Contact NurseTim
Toll Free: 866.861.2896
Fax: 866.861.2896
workshops@nursetim.com
Sign up for our eNewsletter
Toll Free: 866.861.2896
Fax: 866.861.2896
workshops@nursetim.com
Sign up for our eNewsletter
Nursing Faculty Shortage
16/06/04 05:37 PM
Bristol, T. (2004). Nursing faculty shortage: Evaluation and proposed solutions. Unpublished paper. NurseTim
Abstract
Research indicates that in 2003 the lack of faculty turned away over 4,000 qualified learners (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a). Given the increasing age of nursing faculty, this problem will worsen within the next few years. This paper will evaluate and propose solutions that may help alleviate the nursing faculty shortage.
Introduction
In 1998, Shirley Keck was taken to an emergency room in Wichita, Kansas (Johnson, 2004) . As the events of that evening unfolded, Shirley died and was resuscitated. As a result of this ordeal, Shirley was left with depression and paralysis for her remaining four years of life. The family sued the hospital, claiming that two nurses and two nursing assistants were not enough to manage the 42 patients in their care. The courts agreed and in July of 2000, Shirley was awarded a $2.7 million malpractice settlement from the hospital. According to Shirley's attorney, this is one of the earliest malpractice suits related to inadequate nurse staffing (Johnson, 2004) .
The current nursing shortage began in 1998 (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2003) . In spite of the fact that registered nurse (RN) employment rose 17% from 1994 to 2000, the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPR) estimates that in the year 2000 there was a 6% nationwide deficit of RNs (as cited in Buerhaus et al., 2003) . The shortage is expected to worsen, reaching 12% by the year 2010 and 20% by the year 2020 (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2004a) .
In 2002 there was a surge in salaries and subsequent employment growth of hospital-based RNs. This growth came primarily from RNs over the age of 50 and foreign-born RNs, providing two-thirds and one-third of the growth respectively. The average age of the RN in 2000 was 41.9 years (Staiger, Auerbach, & Buerhaus, 2000) . This average is expected to reach 45.4 years by 2010. With the increasing workforce age, nursing will see a large number of retirements beginning in 2010.
The increased age of the RN is multifactorial in etiology. One of the greater reasons for the increased age of the nursing workforce is financial (Buerhaus et al., 2003) . From 2001 to 2002, RNs in hospitals saw an average wage increase of 4.9%. This increase prompted non-practicing RNs to return and those present to increase hours. Another financial issue is the slowing of the economy. When one member of a family loses their job, the RN in the family would be more likely to go back to work or work more hours. Observations reveal that RN work force participation increased 10% (more than the national average of 9%) in states where unemployment was higher than the national average.
A different reason for the increase in age of the nursing workforce is the decrease in interest by young females. Women account for approximately 94% of the nursing workforce (Buerhaus et al., 2003) . From 1960s to the 1990s, interest among female high school graduates in nursing as a career dropped by 40% (Staiger et al., 2000) . In the last two decades of the last millennium, the number of RNs under the age of 30 decreased by 41%. However, in the entire American work force, that drop was only 1%. The reason for a decreased interest in nursing is related to the increased opportunities for women in previously male-dominated professions.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that from 2000 to 2010 over one million vacancies will open up for RNs (Hecker, 2001) . Reports indicate that RNs will be the occupation with the largest job growth between 2002 and 2012 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004) . Because of the dramatic increase in the age of the nursing workforce, the sharp decrease in the number of younger RNs, and the increased demand for RNs (40% over the next two decades), nursing academia would need increased enrollments by 40% annually to alleviate the mass retirements expected in 2010 (Buerhaus et al., 2003) .
Background
There are different types of nursing degrees: Associates, Baccalaureate, Masters, and Doctoral (Finke & Boland, 1998) . One way to classify and organize these degrees is based on whether or not the degree prepares an individual to become a licensed RN. Programs that are designed to further the education of an RN are considered postlicensure. These can include Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral degrees. The prelicensure degrees prepare the individual to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX). The NCLEX is the accepted examination that states use to determine whether or not an individual may secure a license to practice as an RN. In order to sit for the NCLEX, the individual usually needs to graduate from an approved School of Nursing and apply to the state board of nursing. The degrees are listed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (2004b) as acceptable preparation to sit for the NCLEX are Diploma, Associates, and Bachelors.
Diploma degrees are often referred to as three-year degrees and are the foundation of nursing academia’s origin (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These programs are usually hospital-based and affiliated with an institution of higher learning. The Diploma-degreed RN is trained to provide direct patient care in varied settings. Shifting of nursing academia to the college and university setting has diminished the Diploma programs to contributing approximately 4.5% of current NCLEX candidates. (NCSBN, 2004b).
Associate degree programs were developed in 1952 in response to a severe nursing shortage (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These programs last approximately two years. The Associate Degree Nurse (ADN) is trained as a technical RN to provide care to the individual patient. The ADN has become the most prominent RN degree accounting for approximately 60% of all NCLEX candidates (NCSBN, 2004). The shorter delivery of these programs makes the ADN an attractive rapid solution to the current nursing shortage (NCSBN, 2004a) . However, these students tend to be older than the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) students and therefore may not be able to contribute to the workforce as long.
Baccalaureate degree programs are usually delivered through a four-year college or university (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These nurses are trained to provide care to patients in complex settings. They also receive training in managerial issues, community health, theory, and research. The BSN, or its equivalent, is required to move into the advanced degrees that allow individuals to teach in nursing. For most states, the needed credentials to be a nurse educator include a Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Doctoral equivalent (Finke, 1998) .
The Problem
One of the major hopes and threats to the current nursing shortage is the graduation of new nurses into the profession (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a; Buerhaus et al., 2003) . Enrollments serve as a hope to the nursing shortage by supplying future professionals. Unfortunately, at this time the threats linger in academia because the faculty workforce ages and continues to lose faculty to professional practice.
New RN graduate numbers were quite high in 1995 when the number of NCLEX candidates was recorded at 96,610 for students graduating in the United States (NCSBN, 2004b) . This number is quite distressing when compared to the 2003 number of 76,727, which is 8,000 above the 2001 number. Analyzing this data leads one to postulate that nursing academia had the capacity for almost 20,000 more students ten years ago. Where did this capacity go?
When considering that the projected demand for RNs calls for increases of 30-40% in enrollments (Buerhaus et al., 2003; National League for Nursing, 2002) , the lack of enrollment capacity is staggering. If the number of enrollments were to meet the projected growth, America would need approximately 40,000 faculty. In 2002, with a shortage of over 1,100 faculty, estimates report that there were 24,320 full-time equivalents (FTEs) (NCSBN, 2004a) . This leaves a deficit of over 15,000 FTEs in nursing academia.
Faculty shortages have already affected the nursing shortage. In 2002,the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2003b) reports that over 11,304 qualified students were turned away from prelicensure BSN programs. In 2003 the number of qualified students turned away was 15,944 (AACN, 2004) . The reasons listed included insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical placement sites, budgetary constraints, and classroom space. In 2002, faculty shortages were cited as the reason for limiting admissions in 41.7% of the schools responding (AACN, 2003a) . This number increased to 64.8% in 2003 (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2004) .
