursing education to determine causes of the shortage and best approaches to countering the supply issue predicted to last far into the future. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct a pilot study to explore processes related to empowerment and disempowerment among 16 participants from a baccalaureate nursing program. Participants included nursing school administrators, faculty, and students. Cultivating was the basic core process constructed that appeared to influence empowering and disempowering experiences in nursing education. Findings suggest collaborative efforts between nursing education and clinical practice are necessary.