Nurse Educator Shortage Turns Away 32,000 Applicants

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recently reported that U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 32,000 qualified applicants in 2006 due to an insufficient number of nurse educators, clinical sites, and classroom space. A 2005 survey of nursing schools found that 73.5% reported faculty shortages as a primary reason for not accepting qualified nursing applicants and many nurse educators are not joining the faculties due to the pay cut that comes along with it. The shortage of nurse educators has lead some schools to implement a lottery system to determine admission, a system that is criticized as degrading and discouraging to applicants.

The nursing shortage crisis is directly related to the failure to continue to develop physical infrastructure in the medical field. HRSA officials stated eight months ago that the U.S. must graduate approximately 90% more nurses. So what's the problem? It's apparent to me that a simple solution is to pay nurse educators more. That's not to say that all potential nurse educators are only it for the money. Many love teaching and enjoy making a significant difference as educators. However, due to monetary constraints and a physically demanding schedule many potential educators are choosing a different career path.

Unfortunately the crisis in nursing is partly manufactured. By at least the mid 1990s, HMOs were putting every hospital in the country under pressure to reduce the cost of delivering hospital care in order to increase the HMO profits. A major target was the allegedly "high labor costs" associated with the most highly skilled and experienced registered nurses. So-called experts were brought in to reorganize the hospitals, cutting the nursing staffs and replacing them with "aides" or "techs" that had minimal training. The remaining nurses were run into the ground with lengthy shifts and impossible patient loads.

When will they learn?

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