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Fact Sheet
Updated
March 2010
Nursing Faculty Shortage
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Faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country
are limiting student capacity at a time when the need for nurses
continues to grow. Budget constraints, an aging faculty, and increasing
job competition from clinical sites have contributed to this emerging
crisis.
To minimize the impact of faculty shortages on the
nation's nursing shortage, the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing (AACN) is leveraging its resources to secure federal
funding for faculty development programs, collect data on faculty
vacancy rates, identify strategies to address the shortage, and
focus media attention on this important issue.
Scope of the Nursing Faculty Shortage
- According to AACN’s report on 2009-2010 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 54,991 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2009 due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. Almost two-thirds of the nursing schools responding to the survey pointed to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into entry-level baccalaureate programs.
- According to a Special Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions released by AACN in August 2009, a total of 803 faculty vacancies were identified in a survey of 554 nursing schools with baccalaureate and/or graduate programs across the country (70.2% response rate). Besides the vacancies, schools cited the need to create an additional 279 faculty positions to accommodate student demand. The data show a national nurse faculty vacancy rate of 6.6%. Most of the vacancies (90.6%) were faculty positions requiring or preferring a doctoral degree. The top reasons cited by schools having difficulty finding faculty were noncompetitive salaries compared to positions in the practice arena (32.2%) and a limited pool of doctorally-prepared faculty (30.3%).
- Worsening faculty shortages in academic health centers are threatening the nation’s health professions educational infrastructure, according to a report by the Association of Academic Health Centers released in July 2007. Survey data show that 94% of academic health center CEOs believe that faculty shortages are a problem in at least one health professions school, and 69% think that these shortages are a problem for the entire institution. The majority of CEOs identified the shortage of nurse faculty as the most severe followed by allied health, pharmacy and medicine.
- According to a study released by the Southern
Regional Education Board (SREB) in February 2002, a serious
shortage of nurse faculty was documented in all 16 SREB states
and the District of Columbia. Survey findings show that the combination
of faculty vacancies (432) and newly budgeted positions (350)
points to a 12% shortfall in the number of nurse educators needed.
Unfilled faculty positions, resignations, projected retirements,
and the shortage of students being prepared for the faculty role
pose a threat to the nursing workforce over the next five years.
Factors Contributing to the
Faculty Shortage
Faculty age continues to climb, narrowing the
number of productive years nurse educators can teach.
According to AACN's report on 2008-2009 Salaries of Instructional and Administrative Nursing Faculty in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, the average ages of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor were 59.1, 56.1, and 51.7 years, respectively. For master's degree-prepared nurse faculty, the average ages for professors, associate professors, and assistant professors were 58.9, 55.2 and 50.1 years, respectively.
A wave of faculty retirements is expected across
the US over the next decade.
- According to an article published in the March/April
2002 issue of Nursing Outlook titled The
Shortage of Doctorally Prepared Nursing Faculty: A Dire Situation,
the average age of nurse faculty at retirement is 62.5 years.
With the average age of doctorally-prepared faculty currently
53.5 years, a wave of retirements is expected within the next
ten years. In fact, the authors project that between 200 and 300
doctorally-prepared faculty will be eligible for retirement each
year from 2003 through 2012, and between 220-280 master's- prepared
nurse faculty will be eligible for retirement between 2012 and
2018.
- According to the report Oregon's Nursing Shortage:
A Public Health Crisis in the Making prepared by the Northwest
Health Foundation in April 2001, 41% of the faculty in baccalaureate
and higher degree programs in Oregon are projected to retire by
2005 with an additional 46% projected to retire by 2010. In associate
degree programs, 24% are expected to retire by 2005 with an additional
33% retiring by 2010. This retirement pattern will likely be experienced
in other parts of the country as well.
Higher compensation in clinical and private-sector
settings is luring current and potential nurse educators away from
teaching.
According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the average salary of a nurse practitioner, across settings and specialties, is $81,060. By contrast, AACN reported in March 2009 that master's prepared faculty earned an annual average salary of $69,489.
Master's and doctoral programs in nursing are
not producing a large enough pool of potential nurse educators to
meet the demand.
- According to AACN's 2009-2010 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing report, enrollment in research-focused doctoral nursing programs were up by only 5% from the 2008-2009 academic year.
- Efforts to expand the nurse educator population
are frustrated by the fact that thousands of qualified applicants
to graduate nursing programs are turned away each year. In 2009,
AACN found that 8,491 qualified applicants were turned away from
master's programs, and 1,044 qualified applicants were turned away
from doctoral programs. The primary reason for not accepting all
qualified students was a shortage of faculty.