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has been collecting data on the faculty shortage in 16 states and the District of Columbia (SREB, 2003) . In the southeast, data reveals that in 2003 qualified students were not admitted in 67.5% of ADN programs and 37.5% of BSN programs. As for graduate studies, qualified students were not admitted in 15.2% of MSN programs and 12% of doctoral programs. Limited admissions to graduate programs have significance in that these graduates could have been some of the future educators who may be able to help alleviate the faculty shortage and subsequent nursing shortage.
These shortages in nursing faculty are not predicted to end in the near future. In 1997, the average age of assistant professors of nursing was 46, compared to a median age of 31-39 in all other PhD degrees (Anderson, 1998) . In 2003 the average age of assistant professors of nursing was 50.8 years (AACN, 2004) . Full-time doctorally prepared faculty under the age of 50 decreased from 49.3% in 1993 to 29.7% in 2001 (Berlin & Sechrist, 2002) .
Increased age leads to the problems of increased retirements. Over the next sixteen years, an accelerated level of nursing faculty retirements is expected (AACN, 2004) . From 2003 to 2012, approximately 200 to 300 Doctorally-prepared faculty will reach the mean retirement age of 62.5 years annually. From 2012 to 2018, 220 to 280 Master's-prepared faculty will reach the age of 62.5 years annually. The increased age issue is not confined to the practicing faculty. In 1999, 60% of nursing students graduating with a doctoral degree were over the age of 45 (AACN, 2003a) . Based on the average age of retirement for nursing faculty (62.5 years) most of these 1999 graduates may be done teaching before the end of the most severe part of the nursing shortage.
When considering the ability to replenish the supply of faculty, the numbers look quite bleak. A comparison of SREB (SREB, 2003) data for unfilled faculty positions with new graduates (master's and doctoral students) displays a lack of trained faculty to fill vacancies. Over the past 3 years, the newly graduated students would only provide for an average of 23% of the open vacancies. AACN (2003a) reports that in the past decade, the number of doctoral programs has increased from 54 to 83 and that over the past five years there has been an increase of 31 doctoral students per year. This is troubling considering that there has been no increase in the number of Doctorally-prepared graduates over that same time period.
Faculty shortages are limiting the supply of new graduate RNs desperately needed to aid in the current nursing shortage. The increasing age of current and future faculty presents a problem to the already serious nursing faculty shortage (AACN, 2003a) . The limited graduation of graduate prepared RNs is also adding to the faculty shortage. An understanding of factors contributing to the shortage is necessary to develop recommendations for retention, recruitment, and expansion of current and future faculty resources.
Contributing Factors to the Faculty Shortage
A variety of factors may be contributing to the faculty shortage in nursing academia. These factors can be categorized under five main headings.
1. Age and retirement;
2. Barriers to obtaining advanced degrees;
3. Competition with professional practice;
4. Salary
5. Faculty training and workload;
The age factor is contributing to the faculty shortage because of retirements and a lack of younger faculty. For those considering academia as a career, there are certain barriers to obtaining the advanced degrees required to teach. As a result there is a decrease in the enrollments to graduate school. On the professorial side of things, faculty are leaving for clinical and administrative practice because of issues such as salary and the changing academic environment.
Age and Retirement
The increasing age of faculty is contributing to the overall shortage. Over the past decade the increase in average age for Doctorally-prepared (PhD) faculty has been approximately four years, and for MSN-prepared faculty, approximately three years (AACN, 2003a) . Another statistic has shown that the percent of PhD faculty over the age of 50 has increased 20% to 70.7% over the past decade. At the same time, the percent of faculty under the age of 50 has decreased to 29.3% of PhD faculty (Berlin & Sechrist, 2002) . These statistics point to a population of faculty that is migrating quickly towards retirement.
One possible explanation for the aging faculty is the aging nursing workforce in general. Faculty members are RNs and the population of RNs is aging. In 2000 the average age of the RN was 41.9 years and is expected to climb to 45.4 years in 2010 (Staiger et al., 2000) . It is unclear to what extent the aging RN population affects the age of the faculty population. However, considering the size of the faculty population, 24,320 FTEs - as compared to the overall nurse population in 2002, 2,284,000 - the faculty only account for 1% of the total population of RNs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004; NCSBN, 2004a) . Based on this assessment of the data, the conclusion is that the population supplying nursing academia with potential faculty is already 41.9 years-old, on average.
The supply of potential faculty must then be prepared for faculty positions. The basic requirement for teaching in nursing is a MSN degree with the PhD being preferred (Finke, 1998) . MSN and PhD graduates account for only 13% of all nursing graduates from 2001 to 2003 in the SREB group (Southern Regional Education Board, 2003) . Another study estimates that in 2000 nurses with advanced degrees accounted for 10.2% of the RN population (Ault & Rutman, 2002) . Data reveals that a majority of potential faculty need to be educated to meet the requirements for teaching.
The training of BSNs for faculty positions can make the age issue even more problematic. In 2000, the average time for all doctoral candidates to complete their studies was 6.8 years as compared to 8.3 years in nursing (AACN, 2003a) . Median number of years from starting a master's to completing PhD studies was 8.5 in all other fields and 15.9 years in nursing. Median age for all research-based doctoral graduates in 1999 was 33.7 years as compared to 46.2 years in nursing. While the exact reasons behind the increased time for graduate-degree preparation and age at time of completion are unclear, it is clear that this will have an impact on the already older population of faculty. Comparing the median age of PhD graduates in nursing with the average age of retirement (62.5 years) reveals that nursing academia may not be able to keep the limited number of new graduates in the professorate for very long (AACN, 2003a) .
Barriers to Obtaining Advanced Degrees
Over the past few years, trends in graduate nursing education have not been good. Since 1992 there has been an increase in the number of doctoral nursing programs, 54 to 83, without an increase in the number of graduates (AACN, 2003a) . The MSN degree must also be evaluated. Enrollments for MSN students in a five year cohort study of 289 schools, decreased steadily with an average reduction of 110 students per year from 1998 to 2001.
In order for RNs to obtain a more advanced degree (MSN or PhD) to teach they must first obtain a BSN (Finke, 1998) . For the RNs with a diploma or an ADN, they will first need the BSN to obtain those higher degrees. As these individuals contemplate obtaining the BSN degree, they first have to struggle with the issue of not making much of a professional gain with the BSN education. On average, the ADN or diploma RN will have the same salary as the BSN-prepared nurse (Finke, 1998) . Therefore, motivation to advance must be rooted in areas other than salary for the pre-BSN.
Clinical practice requirements are considered another barrier to pursuing an advanced degree for teaching (DeYoung, Bliss, & Tracy, 2002) . Most graduate programs in nursing require the student to work for a time as an RN before beginning work on an advanced degree. This practice is questionable in that it is not supported by research (AACN, 2003a) .
