Nur 531 January 27, 2014
Mary Jane Sansouci
Nursing Faculty Shortage
As the demand for nurses continue to rise in the United States, the ability to teach these nurses continues to decline. According to a Special Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions released by AACN in October 2013, a total of 1,358 faculty vacancies were identified in a survey of 662 nursing schools with baccalaureate and/or graduate programs across the country (79.7% response rate). (National League for Nursing, 2010). The decline in nurse faculty causes a disruption to the balance of the student/educator ratio. This, in turn, has led to the rejection of many nursing school applicants. To ensure …show more content…
A reasonable solution to decreasing the nursing faculty shortage would be to increase the incentives to these positions as the demanding workload and minimal income deters graduate and doctoral prepared nurses from the educator setting. Another solution would be offering an academic-partnership practice model for returning working nurses (Wyte-Lake et al, 2013). Including this incentive to the current working nurses could assist in maintaining the necessary income for living while offering a financial resolution to returning to school. This initiation can provide a step toward advanced education and possible faculty …show more content…
The current nursing shortage in the United States is even more endangered by the decrease in nursing faculty. Incentives for master prepared nurses, such as increased pay and motivation to continue a doctoral education, can inspire these nurses for future growth. A goal to educate future nurses is required to secure the nursing profession, therefore, placing responsibility on current nurses to step into the nursing faculty position.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2014). Nursing faculty shortage. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-faculty-shortage Inside Higher Ed. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/22/nursing-schools-face-faculty-shortages National League for Nursing. (2010). 2010 NLN Nurse educator shortage fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/governmentaffairs/pdf/nursefacultyshortage.pdf
Wyte-Lake, T., Tran, Kim,PhD., R.N., Bowman, Candice C,PhD., R.N., Needleman, J., PhD., &
Dobalian, Aram,PhD., J.D. (2013). A systematic review of strategies to address the clinical nursing faculty shortage. Journal of Nursing Education,52(5), 245-252.