Perspective On Acceptance into LPN Program

I am speaking from the viewpoint of a former clinical instructor. What I hear many saying is how frustrated that they have completed the prereqs and are just waiting to get into a program. Acceptance into nursing programs is limited because of the limited number of faculty/clinical instructors the schools are able to hire. There is only so much funding the state has provided to state schools for education. If the monies are not there to hire faculty/clinical instructors, then the number of students is limited. Each clinical instructor cannot have more than 10 students for any clinical experience. So....until the state government addresses the financial support for future nursing education, many excellent students and outstanding candidates will continue to sit on a waiting list. (Hint: Contact your state representative as this issue will certainly effect the future of healthcare as the predicted outlook says that the United States will be 800,000 nurses short in the not so distant future.) The other issue is the importance of providing for competitive salaries for nurse educators so that quality nurses WANT to go into education. Having read some of the postings and the questions concerning salaries in Indiana, you would be amazed at how low the salary can be for academic nurse educators. Coming through my last semester as a clinical instructor, my hourly wage ended up being $12.00/hr, this having 25 years experience and a BSN. No this is not what the program paid me for an hourly rate, but taking into consideration all the extra hours outside of the clinical hours (I was only paid for those hours in direct supervision of students) when I worked on patient assignments, scheduling student observations, grading papers, preparing

evaluations, etc. the hourly rate suddenly goes way down. I did this for several years. But, let me say that money is not everything. Most of us who work as nurse educators are not necessarily there for monetary reasons, we are committed to help develop students, who have chosen to take the journey into nursing, to become quality healthcare providers. Nursing is a wonderful and rewarding profession. Opportunities abound. The profession provides flexibility to raise a family and satisfaction of knowing that you are helping others. Many may have come across some roadblocks in their pursuit, but please let me encourage you to continue the pursuit. It will be worth in the long term.:)