An increase in funding for education can help improve the nursing shortage issue, especially the nursing faculty shortage. As stated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2019), “faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country are limiting student capacity at a time when the need for professional registered nurses continues to grow” (para. 1). The main factors contributing to this adverse situation are budget constraints, aging employees, and intense job competition from clinical sites (AACN, 2019). Therefore, it is pivotal to secure and increase federal funding for faculty development programs and educational and recruitment strategies aimed to combat the existing workforce shortage.
It is valid to say that the faculty shortage is directly linked to the general nursing shortage. Considering this, Deyoung, Bliss, and Tracy (2002) suggest addressing this problem by increasing the number of nurses with bachelor’s and higher degrees and by attracting more advanced practice nurses to faculty roles. In addition, the development of the nursing faculty workforce can be fostered through the implementation of national certification programs for nurse educators and the creation of a more prestigious image of nursing education as a career path (Deyoung, Bliss, & Tracy, 2002). The major difficulty is that many applicants to various nursing programs become turned away every year due to the lack of educators in schools (AACN, 2019). At the same time, a greater number of nursing students should graduate to expand the nurse educator workforce. It is clear that to break this vicious circle; more funds are needed. Money should be allocated to make schools more job-competitive and create new faculty positions to meet schooling demands and accept all qualified applicants.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2019). Nursing faculty shortage. Web.
Deyoung, S., Bliss, J., & Tracy, J. P. (2002). The nursing faculty shortage: Is there hope? Journal of Professional Nursing, 18(6), 313-319.