Full Text:
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing(AACN, 2005), over 32,000 qualified applicants were not accepted tobaccalaureate and graduate programs due to the lack of qualified faculty in2004. Even more alarming, over 110,000 qualified associate degree applicantswere rejected by nursing programs in 2005 due to the lack of qualifiededucators (National League for Nursing, 2005). Moreover, according to anearlier AACN survey (2004), the nursing faculty vacancy rate of over 8% ledto the rejection of qualified candidates and an increased workload for theremaining faculty. What can be done to alleviate the current shortage ofnurse educators, and ultimately increase the number of bedsidemedical-surgical nurses?
Short-Term Solutions
The AACN (2005) proposed many short-term and long-term solutionsfor the nursing faculty shortage. Short-term strategies that seem beneficialinclude the following:
1. Utilize non-nursing faculty to teach selected nursingclasses/courses. This would be beneficial in business, finance, and educationclasses, and possibly even pathophysiology and pharmacology. The AACN (2005)indicated team teaching can save money, spare limited faculty resources, andimprove interdisciplinary collaboration.
2. Educate nurses outside the academic setting about the positiveaspects of an academic career. This has been done to recruit entry-levelnurses into the profession but not to attract nurses into academia.Encouraging younger nurses to achieve graduate-level degrees may alleviatethe nursing faculty shortage. Currently, half of all doctoral graduates areages 4554 (AACN, 2005). Also, building a nursing education component intograduate programs can prepare nurses better for a career in academia.
3. Allow retired faculty to continue to teach without penalizingthem financially. According to the AACN (2005), many faculty would like tocontinue teaching in some capacity but do not because of restrictiveuniversity policies and retirement plan barriers. Barriers need to be removedso these experienced educators can be utilized to teach and mentor newfaculty.
Long-Term Strategies
More importantly, long-term strategies to alleviate the nursingfaculty shortage must be expanded (AACN, 2005):
1. Recruitment of nurses into the academic world may be the mostimportant factor in alleviating the nursing faculty shortage. The AACN (2005)developed several recruitment strategies to alleviate the nursing facultyshortage, including developing a positive message about the value of highereducation and an academic career, recruiting younger people into academics,and increasing financial aid and grants for graduate students.
2. Retention of nursing faculty must be a priority. This can beachieved through increasing salaries and benefits to match those of otheradvanced practice nursing positions and involving a mentor in an effectiveorientation program.
a. Decreasing the workload of current nursing faculty can beaccomplished through a strategy such as "Turn Teaching" (AACN,2005). Pennsylvania State University Worthington Scranton Campus utilizesthis approach for several nursing courses. A full-time faculty member isassigned responsibility for the course, and another faculty member teachesseveral lectures while maintaining contact with the full-time faculty member.This helps to increase faculty experience in teaching and test construction,as well as alleviate some of the workload from another faculty member.
b. Faculty members' assignments should be based on theirparticular strengths. The AACN (2005) recommended nursing faculty be allowedto focus on their strengths (classroom teaching, clinical teaching, research,etc.). This is a good strategy, but at the same time faculty members shouldbe mentored to help overcome their weaknesses.
Conclusion
By following some of these suggestions, nurse educators may beable to recruit and retain more nursing faculty and thus allow the increaseof nursing school applicants that will alleviate the current general nursingshortage. If the current nurse faculty shortage is not addressed soon, theremay not be enough well-prepared nurse educators to recruit and teach futurebedside nurses, putting the health of U.S. residents at risk (Deyoung, 2002).
Reference
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2004). Surveyon vacant faculty positions (unpublished data). Washington, DC: Author.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2005).Faculty shortages in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs: Scope ofthe problem and strategies for expanding the supply. Washington, DC: Author.
Deyoung, S. (2002). The nursing faculty shortage: Is there hope?Journal of Professional Nursing, 18(6), 313-319.
National League for Nursing. (2005). Highlights of the NLN's2005 national nursing education database survey. New York: Author
Michael M. Evans, MSN, RN, CNS, CMSRN, is an Instructor ofNursing, Pennsylvania State University Worthington Scranton Campus, Dunmore,PA.
