Why are Nursing Programs so hard to get into?

Trauma Columnist · Jun 24, 2008

Main reason is that there is more of a shortage of qualified instructors. Those of us with MSNs and above can't take the pay cut that teaching would entail.

pharmgirl · Jun 24, 2008

I actually just did a research paper on this topic. What I also found in addition to what traumaRUs stated about the instructor positions is that all the baby boomer nurses are retiring, if nurses aren't retiring they are leaving the profession due to burnt out. As a result, more nurses are needed but fewer professionals to teach....a vicious cycle.

duranurse · Jun 24, 2008

i have met alot of girls with the same frustration. it has been my dream since working as a cna to be a nurse, and when i finally got accepted on the first try it was a dream come true. i'm confused as to the criteria that they are looking for. i'm just happy i made it!

SPNbabe08 · Jun 24, 2008

theres actually a couple of reasons why these programs are so hard to get into.

1. teachers salaries the weekend supervisor where i work (ltc facility). is the main teacher at our local LPN program. she is three classes away from her masters and she makes just a little more than a floor nurse. shes one of those types who goes above and beyond for her students.

2. politics the area i live in, only has one school offering the lpn program. so there are alot of people every year competing for those spots. 800 people take the entrance exam. 150 ish pass well enough to get an interview. out of that only 60 people get in. there are two seperate classes in different towns. the director knows how competitive it is. she has the power in this situation. the better and more in demand the program is, the more power goes to the director and the better they look.

3. competition. without giving away my area and director, like i said 800 take the test, 150 ish get and interview and 60 get in. thats pretty stiff competition. my DH got a 99 on the exam and was a CNA and is a veteran. of course they wanted him. he was also being sponsored by his facility. ive known girls who tried for three years without success. she didnt get in until she got a reference from the lead instructor. and she got above average scores on the exam and was a CNA. \

yes its tough to get into, but if you really want it, youll keep at it. till you get it.if i hadnt gotten in this year, i would keep applying till i got in.

HeyHeyitsMaay · Jun 24, 2008

I've been accepted already however, after learning about how competitive programs can be to get in to, I decided to go to a private school. Eventually I want to be an RN,but all of those factors are really disconcerting

elkpark · Jun 24, 2008

While a shortage of qualified nurses willing to teach in SONs is certainly a big problem, it's not as simple as just that -- there is also the matter of clinical sites. I last taught in a state university BSN program in an area which included two BSN programs (ours and a private university), two diploma schools, and several community college ADN programs. Med-surg clinicals were not really a problem, there were plenty of sites/units available, but the competition for specialty clinical rotations (peds, OB, psych, critical care) was fierce. I taught a specialty, and arranging the clinical rotations every semester was a nightmare, with all the schools attempting to get their students scheduled into the same few sites. This is the case anywhere there's more than one or two nursing programs in an area, and, nowadays, that's nearly anywhere in the country.

In order to expand nursing programs, schools need to not only have sufficient faculty to accommodate the larger number of students, but also sufficient clinical sites, and that's getting harder and harder to do -- especially when more and more hospitals are merging into "healthcare systems" and consolidating/closing many specialty units; there are fewer and fewer sites available at the same time that everyone wants nursing schools to expand.

I think it's very short-sighted of the larger community to focus so much on the "need" to expand nursing programs and crank out larger and larger numbers of new grads every year without addressing the issues within nursing that are driving so many experienced nurses away from the bedside and out of nursing. There are more than enough licensed nurses in the US to meet all our current needs -- it's just that hundreds of thousands of them are not currently working as nurses. Until we address and ameliorate the problems that are driving so many nurses, new grads and "old hands" alike, to leave the field, we're just bailing a leaky boat without fixing the leak.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Jun 24, 2008

Each school is only approved by the board to take on some many students per incoming class so even if they could hire a whole bunch of new instructors all of a sudden it would take time before they got approved to admit more.

For example most LA community colleges admit 30-50 students a semester. Sounds like a lot especially since there are about a dozen cc's within reasonable driving distance. Compare that to the population of LA though and its not a heck of alot

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jun 24, 2008

I was in the first LPN program at my college, and we were forced to take many of our clinicals during evening hours because it was so difficult to compete for clinical sites (in addition to attracting clinical instructors). I have heard of many students having inappropriate clinical settings just to be able to say that the school sent their students somewhere...anywhere. And, I can see what chases nurses away from the bedside with all of the crap going on. It seems that this will be a vicious cycle.

amjowens · Jun 25, 2008

Establishing clinical sites is a problem at my school. I didn't know where I'd be doing my summer clinicals until just before classes started.

For some reason, I find that the majority of nurses don't like students. Other fields tend to have internships for students, and welcome students warmly, but not nursing. There's an old saying about nurses eating their young, and I see it. I can't imagine these student-haters desiring to spend more time with us in a classroom setting! Even my instructors get angry at the overt rudeness we sometimes receive from nursing staff.

The instructor shortage seems to be the most common reason I hear of as the reason for NS entrance probs. Even Johnson and Johnson nursing commercials are now promoting instructors, not necessarily "nurses" in the traditional sense. The statistics on those qualified for NS but not getting in speaks.

gwapalicious · Jun 25, 2008

Applying to Nursing school is hard to get into cuz' they'd wanna make sure that we are serious about the studies even though there's alot of nurses shortages. That's what I've been told anyway.

SnoopysAunt · Jun 20, 2009

In my state, nurses need at least a master's to teach. Who wants to through all that time and money earning a degree, only to make less money than you would earn on the floor as a master's prepared nurse. I think that salaries need to increase or else we are only experiencing the tip of the iceberg when we talk about this nursing shortage.