Considering that the median time from beginning of a Master's degree to completion of the PhD degree is seven years longer in nursing than in all other fields, 15.9 and 8.5 years respectively, nursing should capture talented new BSN graduates early (AACN, 2003a) . In many other professions and fields of study, the Bachelor's degree is all that is required to move into graduate studies. Many of the graduating BSNs are quite talented and have an aptitude for academia and therefore should be considered for entry into graduate school. By being offered a seamless transition into graduate education, they may be able to complete school quicker as they will be less likely to have competing demands such as family and an established career.
Another population of potential faculty candidates is second degree students (AACN, 2003a) . These are individuals that may have degrees in other fields who pursue a BSN. These students can and do include lawyers, social workers, occupational therapists, and police officers. Their talents from previous careers would enrich the human resources of nursing academia. However, requiring that these individuals enter nursing through the ADN or BSN degree may deter them from considering nursing (M. Dreher, personal communication, December 9, 2002 ) or moving on to a higher degree once they have entered the profession.
Tuition is another barrier to obtaining an advanced degree for teaching. On average, the annual resident tuition for graduate nursing education in public schools was $3,659 and for private schools was $11,020 (Peterson's Colleges of Nursing Database, 2002, as cited in AACN, 2003a) . When compared to potential salary gains, the cost of tuition may be intolerable to most RNs.
In May of 2003, the Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) (2003) reports the mean salary of the RN is $51,230 with an average hourly wage of $24.63. The average number of hours of overtime for an RN is 4.5 to 6.3 hours per week (NCSBN, 2002) . Based on 48 weeks worked per year, the RN average salary would be $51,230 plus $5,320.08 of overtime for a total annual salary of $56,550.08. The BLS (2003) report notes that the average salary of nursing instructors is $53,480. The average net loss of over $3,000 per year could be a great deterrent to paying tuition or incurring student loans.
Competition with Professional Practice
Attracting graduate-prepared nurses into academia has been problematic. In 1978 23% of MSN students were preparing for the faculty role. In 1991 that percentage of enrollments fell to 10% and in 2001 it was 3.1% (DeYoung et al., 2002) . As for graduations, they decreased from 755 (9.5% of all MSN graduates) in 1993 to 247 (2.5%) in 1999 (National League for Nursing, 2002) . These numbers present nursing academia with a dilemma.
The shift away from academic training is multifactorial (AACN, 2003a) . Over the course of the 1990s, many MSN students were pursuing training as nurse practitioners. This role facilitates more of an independent clinical practice. Given the heavy clinical focus of these practitioners, few are inclined to pursue a PhD. Doctoral graduates tend to pursue research agendas in keeping with their work as a doctoral student. A majority of faculty are trained as clinical practitioners or researchers and have little or no training in the basics of teaching (Kelly, 2002) . "Even though these nurses are expert clinicians, they frequently lack the knowledge of higher education and the teaching skills necessary to implement the educator role successfully" (Kelly, 2002, p. 25) .
Placing individuals in a situation where they do not have the tools to succeed is a recipe for failure (Kelly, 2002) . The academic unit may experience failure in outcomes as well as failure in motivating the educator. An inability to motivate the educator may lead to failure in retaining the clinically or research trained MSN or PhD. Unfortunately, the already stressed academic environment has few resources to offer adequate training to clinically-focused educators.
Competition with professional practice is particularly noticeable in younger faculty (AACN, 2003a) . Doctorally prepared faculty age 36 to 45 years have decreased by 18.1% over the past decade. Some of the loss of this age category is due to advancement to the next age category. However, AACN (2003a) reports that majority of this loss is due to younger faculty leaving academia. Observations of MSN trends revealed the same patterns. Surveys of this population reveals that 43% are pursuing careers outside of academia.
An analysis of SREB (2003) data over the past three years supports AACN (2003a) data. For 2001 and 2002, career advancement was the most common reason given for leaving, second only to family issues. In 2003, that changed when career advancement was listed more often than family with 23% and 21% respectively. When surveyed about the former faculty's disposition after resignation, practice was always the most frequent response. In 2003, working in practice accounted for 54.8% of the resignation responses with 15.2% of the rest unknown.
When attempting to understand faculty resignations, two key issues are revealed. The first issue is that of salary. The second issue revolves around faculty satisfaction with the nurse educator role.
Salary
Addressing the salary discrepancy is of utmost importance. Peter Buerhaus (personal communication, November 12, 2004 ) asserts that the quickest way to resolve the current nursing shortage is to double the salary of all nursing faculty. While this statement may seem bold, the salary-related barriers to becoming a part of nursing academia are significant. Salaries in professional practice tend to be greater than in academic practice (AACN, 2003a) . One basic comparison is that of the nurse practitioner to the nursing faculty with average annual salaries of $69,203 and $53,480 respectively (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003; Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . In both cases the RN may have a MSN and have the same academic background. Another comparison reveals that the head nurse of a medical floor in the hospital can make more (median of $68,194) than a PhD assistant professor of nursing (median of $65,212) (AACN, 2003a) . The academic salary in this comparison was calculated at a 1.22 rate to account for the discrepancy between the academic and calendar year.
These findings are troubling for two reasons (AACN, 2003a) . The first is that academia cannot compete financially with the professional realm. The second is that the MSN in professional practice has little incentive to return for the PhD when the wages are higher in professional practice without the PhD.
Faculty Training and Workload
Analysis of SREB (2003) data reveals that the reason for faculty’s leaving academia is often listed as returning to practice. When compared to leaving academia because of salary, the results show that leaving for a career in practice occurs more often. Data from 2001 shows that leaving for practice was reported 26% of the time while leaving because of salary was reported 22% of the time. In 2002, the split grew even larger for professional practice and salary with 21% and 13% respectively and 23% and 5% respectively in 2003. Another indicator of the issue of faculty leaving for practice is the post-resignation analysis (SREB, 2003) . Survey results reveal that in 2003 of all resignations reported 55% of faculty were in the clinical setting, 28.9% were in a different academic unit and 15.2% had an unknown disposition. The conclusion is that most faculty who leave academia are going to clinical practice in some capacity.
What does this data indicate from the SREB (2003) ? There seems to be a larger proportion of faculty leaving for non-salary reasons. One possible reason stems from the academic environment (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen, Crane, Letvak, Jones, & Hu, 2003) . Over the past few years many changes have occurred in nursing academia's environment. The undergraduate population of nursing students is getting older (Minnesota Department of Health, 2002) . AACN (2003a) reports that in the 1990s the average age of the newly graduated RN rose seven years to 30.9 years. In 2003, 73% of nursing students could be classified as non-traditional or adult learners.
Most nurse educators and potential faculty received their basic training in an environment that valued more of a knowledge-transmission type of learning (Mathews, 2003b) . The problem arises in the fact that many nursing faculty are untrained as educators. Therefore, they will be more likely to teach in the same fashion that they were taught during nursing school (Johnson-Crowley, 2004) .
The conflict arises because teaching with a knowledge-transmission type of learning model is not ideal for adult learners. The adult learner thrives in an environment that is more self-directed and learner-centered (Brookfield, 1986) . This type of learning model is referred to as andragogy. To successfully implement andragogy takes training, especially for those who were educated under a knowledge-transmission type of learning model (Johnson-Crowley, 2004; Mathews, 2003b) . A mismatch in teaching modality and learning needs will make for an unpleasant environment for the learner and educator. Teaching in an environment that is not enjoyable will be reason for not continuing in the nursing professorate (Lewallen et al., 2003) .
