Is a Public Outcry Needed?

RutgerskidBSN · Jun 6, 2003

I totally agree with you. At my school they only accept professors who have a doctorate degree (PhD or DNSc). And it is so hard to make tenure at Rutgers that the turn over rate is ever 5 years. Only one professor has tenure and that is our dean. With requirements such as raising $60,000 in grants and publishing 15 journal articles in 5 yrs, the emphasis has been lost on teaching. Teaching has been put on the back burner. I understand they want the best but our program is constatnly changing and is always inconsistant with each new professors teaching techniques and information.

Another draw back for quality professors is the low pay. I couldn't believe what they pay our professors. A starting pay for someone with an ADN is higher then that of a professor with a DNSc and 20 years experience. Something is not right.

Anyway, enough complaining. I have the best professors and I hope they all stay for the future classes coming in.

roxannekkb · Jun 7, 2003

Quite honestly, publishing 15 journal articles in 5 years and raising grant money does not make one a good teacher. It helps bring money to the school and let's them say that we have "prestigious professors who are well published" but that does not make a good teacher. Let's face it, there are not many nurses who go on to get a PhD in nursing, and if they do, there are far more lucrative careers that they can go into. And I'm sure that many who would love to teach just do not want to deal with the bureacracy of academia.

There are really great nurses out there with MS degrees and even BSNS, who would make terrific instructors. Raise the pay, and maybe hire on teachers with the provision that they work on their higher degree while teaching (give them a big discount at the university) and you might see the faculty holes start to be filled in.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jun 7, 2003

maybe hire on teachers with the provision that they work on their higher degree while teaching

pickledpepperRN · Jun 9, 2003

YES!

In California the average age of a working nurse is 48.

Professors and instructors are nearing retirement.

We need to pay them better.

We need more programs. UCLA and other UC campuses eliminated their generic BSN programs because there are ratios for how many students a clinical instructor can supervise in the hospital. Our taxes pay for the state universities yet we may not have a nurse when we need one.

Public outcry is needed!