Why aren't there more nursing programs in your State !!!!

S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN · Dec 29, 2006

The nursing shortage includes qualified nursing educators too. I'm sure if the educational staff/professors were available, then the programs would open.

If schools can't find qualified profs to teach the courses, then having more programs just isn't possible.

SA2BDOCTOR · Dec 29, 2006

Well you do have a point. I never looked at it that way. I must concede that what you mentioned is also an imperative factor.

jmgrn65, RN · Dec 29, 2006

Not enough qualified Instructors. They don't pay them well. So nurses don't want to take a pay cut. You have to have a master or Phd is better. well with those degrees you can alot more money somewhere else.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 29, 2006

The pay for nursing instructors is pitiful. Once an advanced degree and years of experience are appreciated, there will be more instructors.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 29, 2006

Not only is there a shortage of instructors ... there is also a shortage of clinical sites. Not every place that has patients is a good teaching environment. Nursing students need particular types of experiences and those experiences are not as readily available as you might think.

For example, most people would like to see an increase in the number of evening and weekend programs. However, many clinical sites offer little for the students to see and do on evenings and weekends. The students who go to clinicals then just sit around and read charts. Assessments, labs, tests, procedures, teaching rounds, etc. all happen during "normal working hours" -- not in the evenings nor on the weekends. I work in a children's hospital. Most of the kids have visitors in the evenings and don't want to be bothered by a student doing unnecessary things. The parents help them get ready for bed. There is not much for the students to do in the evening.

Also, many cities with multiple nursing schools have already expanded to the point that the local clinical facilities can handle.

I think we would be better off focusing any expansion of nursing programs into mid-sized communities with regional community hospitals. Such hospitals are large enough to provide sufficient clinical experiences for the students -- but are not now overstaturated with students falling all over each other. But such communities are exactly the kind of communities that are paying the worst salaries for faculty.

Until the community ("public") feels the pain of the shortage, I doubt they will be willing to spend the money needed to solve it.

CityKat, BSN, RN · Dec 29, 2006

I read that they pay nursing professors somewhere along the range of 45k and a law professor gets paid somewhere close to 100k. Apparently, if you are involved in turning profit versus saving lives or teaching people to saves lives, you are worth more. I read this on a thread on the nursing news forum on a thread about the nursing shortage.

sad sad. Our values in this world are really screwed up.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2006

My statements will probably be construed as controversial, but here goes.

There is no nursing shortage. There are over 2.5 million registered nurses in America in addition to the 700,000 licensed practical/vocational nurses. Therefore, there are more than enough currently licensed nurses in this country to solve the so-called 'nursing shortage'.

Here are the problems. A huge portion of these licensed nurses are not working. Many of these licensed nurses abandon the nursing field altogether due to burnout, poor working conditions, and other issues that deserve some sociological research. Additionally, our greatest healthcare needs are at the bedside, but there are too many nurses in management and not enough who are willing to do the 'dirty work' at the bedside. In other words, there are too many 'chiefs' and not enough 'indians'.

There is no shortage of nurses; rather, there's a shortage of nurses who will put up with the crap at the bedside. There's also a shortage of master's-educated nursing instructors. In addition, nursing pay rates will drop if nursing schools admit and graduate a whole flood of new nurses to fill this so-called 'shortage'.

Scrubz · Dec 30, 2006

The nursing shortage includes qualified nursing educators too. I'm sure if the educational staff/professors were available, then the programs would open.
If schools can't find qualified profs to teach the courses, then having more programs just isn't possible.

Bingo!

Sheri257 · Dec 30, 2006

Here are the problems. A huge portion of these licensed nurses are not working. Many of these licensed nurses abandon the nursing field altogether due to burnout, poor working conditions, and other issues that deserve some sociological research. Additionally, our greatest healthcare needs are at the bedside, but there are too many nurses in management and not enough who are willing to do the 'dirty work' at the bedside. In other words, there are too many 'chiefs' and not enough 'indians'.
There is no shortage of nurses; rather, there's a shortage of nurses who will put up with the crap at the bedside.

I totally agree with this but, with only one exception. Aging baby boomers are increasing demand for RN's to the point that it could very well exceed even the number of RN's who are refusing to work at the bedside for all of the above mentioned reasons. So we could eventually have a "real" shortage. Maybe not now, but in the future.

As for night weekend programs ... etc. My school is doing that, but the only way they could afford it is by getting the hospitals to pay for it. In return, the students have to sign five year contracts, which basically amounts to indentured servitude. These contract deals are so bad it's pathetic.

As for foreign RN's ... the hospitals in my area who don't pay well are always the ones who have to hire foreign nurses because ... duh ... no U.S. RN will work for those low wages.

I don't think it would matter how many new grads you would turn out, nobody .... new grad or otherwise .... is going to work for pathetic wages when they've got so many other, better paying options.

:typing

Jules A, MSN · Dec 30, 2006

From what I've seen at my CC it almost makes me suspect there is a bit of a racket going on. When I got in there were 400 applicants for less than 40 spots in the LPN program, not even sure how many for the ADN but supposedly its even harder to get into. I totally agree that there is a shortage of instructors but our school really encourages students to re-take pre-reqs in hopes of increasing their gpa so the school sure isn't losing money. Most of the students that are willing to do this have their classes paid for by financial aid, which imo uses up funds that another student might need and won't get. The sad fact they don't seem to realize is that a large number of these students will never get into the nursing program. Even if all 400 were qualified and raised their gpas to 4.0 we are back to the fact that there aren't enough instructors so they can only take 30-40 per year anyway. Even if the pool of applicants did not increase each year it would take 10 years if everyone were to be accepted.

SoulShine75 · Dec 30, 2006

There are several ADN programs in my state, but not enough BSN's unless you can travel a good distance everyday to get there. My hometown just recently got an evening program, although it's an LPN-RN bridge, which is good for a lot of people who are working etc...