Another group of students is offering considerable challenges to the nursing faculty member. The group is the younger-student population (AACN, 2003a) . The AACN (2003a) reports that "mature faculty members as a whole have very different views about work, authority, relationships, responsibility, and the nature of learning than today's twenty something learners" (p. 10). Understanding these differences is vital to creating a successful learning environment that learner and educator can thrive in.
The younger-student population brings other variables that can be difficult for the faculty to manage. Today's high school graduates can present a variety of academic capabilities. The United States Department of Education reported that in 2002 approximately 33% of students who were classified as at risk for low academic success would be entering Bachelor's programs (as cited in AACN, 2003a) . These students will require faculty to implement remedial interventions. At the same time, higher achieving students will be vying for faculty time to pursue advanced understanding and study. This dichotomy can cause stress for nursing faculty.
Study habits of students may also prove to be a difficult issue for faculty to manage. Some studies indicate that over 80% of students report studying 15 hours a week or less (Young, 2002, as cited in AACN, 2003a) . Considering that most schools recommend studying three times that amount for a 15 credit semester, faculty will have the added burden of providing guidance and direction to foster success in younger generations. Extra guidance may be especially important for those born after 1980 who are categorized as optimistic and confident (Zemke, 2001) .
Workload is another issue causing stress for faculty (AACN, 2003a) . The nurse educator often has many more responsibilities than one would have in a clinical practice. Along with the teaching, mentoring, advising, and program administrative duties, the nurse educator may be called to maintain a practice. The value of current practice in the classroom is undisputed. Therefore, many faculty are either required or mandated to maintain some type of current professional practice.
In the clinical setting, faculty members are facing the same group of patients as the professional practitioners. Patients in hospitals are sicker and therefore the instructor who manages a group of students will have a more difficult load to deal with (AACN, 2003a) . If the instructor has seven students and each student takes two patients a piece, the instructor would have 14 very sick patients and seven nursing students to account for. This responsibility can be and often is overwhelming. Managing 21 people in such a high stress environment can lead to burnout, emotional exhaustion, and even early retirement (AACN, 2003a) .
Away from the clinical setting, nursing instructors have many responsibilities (AACN, 2003a) . Their regular duties can include advising and administrative chores. Many institutions expect faculty to be active in research and community service. Combining all the workload issues that a faculty member can face, clarifies the decision by many to leave academia for a different working environment (SREB, 2003) .
Strategies
The discussion has explored five areas that are contributing to the shortage of nursing faculty. Addressing the faculty shortage requires an understanding of how to address increased retirements related to the increasing age of faculty. Evaluating the barriers potential faculty face when pursuing the education needed to become a faculty member. Competition with the professional practice environment must also be addressed as many faculty are leaving academia due to frustrations with the workload and salaries.
Strategies have been developed to address these contributing factors to the faculty shortage.
1. Extending productive years of faculty;
2. Utilizing non-nursing professionals;
3. Recruitment;
4. Tuition;
5. Collaboration with professional practice;
6. Faculty development;
7. Technology;
8. Research;
The following discussion will focus on ways to utilize retirees and non-nursing professionals to improve the academic environment for faculty and students. Recruitment of different populations will bring awareness to individuals who may have never considered nursing or teaching as a career. Many stakeholders have an interest in alleviating the faculty shortage and with some creative discussion these parties can address ways to lessen the financial burdens of those who would choose to seek advanced degrees. Collaborating with professional practice will provide academia with the necessary human resources to manage some of the more labor intensive teaching duties. Addressing faculty development, even in times when academia’s resources are so limited, can have a long-term benefit in improving the motivation and success of faculty. Appropriate utilization of technology can also have a faculty sparing effect by decreasing time in clinical and allowing faculty to reach more students. Finally, research is needed to analyze the practice of nursing education.
Extending Productive Years
Strategies to address the aging nursing faculty revolve around extending the productive years of current and future faculty. One of the major issues to address is that of retirement. Retirement does not need to be a complete separation from the practice of teaching. Data has revealed that 50% of retiring professors, across disciplines, find themselves back in practice (AACN, 2003a) . Retired nurses have also reported missing professional interactions and will often pursue volunteer positions to stay active in health care.
The conclusion is then supported that retired faculty still have a significant interest in the profession. Retirees are needed in administration, advising, teaching, and as mentors or consultants to less experienced faculty (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen et al., 2003) . As some strategies for resolving the faculty shortage will include bringing in more graduate students, preceptors, non-nursing faculty and younger faculty, there will be a great need for the experience and expertise that these retirees possess (DeYoung et al., 2002) . To keep them connected to nursing academia will be a great asset.
At the University of Southern California , the Emeriti Center has provided venues for keeping retired faculty connected. Retirees are allowed to continue to teach and obtain research grants of up to $2000 (University of Southern California, 2003) . This keeps these valuable human resources still involved in academe to the benefit of all. The University of California developed a faculty-recall agreement whereby retired faculty can come back to teaching as long as the pay does not exceed 46% of their base salary at retirement (University of California, 2002) . Developing programs like these may allow more flexibility in keeping retired faculty involved in nursing academia.
Another possible solution is to utilize more retired faculty in online education. Learning facilitated over the Internet allows faculty to be anywhere and still manage courses (Ko & Rossen, 2001) . They may take part in the many things that attracted them to retirement while still being involved in teaching and mentoring from a distance. Considering that the number of seniors utilizing the Internet was predicted to nearly double between 2000 and 2003 (Vastag, 2001) , there is reason to believe that this could be a plausible strategy for retaining senior retired nursing faculty.
Non-nursing Professionals
When looking at strategies to help alleviate the faculty shortage, non-nursing professionals must be considered (AACN, 2003a) . These professionals can do well with advising and administration given the proper guidance from faculty. Having a registered dietician teach nutrition or a pharmacist teach pharmacology is ideal. Co-teaching with other professions, like occupational therapy and physical therapy, not only has a faculty-sparing effect but may also improve the student's understanding of the different professions and highlight the benefit of interdisciplinary teamwork. A physician assistant could very easily teach physical assessment while a lawyer could just as well teach legal-ethical classes.
Utilizing non-nursing faculty and staff frees the nursing faculty to teach in other critical areas more specific to nursing (AACN, 2003a) . These areas include medical-surgical nursing, nursing skills, nursing clinical, and community health nursing. An analysis of the Concordia University Wisconsin Nursing Curriculum (Concordia University Wisconsin, 2004) reveals that approximately 28% of the program could be taught by non-nurse faculty members.
Recruitment
Recruitment needs to focus on many different groups (AACN, 2003a) . There needs to be recruitment of the graduate-prepared RNs that hold the degrees required to teach. These RNs many times need only an invitation. Dianne Shantz at the Community College of Denver reports that "Every time I have advertised for faculty [for the accelerated ADN program], I get a great response from folks who have never taught before, but would like to learn teaching online" (personal communication, May 27, 2004 ).
