Nurse educators seek solutions to faculty shortage

A persistent problem in the ongoing nursing workforce shortage is a lack of faculty available to teach qualified nursing school applicants. Furthermore, about one-third of nursing faculty who teach are expected to retire by 2025. Schools struggle to hire teachers due to the salary gap between teaching and clinical practice, burnout lingering from the pandemic and the requirement for doctoral degrees. AONL and the American Association of Colleges of Nurses are calling for more academic-practice partnerships involving joint appointments and teaching opportunities. Other policy proposals include loan forgiveness programs for people who want to become nurse educators; partnerships between hospitals and schools to provide competitive compensation packages; and shared faculty positions between clinical and academic settings. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 10/28/24)