EXPANDING NURSING FACULTY AS THE KEY TO REDUCING THE NURSING SHORTAGE NATIONWIDE

The nursing shortage in the U.S. is well documented and is expected to increase as we continue to see the Baby Boomer generation access medical services and retire themselves. As the need for nurses continues to increase, it?s essential to realize that a lack of nursing faculty is only compounding the situation.

While there is anticipated to be a 15% increase in the need for nurses by 2026, what is often overlooked is that this same need is reflected in the workforce of nursing instructors. For this reason, a renewed focus on creating access to high quality, affordable advanced nursing education degree programs is a primary method to bridge the gap between supply and demand for nurses nationwide.

By expanding the number of MSN and PhD bridge programs that allow nurses to prepare for faculty roles, an increased number of both RNs and APRNs can matriculate, attend and graduate nursing programs.

According to the AACN, ?now is the time for nurse educators?and others to act boldly and commit to marshalling resources.? One way we can do this, as a profession, is to shine a light on those evidence based Doctoral programs that prepare nurses to become faculty. There are over 70 schools alone that currently offer the BSN to PhD programs, allowing RNs to earn faculty status in an accelerated fashion, in order to help alleviate the nursing faculty shortage.

Expanded educational funding opportunities are another key strategy in increasing the number nursing faculty members in the U.S. as scholarships, grants and low interest loans are helpful to many nurses that are ready to expand their role within the profession.

Ultimately, if we are to combat the nursing shortage, we must first remedy the nursing faculty shortage by expanding advanced degrees in nursing and making them more accessible to all.

For more resources, you can find information on how we can improve health care, one educated nurse at a time at BestNursingDegree.com.

LINK SOURCES:

https://www.bestnursingdegree.com/nursing-careers/nurse-educator/

http://www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/News/View/ArticleId/21388/Rounds-with-Leadership-4-25-18

https://folio.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/10244/533/NursingFacultyShortage071006.pdf