The next group to focus on are practicing RNs (AACN, 2003a) . Many RNs never think about teaching because they either did not like school or think that they are not fit for teaching. What many practicing RNs may forget is that in most types of nursing practice the RNs are teaching throughout the course of their work. Compliments on interactions with students from current faculty can be a real motivator. In the author's personal experience, two BSNs began graduate work and started jobs as teaching assistants because of invitations to try teaching and interacting with the students. Another BSN who was working on her MSN was also encouraged and decided to become a clinical Teaching Assistant. Promoting the professorate is the responsibility of every nursing faculty member.
Students in BSN programs also represent another pool of potential candidates (AACN, 2003a) . The belief that RNs need to practice before they can teach is still held by many. Research does not support or negate this belief. Since it takes approximately twice the time for a BSN to reach a PhD as it does in other disciplines, the clinical practice requirement should be reconsidered (DeYoung et al., 2002) . New BSN graduates are more likely to be free of competing life issues, family, and full-time work than the student that practices for a few years and comes back to obtain a higher degree. By recruiting the new graduate BSN, a faculty member may be groomed faster (DeYoung et al., 2002) . Encouragement towards this career possibility should begin early in the student's academic career.
Finally, the precollege individual should be considered when recruitment is discussed (AACN, 2003a) . This can include the individuals who have degrees in other fields. By providing accelerated programs, these individuals may be more likely to move through the basic RN work and onto the MSN for faculty preparation. Second-career recruits bring a lot to the classroom with their varied experiences.
The other precollege population to consider are children and adolescents (AACN, 2003a) . By discussing the nursing career opportunities with this group, seeds are planted. Encouraging them in this direction may increase the pool of talented nurses to someday fill faculty roles. The high school graduate of 2004 could easily become the much needed nursing faculty member of 2014.
Tuition
Wage discrepancies call for strategies that will reduce the tuition burden on potential faculty. Not only are potential faculty likely to not receive financial gain through their academic pursuits, but they are also likely to experience lost wages while attending school (AACN, 2003a) . Private and public stake holders should consider providing grants and loans for future faculty. Loan forgiveness should be considered in exchange for service in nursing academia. The Bureau of Health Professions (2004) is offering the Faculty Loan Repayment Program, which provides $20,000 annual student loan forgiveness in exchange for practice in an accredited school of nursing. Through another BHPR program, students in graduate nursing programs can borrow up to $30,000 per year for up to five years. The loan is repaid through working as faculty.
Academic units may also provide tuition assistance in an effort to alleviate faculty shortages in a particular area. At Concordia University Wisconsin , MSN students are given free tuition credits in exchange for work as a teaching assistant in class and clinical (G. Peterson, personal communication, September 6, 2003 ). Teaching assistants at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (2004) can receive free graduate tuition and a salary of up to $22,321 per academic year of teaching undergraduate nursing.
Collaboration with Professional Practice
When addressing the ability of academia to compete with the benefits of professional practice, salaries are a large problem. Trying to compete with professional practice salaries may not be possible. Comparing the salaries of a head nurse (who may be BSN prepared) with that of a PhD-prepared Associate Professor, the data reveals that the wage of the latter is about $3000 less (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a) . When comparing the MSN-prepared nurse practitioner to the MSN-prepared faculty, the data reveals that the wage of the latter is about $12,000 less (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003; Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . Just analyzing the growth in the nurse practitioner salaries reveals an increase of 9.55% over the last year and 8.19% over the two-year period prior to that (Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . Academia may need to look at ways of attracting potential faculty without totally removing them from the higher paying professional practice.
Attracting the MSN or PhD in professional practice will require the development of partnerships between academic institutions and practice settings (AACN, 2003a; Zungolo, 2004) . The practice setting needs graduate RNs and academia hopes to produce graduate RNs. Capitalizing on this fact can create incentives for collaboration between academia and practice.
One collaborative program includes the use of clinical RNs in the training of the student RN (Velianoff, Sumner, Verdejo, & Price, 2003) . This can be done in two different formats (Stokes, 1998) . The traditional clinical teaching model involves one instructor to approximately eight nursing students. The instructor stays employed by the clinical organization. The RN's time is either donated to or bought by the academic unit from the clinical organization. Students practice the implementation of knowledge gained through theory classes in the clinical setting. Given the small ratio, clinical can be a very labor intensive class. Because this type of clinical teaching is so vital to the academic program, having this professional as a clinical faculty instructor can be very beneficial (AACN, 2003a) .
In the preceptor-based model of clinical instruction, the RN will stay employed in the clinical institution, but will be available to take nursing students for clinical training in a one-on-one relationship (Stokes, 1998) . The RN in this arrangement may be compensated by receiving faculty privileges to the university campus or tuition waivers towards classes. This type of clinical has shown many benefits. Clinical organizations report that when preceptors are employed, the professionalism and moral of staff RNs improve (Haas, Deardorff, & Klotz, 2002) . Researchers observed that students were able to better manage their time, practice more with interdisciplinary collaboration, and use more complex skills more often. One-on-one relationships between preceptor and student have also shown to improve critical thinking skills in the student (Myrick, 2002) .
Another method of utilizing clinical professionals without taking them away from their larger salaries is to create teaching opportunities that fit into their professional schedules. One way of doing this is through the use of distance learning and online technology (AACN, 2003a) . By creating a class online or at a distance, the instructor may have more flexibility to teach when time allows. If instructors are seeing patients all day, they won't be able to make the 9:50AM class on Mondays and Fridays. However, if they are teaching the class in an asynchronous format online, they may teach from the comfort of their home in the evening after they have geared down from a long day at the hospital.
Moving course work to the Internet, evenings, and weekends will allow professionals more opportunity to mix professional and academic practice. Benefits of these flexible arrangements include not only more faculty in the pool, but also more student interaction with practicing professionals (Haas et al., 2002) . The whole point of nursing academia is to prepare the student RN for professional practice. Therefore, the professional RN can be a great asset to the academic team (Kelly, 2002) .
Creating collaborative relationships with clinical agencies may allow academia to take advantage of the large pool of graduate-prepared nurses in clinical practice without trying to compete with the higher salaries of clinical practice. Salary discrepancies seem to play a role in the loss of many faculty to the practice arena (AACN, 2003a) . However, the size of the effect salary has on this loss is unclear.
Faculty Development
Faculty in today’s nursing programs are facing many different challenges compared to just a few years ago. Their students represent a much broader variety of generations, abilities and attitudes. Dealing with a variety of student characteristics and abilities necessitates training for faculty. Considering the large number of faculty without educator training, this is a significant issue (AACN, 2003a; Zungolo, 2004) . The myth that being knowledgeable about an area of practice is all that is required to be an educator is no longer accepted. Training for nurse educators should include not only knowledge-transmission but constructivist learning with actual classroom practicums (Kelly, 2002) . Student nurse educators should be paired with a mentor-preceptor who can serve as a resource for the new faculty member.
At Indiana Wesleyan University , practicing professionals may be hired to teach online courses in nursing. Prior to teaching, the potential faculty members have a few different phases of orientation that must be completed successfully (S. Strevy, personal communication, May 27, 2004 ). First, they must complete a three-week online class that models the correct way to teach a student in that environment. Next, the potential educator shadows a current faculty member for an entire course. Finally, when the new faculty has their own class, they will be mentored by another faculty member for the duration of their first course.