Strategies to Address the Faculty Shortage
- In the July/August 2009 Health Affairs, Dr. Linda Aiken and colleagues call for adapting federal funding mechanisms (i.e. Title VIII and Medicare) to focus on preparing more nurses at the baccalaureate and higher degree levels. This policy emphasis is needed to adequately address the growing need for faculty and nurses to serve in primary care and other advanced practice roles. The researchers reported that new nurses prepared in BSN programs are significantly more likely to complete the graduate level education needed to fill nursing positions where job growth is expected to be the greatest.
- In February 2009, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Nurse Education, Expansion and Development Act (NEED Act) into the 111th Congress. The NEED Act would amend Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act to authorize Capitation Grants (formula grants) for schools of nursing to increase the number of faculty and students. Capitation grant programs have been used to effectively address past nursing shortages. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), who has championed the NEED Act since 2004, plans to reintroduce the bill in late March.
- In the November/December 2008 issue of Nursing Outlook, Dr. Janet Allan and Jillian Aldebron assess a variety of efforts underway nationwide to alleviate the nursing faculty shortage, a primary driver of the larger nursing shortage. In the article, titled A Systematic Assessment of Strategies to Address the Nursing Faculty Shortage, U.S., the authors highlight the most promising strategies in four domains - advocacy, educational partnerships, academic innovation, and external funding – and identify exemplars that are sustainable, and replicable.
- On August 1, 2008, AACN was invited to testify at the National Platform Hearing of the Democratic National Committee and share nursing education's perspective on healthcare reform. In the testimony, AACN articulated the direct link between a robust nursing workforce and access to safe, quality, and affordable health care. AACN urged legislators to place addressing the nurse faculty shortage high on the Committee's priority list. See www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/pdf/dnctestimony08.pdf.
- On July 30, 2008, Representatives Tom Latham (R-IA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the Nurses’ Higher Education and Loan Repayment Act of 2008 (H.R. 6652). The legislation would provide current students and graduates of nursing master’s and doctoral programs with reimbursement for student loans. Individuals receiving funding would be required to teach for four years in an accredited school of nursing. See www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/NewsReleases/2008/HigherEdAct.html.
- In February 2008, AACN and the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future announced the first scholarship recipients for the newly created Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars program. Created to address the nation’s shortage of nurse educators and the need to diversify the faculty population, this program provide financial support to graduate nursing students from minority backgrounds who agree to teach in a school of nursing after graduation.
- In February 2008, AACN held its annual inaugural Faculty Development Conference in Nashville, TN aimed at helping nurses transition to faculty roles in baccalaureate and higher degree programs. More than 250 new and future faculty attended this event titled "Transforming Learning, Transforming People." AACN plans to repeat this program in 2009.
- In February 2006, AACN and the California Endowment launched a scholarship and mentorship program to increase the number of minority nursing faculty in California. Through this program, nursing students from underrepresented backgrounds are eligible to receive up to $18,000 in funding support to complete a graduate nursing degree. In exchange, students engage in leadership development activities and commit to teaching in a California nursing school after graduation. See www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/CAEwinners.htm.
- In August 2005, the U.S. Secretary of Education
designated nursing as an "area of national need" for
the first time under the Graduate
Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. As a
result of this AACN led lobbying effort, a new funding stream
for PhD programs in nursing was created. In April 2006, $2.4 million
in grant funding through the GAANN programs was awarded to 14
schools of nursing.
- In June 2005, AACN published an updated white
paper titled Faculty
Shortages in Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs: Scope
of the Problem and Strategies for Expanding the Supply.
This publication summarizes the faculty shortage issue, identifies
factors contributing to the shortfall, and advances strategies
for expanding the current and future pool of nursing faculty.
The white paper includes an appendix with examples of successful
strategies to address the faculty shortage suggested by schools
at an AACN 2003 Hot Issues Conference.
- In June 2005, the US
Department of Labor awarded more than $12 million in grant-funding
through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, $3
million of which will help to address the nurse faculty shortage.
This latest round of funding brings the DOL's commitment to health
care workforce through the High-Growth program to more than $43
million.
- In February 2004, Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow
(NHT), a coalition of 43 leading nursing and health care organizations,
launched a new public awareness campaign to generate interest
in careers as nurse educators. The campaign consists of four print
advertisements and a flyer that may be downloaded for free from
the NHT Web site; a career profile on the nurse educator that
has been posted online; and a national public relations. For more
information on the campaign and how you can support this effort,
see the Nurses
for a Healthier Tomorrow Web site.
- In February 2003, Congress appropriated $20 million
in funding for new programs created under new Nurse Reinvestment
Act. Designed to address the nursing shortage, this legislation
includes $3 million for a Nursing
Faculty Loan Program that provides loan forgiveness for students
in graduate programs who agree to work as nurse faculty upon graduation.
Funding through this program will be dispensed by schools of nursing
to students pursuing a faculty career.
Last Update: March 17, 2010
CONTACT:
Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
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