Nursing schools report obstacles to increasing enrollment

According to the analyst, the state’s immediate actions are geared toward increasing the variety of admissions to nursing schools ABC news article. Kentucky is not at all the one state where nursing shortages have worsened through the pandemic, making nurses more prone to retire, burn out or quit their jobs. The demand for nurses puts pressure on nursing schools to extend admissions. The excellent news on this scenario is that folks clearly need to pursue a nursing profession. Bad news: USA nursing schools try to grow as a result of lack of clinical sites and other challenges, with many rejecting eligible applicants.

Finding clinical sites is a challenge

Katarzyna Tart, RN American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published data in April 2021 which revealed that in 2020 the number of scholars in baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral studies in nursing increased. While interest in nursing programs is high, in accordance with the AACN, U.S. nursing schools were forced to reject 80,521 qualified applications in 2020, largely as a result of an absence of clinical sites and staffing and resource constraints. A complete of 66,274 people withdrew from primary-level matriculation programs. “We could admit more students if we had more faculty and more clinical sites to send our students to,” said Kathryn Tart, EdD, MSN, RN, founding dean of the University of Houston College of Nursing and dean chair of the Humana Endowed in Nursing. Bachelor of Science in Nursing students complete eight to 10 different clinical rotations. There was a limit of about 10 students for every clinical rotation, but with Covid-19, that number has been reduced to 6 to eight students per faculty member at each clinical site, Tart explained.

According to Tart, students must be assured that if a nursing school accepts them, a clinical setting shall be available. “We are working hard with our partners to make sure we can do this,” she said. “For our students to graduate on time, it really takes all of us.”

In the face of the pandemic, this was tough. “We were extremely fortunate to graduate on time, even during the pandemic. And they are extremely needed,” Tart said. The Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) faces the identical challenges, in accordance with Dr. Joy Longo, RNC-NIC associate professor, CNE, associate professor and associate dean of undergraduate nursing studies at FAU. With a complete enrollment in nursing programs and tracks of nearly 1,400 nursing students, FAU accepts all the scholars it will probably. However, clinical placement challenges and staffing shortages are among the many aspects keeping FAU from expanding its nursing program.

“The biggest challenge is clinical internships. When the pandemic first hit, South Florida hospitals did not allow students to be admitted, so we had to find alternative methods of clinical education. Now they have reopened, some of them in limited capacity, so it’s still a little difficult, but it’s better,” Longo said.

Some hospitals have found ways to proceed providing clinical sites to students during peak periods of the pandemic. The University of California, Davis, provided senior students with seats within the bachelor’s degree in nursing program at Sacramento State University when other hospitals were closed. According to UC Davis Health, this allowed senior students who needed to finish clinical education hours to graduate on time Press release of May 7, 2020. “Everyone was engaged,” Kelly MacPherson, manager of the Center for Professional Nursing Practice on the University of California, Davis, said in a press release. “That was one of those things that we really held on to during those difficult times: ‘We’re going to help them get through this so they can graduate.’”

Faculty pipeline stays an issue

Another development challenge for nursing schools: competing for adjunct faculty positions when other, more lucrative options exist.

“Many of the adjuncts we hire are working nurses,” Longo said. “As we all know, there are opportunities to travel and take on extra shifts.” This is not an issue unique to South Florida. According to AACNhigher salaries in clinical settings and the private sector are driving faculty away from teaching across the United States. In 2020, there have been 12,871 applicants to nursing schools they’ve turned away from master’s programs, which the AACN says could limit the longer term variety of nursing faculty. According to AACN’s 2019-2020 Baccalaureate and Master of Science in Nursing Admissions and Graduation Report, most nursing schools that responded to the survey cited staffing shortages as the first reason for not admitting all qualified applicants to their programs. AACN Company Special survey regarding vacancies at facultieswhich surveyed 892 U.S. schools of nursing, identified 1,637 faculty vacancies in 2019. Schools also indicated the necessity to create an extra 134 vacancies faculty positions to satisfy students’ requirements. The study shows that one reason for concern about persistent and worsening staffing shortages is that roughly one-third of current nursing faculty members will retire by 2025 published in Nursing Outlook in 2017.

Creating more slots and more variety

Increasing the variety of the nursing workforce is just as vital as increasing the variety of nurses leaving schools. “Preparing an incredibly diverse population of nursing students is essential to improving the nation’s health outcomes and ensuring a robust supply of health care providers that better reflect the society we serve,” the paper’s authors wrote published February 2021 in Creative Nursing. However, achieving diversity within the nursing student population requires commitment. The University of Houston College of Nursing program has received the 2021 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award, the one national higher education award given to U.S. medical colleges and universities that exhibit exceptional commitment to diversity and inclusion. This is the fifth HEED award for the College of Nursing on the University of Houston. According to Tart, the university was amongst 50 HEED recipients in 2021, 12 of that are nursing schools. “What we have created at the University of Houston College of Nursing is a place where excellence and diversity are not mutually exclusive,” Tart said. “Not only did we achieve a 100% first-time NCLEX-RN licensure exam pass rate in 2020, but we also achieved this diversity award for the fifth time.” According to Tart, lower than one-third of nursing students on the University of Houston are white, and about 15% of the scholar population is male. According to Tart, one solution to achieve diversity in a nursing school curriculum is to steer by example.

“Diversity has to be part of your mission,” she said. “[Then,] you make sure you live your mission. You make sure diversity is visible in everything you do.”

This includes outreach to various nursing groups, including “walking, talking and participating,” she said. According to Tart, when interviewing pre-licensure students, interviewers do not have access to the applicant’s name, race, gender or photo to prevent bias, thus ensuring that students are vetted solely on their merits.

The new normal for nursing schools

Hospitals and other clinical centers have reopened, easing the burden on nursing schools. According to Longo, schools are also considering creative options in clinical education, including telehealth training and virtual simulations. “Hospitals are looking at clinics and the opportunities they offer for recruiting students differently,” Longo said. “So we’re looking at academic partnerships and what benefits we can both get… when students go to centers to get clinical experiences.” True growth, however, remains an issue for FAU and other nursing schools. “We need to have clinical centers and resources. Being a state school, [one question that remains is] whether we get funding from the legislators so that we can increase our numbers that way,” Longo said. Kentucky is taking steps to help nursing schools. The executive order requires the state Board of Nursing to approve enrollment expansion requests from schools that demonstrate sufficient resources to accommodate more students. “Schools that are unable to accommodate full enrollment due to staffing shortages are expected to notify state officials to help them hire more faculty,” the study said. Times-Tribune article.