All faculty members, whether primarily professional or primarily academic, should be trained for the educator role (AACN, 2003a) . Graduate programs in nursing should include nurse educator training. For those who have been trained, continued faculty development is essential. This is such an important issue that the AACN (2003a) is encouraging schools of nursing to "Identify minimum faculty development activities that should be required of all faculty, and incorporate these into internal hiring and/or evaluation strategies" (p. 22).
Technology
Technology may offer relief for the burdened faculty workforce as well. Utilizing virtual reality and simulation software may offer some solutions to the overworked faculty (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . The Oregon Center for Nursing has reported that schools of nursing are using simulation technology to prepare students for clinical (Oregon Center for Nursing, 2003) . Oregon is similar to most of the country. Limited clinical space can prevent a school from accepting all qualified candidates available (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . The technology is a vital part of their education given the limited clinical experience the students may receive.
Another technology issue relates to distance learning. Faculty-sparing effects have been linked to distance learning especially when the Internet is utilized (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . If online technology is utilized appropriately, the faculty member’s expertise may be shared among different campuses. At Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC), in West Bend, Wisconsin, one faculty member teaches online pharmacology for all 16 Wisconsin State Technical Colleges (WSTC) (A. Brett, personal communication, April 29, 2004). Because every nursing program in the WSTC teaches a different non-clinical nursing course online, faculty in the face-to-face programs could have smaller class sizes since many students prefer the online option. At the Community College of Denver , every time an ad is placed to recruit online faculty many graduate-prepared RNs apply with no teaching experience (D. Shantz, personal communication, May 27, 2004 ). The main reason these non-academics apply is the flexibility of online teaching.
Research
The faculty shortage is causing strain on a variety of widely held norms in nursing academia. One of the more prevalent norms is the faculty-student ratio in the traditional clinical (AACN, 2003a) . This ratio may be 1:6, 1:8, or higher. However, the smaller the number of students per instructor, the fewer the instructors available to teach. Currently, there is not good data to support any ratio. Research needs to be done on the art of teaching with regards to faculty-sparing interventions and faculty performance in a variety of settings.
Unfortunately, there has been a decline in interest in educational research for a number of reasons. One reason is that the clinical focus of the majority of MSNs has made them less likely to pursue PhD education (AACN, 2003a) . This in turn is decreasing the number of PhDs. Another problem is the fact that there are fewer PhDs interested in academia. A lack of PhDs in nursing academia is affecting nursing's ability to empirically support changes in nursing education that can have a faculty-sparing effect while at the same time maintain quality.
The AACN (2003a) offers a few suggestions to help improve the research base of today's nursing academia. The first strategy is to simply promote educational research. Identifying stake holders, government or private, that will support this research should be easier than in the past because of the acute nature of the nursing and faculty shortages. When pursuing grants and other funding for faculty-sparing techniques, funds should be incorporated into the grant to empirically monitor outcomes (Kelly, 2002) . This could assist others with data that can be used to duplicate or further previous faculty-sparing programs. Researchers should also study current programs that are cutting edge for efficacy and efficiency. Academia needs to collaborate with experts in educational research in other areas. Utilize data from other professions to support further study specific to nursing.
Conclusion
The current faculty shortage has been growing since the early 1990s (DeYoung et al., 2002) . At the core of the faculty shortage is the devaluation of the nurse educator role (Kelly, 2002) . All efforts to resolve the faculty shortage should be partnered with goals of improving the perceptions of nursing education and research around this specialty.
The causes of the faculty shortage are as varied as the strategies that have been offered to improve this tough situation (AACN, 2003a) . At the base of the shortage is the overall shortage of RNs. Over the past two decades, the career possibilities of women have opened up dramatically. Since nursing is comprised mostly of women, 40% fewer college freshman identify nursing as their first choice than did in 1973 (Staiger et al., 2000) . These changes have caused a dramatic increase in the age of the RN and subsequently the age of nursing faculty. Estimates predict that in some parts of the country 41% of faculty in BSN programs will retire by 2005 and another 46% are expected to retire by 2010 (AACN, 2004) . Other causes include the stress that faculty face, the salaries that are usually less than realized in practice, and the barriers to advanced nursing education (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen et al., 2003) .
Strategies to resolve the nursing faculty shortage are being tried in different venues (AACN, 2003a) . No matter the area providing relief for the shortage, nursing academia must ensure that future faculty be properly trained (DeYoung et al., 2002) . Placing individuals in the teaching role with little training is setting them up for discouragement and potentially causing the loss of yet another faculty member (Johnson-Crowley, 2004; Mathews, 2003a) .
Some areas are using technology to alleviate strain on faculty. The government is providing incentives through loans and grants to encourage MSN students to consider a career in teaching (Bureau of Health Professions, 2004) . Academic units are collaborating with clinical practice sites to meet student needs in the clinical setting. Recruitment should focus on a variety of populations realizing that there is a potential faculty member in everyone from the primary education student to the police officer. Partnering with public and private sectors will provide much needed resources to help reduce the current faculty shortage.
Through creativity and determination, nursing academia can manage the current faculty shortage. Its responsibility is to meet this challenge because America is counting on nursing academia to provide the largest population of healthcare providers in recent years.
References
Abstract
Research indicates that in 2003 the lack of faculty turned away over 4,000 qualified learners (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a). Given the increasing age of nursing faculty, this problem will worsen within the next few years. This paper will evaluate and propose solutions that may help alleviate the nursing faculty shortage.
Introduction
In 1998, Shirley Keck was taken to an emergency room in Wichita, Kansas (Johnson, 2004) . As the events of that evening unfolded, Shirley died and was resuscitated. As a result of this ordeal, Shirley was left with depression and paralysis for her remaining four years of life. The family sued the hospital, claiming that two nurses and two nursing assistants were not enough to manage the 42 patients in their care. The courts agreed and in July of 2000, Shirley was awarded a $2.7 million malpractice settlement from the hospital. According to Shirley's attorney, this is one of the earliest malpractice suits related to inadequate nurse staffing (Johnson, 2004) .
The current nursing shortage began in 1998 (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2003) . In spite of the fact that registered nurse (RN) employment rose 17% from 1994 to 2000, the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPR) estimates that in the year 2000 there was a 6% nationwide deficit of RNs (as cited in Buerhaus et al., 2003) . The shortage is expected to worsen, reaching 12% by the year 2010 and 20% by the year 2020 (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2004a) .
In 2002 there was a surge in salaries and subsequent employment growth of hospital-based RNs. This growth came primarily from RNs over the age of 50 and foreign-born RNs, providing two-thirds and one-third of the growth respectively. The average age of the RN in 2000 was 41.9 years (Staiger, Auerbach, & Buerhaus, 2000) . This average is expected to reach 45.4 years by 2010. With the increasing workforce age, nursing will see a large number of retirements beginning in 2010.
