Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Looming Crisis of an Inadequate Pipeline for Nursing Faculty
Brenda L. Cleary, PhD, RN, FAAN1, Billy Bevill, MSN, RN2, Linda Lacey, MA2, and Jennifer Nooney, PhD3. (1) North Carolina Center for Nursing, University of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA, (2) NC Center for Nursing, UNC, Raleigh, NC, USA, (3) Florida Center for Nursing, CFU, Orlando, FL, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Discuss capacity of nursing education programs and the growing faculty shortage that is at the heart of the nursing shortage. |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the looming crisis in the faculty pipeline, based on over 20 years of longitudinal state level nurse supply data. |
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
To examine trends in educational mobility among registered nurses to determine factors related to the adequacy of the pipeline for future nursing faculty.
BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
Regardless of the lack of consensus regarding the impact of the education of the nursing workforce on patient outcomes, the inability to increase the numbers of nursing faculty or even replace existing faculty who are likely to retire in the next 10 years due to trends in the education of the nursing workforce, is a concern to everyone.
METHODOLOGY
Two statewide cohorts of Registered Nurses were followed over time to determine the extent, nature, and timing of educational mobility patterns beyond the initial preparation. A 1983-1984 cohort of new RNs was compared and contrasted with a 1993-1994 cohort of new RNs.
MAJOR FINDINGS
The majority of nurses in both groups did not pursue educational mobility options beyond their initial preparation in nursing, although there were differences among the cohorts as well as differences by initial educational preparation in terms of likelihood of doing so.
CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS
The implications, including the policy implications, of these findings, will be discussed in light of exponential increases in the number of qualified students being denied admission to nursing programs at all levels and growing concerns that the problem may be exacerbated with the number of nursing faculty approaching retirement age.