Despite a nationwide nursing shortage within the United States, over U.S. nursing schools failed to just accept 80,000 eligible applications by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2020.
It was due to start with with a shortage of nursing professors and a limited variety of clinical internships where nursing students receive practical skilled training. Additional restrictions include a shortage of experienced practitioners to offer supervision during clinical training, insufficient classroom space, and inadequate financial resources.
Although 80 thousand may not count for college students who apply to multiple nursing schools, this clearly suggests that not all qualified students can enroll in nursing school.
I’m a nurse researcher, professor of nursing and founding director CABLES, an office on the University of South Florida that focuses on the well-being of health care professionals. I discovered that the nurse shortage is a posh problem it consists of many aspects – but a very powerful of them is the dearth of staff educating future nurses.
Growing demand for nurses
Not enough latest nurses enter the U.S. health care system every year to match the country’s nurses growing demand. This can have serious consequences for patient safety AND quality of care.
Nationally, the variety of job positions for registered nurses is: is anticipated to extend by 9% in 2020–2030.
Some states anticipate even greater demand for registered nurses because of population and wish. Florida, for instance, could have to do that increase the variety of registered nurses by 16% for the following decade.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will probably be approx 194,500 opens for registered nurses every year for the following decade to satisfy the demands of a growing population and to interchange nurses who retire or leave the occupation. This implies that the USA will need approx 2 million latest registered nurses by 2030.
In addition to the shortage of registered nurses, there may be also a shortage of practicing nurses. The nurse is identified as the second fastest growing occupation in the following decade, after wind turbine technicians, with a projected growth of 52.2%. Nurses have a more advanced scope of practice in comparison with registered nurses. They must complete additional clinical hours, obtain a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing, and acquire additional certifications to work with specific patient populations.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation Health and health problems of nursing staff. Despite these problems, students enroll in nursing schools increased in 2020. The pandemic has not discouraged people from pursuing a nursing profession. However, without sufficient nursing staff and clinical facilities, there won’t be enough latest nurses to satisfy the nation’s health care needs.
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More nursing staff are needed
Currently national the unoccupied rate for nursing positions is 6.5%. This is barely improved in comparison with 2019 rate 7.2%. More than half of all nursing schools reporting vacancies for full-time lecturers. The best demand is in nursing programs in Western and Southern States.
To ensure the security of patients, students, and college, nursing education in clinical settings requires a lower student-to-faculty ratio than many other professions. Regulatory agencies recommend that not less than one faculty member not more than 10 students involved in clinical science.
Staff shortages are also influenced by the indisputable fact that there are various of them present in nursing faculties reaching retirement age. Percentage of full-time nursing faculty members aged 60 and over increased from roughly 18% in 2006 to almost 31% in 2015.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports that approx average age The work experience of nurses with a PhD within the positions of professor, associate professor and assistant professor was 62.6, 56.9 and 50.9 years, respectively.
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Another contributing factor to nursing shortages and probably the most critical problem related to recruitment to the school, that is compensation. The salary of a graduate nurse is far higher within the clinical and personal sectors than in academia.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners average salary of a nurse, in various facilities and specialties, is USD 110,000. In turn, AACN reported in March 2020 that average salary of assistant professors preparing for master’s studies in nursing schools was slightly below $80,000.
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Fixing staff shortages
Innovative strategies are needed to handle nursing shortages. The Title VIII Nurse Practitioner Reauthorization Act of 2019 was the start. The bill provides funding for nursing workforce development, scholarships and loan repayment for nurses, in addition to grants for advanced nursing education, nursing diversity initiatives, and other priorities.
Act as a part of Build Back Better passed the US House of Representatives in November 2021 includes funding to assist schools of nursing across the country recruit and retain a various nursing workforce and admit and retain nursing students. The bill is currently being considered within the US Senate.
In addition to national strategies, individual countries are tackling shortages on the local level. For example, Maryland has awarded over $29 million in grants to 14 higher education institutions with nursing programs in Maryland to expand and increase the variety of qualified nurses.
Finally, offering faculty salaries comparable to those in clinical settings may attract more nurses to make use of their expertise to coach and advance the following generation of health care professionals.