The increased age of the RN is multifactorial in etiology. One of the greater reasons for the increased age of the nursing workforce is financial (Buerhaus et al., 2003) . From 2001 to 2002, RNs in hospitals saw an average wage increase of 4.9%. This increase prompted non-practicing RNs to return and those present to increase hours. Another financial issue is the slowing of the economy. When one member of a family loses their job, the RN in the family would be more likely to go back to work or work more hours. Observations reveal that RN work force participation increased 10% (more than the national average of 9%) in states where unemployment was higher than the national average.
A different reason for the increase in age of the nursing workforce is the decrease in interest by young females. Women account for approximately 94% of the nursing workforce (Buerhaus et al., 2003) . From 1960s to the 1990s, interest among female high school graduates in nursing as a career dropped by 40% (Staiger et al., 2000) . In the last two decades of the last millennium, the number of RNs under the age of 30 decreased by 41%. However, in the entire American work force, that drop was only 1%. The reason for a decreased interest in nursing is related to the increased opportunities for women in previously male-dominated professions.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that from 2000 to 2010 over one million vacancies will open up for RNs (Hecker, 2001) . Reports indicate that RNs will be the occupation with the largest job growth between 2002 and 2012 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004) . Because of the dramatic increase in the age of the nursing workforce, the sharp decrease in the number of younger RNs, and the increased demand for RNs (40% over the next two decades), nursing academia would need increased enrollments by 40% annually to alleviate the mass retirements expected in 2010 (Buerhaus et al., 2003) .
Background
There are different types of nursing degrees: Associates, Baccalaureate, Masters, and Doctoral (Finke & Boland, 1998) . One way to classify and organize these degrees is based on whether or not the degree prepares an individual to become a licensed RN. Programs that are designed to further the education of an RN are considered postlicensure. These can include Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral degrees. The prelicensure degrees prepare the individual to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX). The NCLEX is the accepted examination that states use to determine whether or not an individual may secure a license to practice as an RN. In order to sit for the NCLEX, the individual usually needs to graduate from an approved School of Nursing and apply to the state board of nursing. The degrees are listed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (2004b) as acceptable preparation to sit for the NCLEX are Diploma, Associates, and Bachelors.
Diploma degrees are often referred to as three-year degrees and are the foundation of nursing academia’s origin (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These programs are usually hospital-based and affiliated with an institution of higher learning. The Diploma-degreed RN is trained to provide direct patient care in varied settings. Shifting of nursing academia to the college and university setting has diminished the Diploma programs to contributing approximately 4.5% of current NCLEX candidates. (NCSBN, 2004b).
Associate degree programs were developed in 1952 in response to a severe nursing shortage (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These programs last approximately two years. The Associate Degree Nurse (ADN) is trained as a technical RN to provide care to the individual patient. The ADN has become the most prominent RN degree accounting for approximately 60% of all NCLEX candidates (NCSBN, 2004). The shorter delivery of these programs makes the ADN an attractive rapid solution to the current nursing shortage (NCSBN, 2004a) . However, these students tend to be older than the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) students and therefore may not be able to contribute to the workforce as long.
Baccalaureate degree programs are usually delivered through a four-year college or university (Finke & Boland, 1998) . These nurses are trained to provide care to patients in complex settings. They also receive training in managerial issues, community health, theory, and research. The BSN, or its equivalent, is required to move into the advanced degrees that allow individuals to teach in nursing. For most states, the needed credentials to be a nurse educator include a Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Doctoral equivalent (Finke, 1998) .
The Problem
One of the major hopes and threats to the current nursing shortage is the graduation of new nurses into the profession (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a; Buerhaus et al., 2003) . Enrollments serve as a hope to the nursing shortage by supplying future professionals. Unfortunately, at this time the threats linger in academia because the faculty workforce ages and continues to lose faculty to professional practice.
New RN graduate numbers were quite high in 1995 when the number of NCLEX candidates was recorded at 96,610 for students graduating in the United States (NCSBN, 2004b) . This number is quite distressing when compared to the 2003 number of 76,727, which is 8,000 above the 2001 number. Analyzing this data leads one to postulate that nursing academia had the capacity for almost 20,000 more students ten years ago. Where did this capacity go?
When considering that the projected demand for RNs calls for increases of 30-40% in enrollments (Buerhaus et al., 2003; National League for Nursing, 2002) , the lack of enrollment capacity is staggering. If the number of enrollments were to meet the projected growth, America would need approximately 40,000 faculty. In 2002, with a shortage of over 1,100 faculty, estimates report that there were 24,320 full-time equivalents (FTEs) (NCSBN, 2004a) . This leaves a deficit of over 15,000 FTEs in nursing academia.
Faculty shortages have already affected the nursing shortage. In 2002,the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2003b) reports that over 11,304 qualified students were turned away from prelicensure BSN programs. In 2003 the number of qualified students turned away was 15,944 (AACN, 2004) . The reasons listed included insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical placement sites, budgetary constraints, and classroom space. In 2002, faculty shortages were cited as the reason for limiting admissions in 41.7% of the schools responding (AACN, 2003a) . This number increased to 64.8% in 2003 (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2004) .
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has been collecting data on the faculty shortage in 16 states and the District of Columbia (SREB, 2003) . In the southeast, data reveals that in 2003 qualified students were not admitted in 67.5% of ADN programs and 37.5% of BSN programs. As for graduate studies, qualified students were not admitted in 15.2% of MSN programs and 12% of doctoral programs. Limited admissions to graduate programs have significance in that these graduates could have been some of the future educators who may be able to help alleviate the faculty shortage and subsequent nursing shortage.
These shortages in nursing faculty are not predicted to end in the near future. In 1997, the average age of assistant professors of nursing was 46, compared to a median age of 31-39 in all other PhD degrees (Anderson, 1998) . In 2003 the average age of assistant professors of nursing was 50.8 years (AACN, 2004) . Full-time doctorally prepared faculty under the age of 50 decreased from 49.3% in 1993 to 29.7% in 2001 (Berlin & Sechrist, 2002) .
Increased age leads to the problems of increased retirements. Over the next sixteen years, an accelerated level of nursing faculty retirements is expected (AACN, 2004) . From 2003 to 2012, approximately 200 to 300 Doctorally-prepared faculty will reach the mean retirement age of 62.5 years annually. From 2012 to 2018, 220 to 280 Master's-prepared faculty will reach the age of 62.5 years annually. The increased age issue is not confined to the practicing faculty. In 1999, 60% of nursing students graduating with a doctoral degree were over the age of 45 (AACN, 2003a) . Based on the average age of retirement for nursing faculty (62.5 years) most of these 1999 graduates may be done teaching before the end of the most severe part of the nursing shortage.
When considering the ability to replenish the supply of faculty, the numbers look quite bleak. A comparison of SREB (SREB, 2003) data for unfilled faculty positions with new graduates (master's and doctoral students) displays a lack of trained faculty to fill vacancies. Over the past 3 years, the newly graduated students would only provide for an average of 23% of the open vacancies. AACN (2003a) reports that in the past decade, the number of doctoral programs has increased from 54 to 83 and that over the past five years there has been an increase of 31 doctoral students per year. This is troubling considering that there has been no increase in the number of Doctorally-prepared graduates over that same time period.
