[Nursing News]

College of Nursing Dean Says More Faculty Will Fix Nursing Shortage

The University of Iowa hopes limiting the number of undergraduate nursing degrees will help ease the country's nursing shortage ...

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa hopes limiting the number of undergraduate nursing degrees will help ease the country's nursing shortage. At the College of Nursing they say there are two shortages: actual nurses and people to teach and administer nursing classes. The dean says more teachers can create more nurses.

Most hospitals deal with the nursing shortage. To address the problem nursing colleges could admit more students. But the University of Iowa says the number of students is not the problem. Nursing Dean Rita Frantz said, “In 2006-2007, the last year we have data, there were 42,000 qualified applicants for nursing programs that were not admitted because of a faculty shortage."

More... College of Nursing Dean Says More Faculty Will Fix Nursing Shortage - KCRG

[oramar]

No doubt about it, shortage of instructors is part of the problem. However, the problem with retention needs to be address also. Everyday we have newbies come here and post that they are leaving and they are not coming back. It appears that the revolving door is spinning faster than ever.

[Valerie Salva]

I think this dean's statment is akin to saying "To fix the economy, all we have to do it print more money."

This guy is obviously totally out of touch.

[sweetbarbiedoll]

There are faculty willing to work, from around the world, but the licensure procedures makes it so hard for us to come and work. We won't get a job until we have licensure and we can't get a licensure unless we know where we would get work...

[Diahni]

I once saw an article that claimed a big part of the faculty shortage is that teaching jobs don't pay as well as other nursing jobs. Sweetbarbie doll is right, it IS difficult for foreign nurses to get licensed. This is ONE part of the solution. The other is the govt getting its head out of its you-know-what and realize that we're all going to be in big troubletwenty years from now if we don't have more nurses. Perhaps the question can be rephrased, "How can we develop faculty positions and what incentive$ can we give them to consider teaching nursing? What's not to like about a college teaching job? College professors report a high job satisfaction. Can anyone tell me what kind of training is involved? A PhD, or is a master's in nursing education sufficient? I don't know. I DO know that the ADN program I once attended included clinical teachers with BSNs, and they didn't have a clue about how to teach. Yes, they were good nurses, but miserable teachers. As well, some of my "professors" were downright embarrassing. One stumbled on every medical term over two syllables long. As a second career nurse with a good education, I was amazed that this is the best the school could do for teachers. The feds have to help us out on this, I think. But they won't until nurses speak up. Yes, the patients do suffer, and nurses are stressed out with high patient loads.
Diahni

[llg]

Originally Posted by Diahni

I once saw an article that claimed a big part of the faculty shortage is that teaching jobs don't pay as well as other nursing jobs. Sweetbarbie doll is right, it IS difficult for foreign nurses to get licensed. This is ONE part of the solution. The other is the govt getting its head out of its you-know-what and realize that we're all going to be in big troubletwenty years from now if we don't have more nurses. Perhaps the question can be rephrased, "How can we develop faculty positions and what incentive$ can we give them to consider teaching nursing? What's not to like about a college teaching job? College professors report a high job satisfaction. Can anyone tell me what kind of training is involved? A PhD, or is a master's in nursing education sufficient? I don't know. I DO know that the ADN program I once attended included clinical teachers with BSNs, and they didn't have a clue about how to teach. Yes, they were good nurses, but miserable teachers. As well, some of my "professors" were downright embarrassing. One stumbled on every medical term over two syllables long. As a second career nurse with a good education, I was amazed that this is the best the school could do for teachers. The feds have to help us out on this, I think. But they won't until nurses speak up. Yes, the patients do suffer, and nurses are stressed out with high patient loads.

Diahni

I think you are on track here. To be a GOOD teacher, s nurse needs a high level of education, education on how to teach, and clinical experience. Those of us who have those things know we can do better than the low pay and often poor working conditions found in nursing schools. Until the pay issue is addressed (and in some schools, the working conditions) are addressed, the faculty shortage will continue.

Schools need to ask themselves why they can't find faculty.

[sweetbarbiedoll]

Diahni's post is clearly explaining what I wanted to say... For instance... I am a Nursing Lecturer in India and would like to learn more by teaching in other places... when I apply for jobs I am asked for licensure and when I try to apply for licensure I need a state to register in... besides most of it is clinical... which I do not have current knowledge. At least the procedures for teaching faculty could be made different from those of them who want to work as staff nurses...
In that way, teachers can be assessed for their teaching skills and knowledge, rather than the clinical aspects...
I do not intend to say that I have no clinical knowledge... I do go for clinical supervision and demonstrate things but may not be as quick as those who are doing just that!!! My line of work differs from those directly in the clinicals... sometimes I don't even have to work on people to demonstrate...

[namaste_71]

Getting the current backlog of nursing students into the classroom (by hiring more faculty, increasing clinical space, etc.) won't solve the shortage. It will make it less severe, but not stop it alltogether.

[Diahni]

Originally Posted by llg

I think you are on track here. To be a GOOD teacher, s nurse needs a high level of education, education on how to teach, and clinical experience. Those of us who have those things know we can do better than the low pay and often poor working conditions found in nursing schools. Until the pay issue is addressed (and in some schools, the working conditions) are addressed, the faculty shortage will continue.

Schools need to ask themselves why they can't find faculty.

Hmmm, sounds like a research paper - as I said in my other post, being a college teacher is a cushy job, all told, so what's the problem? How badly are they paid? I know this much - there was some controversy at the Boston Globe last summer because they printed the salaries of every state worker, which included the nursing profs at the college I went to. It seemed pretty reasonable - pay was in the fifties and sixties. That's not too shabby, is it? I don't really know why people wouldn't be interested. And this is funny - I saw an ad online for some new nursing school looking for teachers. RNs and LPNs needed! No experience needed! Oh, brother! There must be a reason the that teaching doesn't appeal to nurses very much, but why? Maybe Massachusetts state teachers get paid better than most? I don't think any one of my teachers had a PhD. though I think some had a master's in education. While there are natural born teachers, I'd rather have my teachers well educated. Who wouldn't? Nocw, heres an idea - cash incentives from the govt. - MDs can get tuition wavers if they work in underserved areas - some politician with vision ought to get on this, but I'm afraid it's not going to get better until it gets a lot worse.
Diahni

[Diahni]

Originally Posted by sweetbarbiedoll

Diahni's post is clearly explaining what I wanted to say... For instance... I am a Nursing Lecturer in India and would like to learn more by teaching in other places... when I apply for jobs I am asked for licensure and when I try to apply for licensure I need a state to register in... besides most of it is clinical... which I do not have current knowledge. At least the procedures for teaching faculty could be made different from those of them who want to work as staff nurses...
In that way, teachers can be assessed for their teaching skills and knowledge, rather than the clinical aspects...
I do not intend to say that I have no clinical knowledge... I do go for clinical supervision and demonstrate things but may not be as quick as those who are doing just that!!! My line of work differs from those directly in the clinicals... sometimes I don't even have to work on people to demonstrate...

SBD: Are you having difficulty getting a US license? I know many Philipino nurses apply to the state of Vermont. (I know because I'm familiar with Pinoy.com - a great nursing student web site, is run by a Philipino nurse.) I don't know exactly why, but it must involve less "red tape." You don't need to either live in Vermont or even intend to work in Vermont to get your license from this state. Once you get an job in another state, you apply for reciprocity. I hope I'm not telling you stuff you already know! Even though each state grants its own licenses, everybody takes the same nclex exam.
Diahni