Faculty shortages are limiting the supply of new graduate RNs desperately needed to aid in the current nursing shortage. The increasing age of current and future faculty presents a problem to the already serious nursing faculty shortage (AACN, 2003a) . The limited graduation of graduate prepared RNs is also adding to the faculty shortage. An understanding of factors contributing to the shortage is necessary to develop recommendations for retention, recruitment, and expansion of current and future faculty resources.
Contributing Factors to the Faculty Shortage
A variety of factors may be contributing to the faculty shortage in nursing academia. These factors can be categorized under five main headings.
1. Age and retirement;
2. Barriers to obtaining advanced degrees;
3. Competition with professional practice;
4. Salary
5. Faculty training and workload;
The age factor is contributing to the faculty shortage because of retirements and a lack of younger faculty. For those considering academia as a career, there are certain barriers to obtaining the advanced degrees required to teach. As a result there is a decrease in the enrollments to graduate school. On the professorial side of things, faculty are leaving for clinical and administrative practice because of issues such as salary and the changing academic environment.
Age and Retirement
The increasing age of faculty is contributing to the overall shortage. Over the past decade the increase in average age for Doctorally-prepared (PhD) faculty has been approximately four years, and for MSN-prepared faculty, approximately three years (AACN, 2003a) . Another statistic has shown that the percent of PhD faculty over the age of 50 has increased 20% to 70.7% over the past decade. At the same time, the percent of faculty under the age of 50 has decreased to 29.3% of PhD faculty (Berlin & Sechrist, 2002) . These statistics point to a population of faculty that is migrating quickly towards retirement.
One possible explanation for the aging faculty is the aging nursing workforce in general. Faculty members are RNs and the population of RNs is aging. In 2000 the average age of the RN was 41.9 years and is expected to climb to 45.4 years in 2010 (Staiger et al., 2000) . It is unclear to what extent the aging RN population affects the age of the faculty population. However, considering the size of the faculty population, 24,320 FTEs - as compared to the overall nurse population in 2002, 2,284,000 - the faculty only account for 1% of the total population of RNs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004; NCSBN, 2004a) . Based on this assessment of the data, the conclusion is that the population supplying nursing academia with potential faculty is already 41.9 years-old, on average.
The supply of potential faculty must then be prepared for faculty positions. The basic requirement for teaching in nursing is a MSN degree with the PhD being preferred (Finke, 1998) . MSN and PhD graduates account for only 13% of all nursing graduates from 2001 to 2003 in the SREB group (Southern Regional Education Board, 2003) . Another study estimates that in 2000 nurses with advanced degrees accounted for 10.2% of the RN population (Ault & Rutman, 2002) . Data reveals that a majority of potential faculty need to be educated to meet the requirements for teaching.
The training of BSNs for faculty positions can make the age issue even more problematic. In 2000, the average time for all doctoral candidates to complete their studies was 6.8 years as compared to 8.3 years in nursing (AACN, 2003a) . Median number of years from starting a master's to completing PhD studies was 8.5 in all other fields and 15.9 years in nursing. Median age for all research-based doctoral graduates in 1999 was 33.7 years as compared to 46.2 years in nursing. While the exact reasons behind the increased time for graduate-degree preparation and age at time of completion are unclear, it is clear that this will have an impact on the already older population of faculty. Comparing the median age of PhD graduates in nursing with the average age of retirement (62.5 years) reveals that nursing academia may not be able to keep the limited number of new graduates in the professorate for very long (AACN, 2003a) .
Barriers to Obtaining Advanced Degrees
Over the past few years, trends in graduate nursing education have not been good. Since 1992 there has been an increase in the number of doctoral nursing programs, 54 to 83, without an increase in the number of graduates (AACN, 2003a) . The MSN degree must also be evaluated. Enrollments for MSN students in a five year cohort study of 289 schools, decreased steadily with an average reduction of 110 students per year from 1998 to 2001.
In order for RNs to obtain a more advanced degree (MSN or PhD) to teach they must first obtain a BSN (Finke, 1998) . For the RNs with a diploma or an ADN, they will first need the BSN to obtain those higher degrees. As these individuals contemplate obtaining the BSN degree, they first have to struggle with the issue of not making much of a professional gain with the BSN education. On average, the ADN or diploma RN will have the same salary as the BSN-prepared nurse (Finke, 1998) . Therefore, motivation to advance must be rooted in areas other than salary for the pre-BSN.
Clinical practice requirements are considered another barrier to pursuing an advanced degree for teaching (DeYoung, Bliss, & Tracy, 2002) . Most graduate programs in nursing require the student to work for a time as an RN before beginning work on an advanced degree. This practice is questionable in that it is not supported by research (AACN, 2003a) .
Considering that the median time from beginning of a Master's degree to completion of the PhD degree is seven years longer in nursing than in all other fields, 15.9 and 8.5 years respectively, nursing should capture talented new BSN graduates early (AACN, 2003a) . In many other professions and fields of study, the Bachelor's degree is all that is required to move into graduate studies. Many of the graduating BSNs are quite talented and have an aptitude for academia and therefore should be considered for entry into graduate school. By being offered a seamless transition into graduate education, they may be able to complete school quicker as they will be less likely to have competing demands such as family and an established career.
Another population of potential faculty candidates is second degree students (AACN, 2003a) . These are individuals that may have degrees in other fields who pursue a BSN. These students can and do include lawyers, social workers, occupational therapists, and police officers. Their talents from previous careers would enrich the human resources of nursing academia. However, requiring that these individuals enter nursing through the ADN or BSN degree may deter them from considering nursing (M. Dreher, personal communication, December 9, 2002 ) or moving on to a higher degree once they have entered the profession.
Tuition is another barrier to obtaining an advanced degree for teaching. On average, the annual resident tuition for graduate nursing education in public schools was $3,659 and for private schools was $11,020 (Peterson's Colleges of Nursing Database, 2002, as cited in AACN, 2003a) . When compared to potential salary gains, the cost of tuition may be intolerable to most RNs.
In May of 2003, the Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) (2003) reports the mean salary of the RN is $51,230 with an average hourly wage of $24.63. The average number of hours of overtime for an RN is 4.5 to 6.3 hours per week (NCSBN, 2002) . Based on 48 weeks worked per year, the RN average salary would be $51,230 plus $5,320.08 of overtime for a total annual salary of $56,550.08. The BLS (2003) report notes that the average salary of nursing instructors is $53,480. The average net loss of over $3,000 per year could be a great deterrent to paying tuition or incurring student loans.
Competition with Professional Practice
Attracting graduate-prepared nurses into academia has been problematic. In 1978 23% of MSN students were preparing for the faculty role. In 1991 that percentage of enrollments fell to 10% and in 2001 it was 3.1% (DeYoung et al., 2002) . As for graduations, they decreased from 755 (9.5% of all MSN graduates) in 1993 to 247 (2.5%) in 1999 (National League for Nursing, 2002) . These numbers present nursing academia with a dilemma.
The shift away from academic training is multifactorial (AACN, 2003a) . Over the course of the 1990s, many MSN students were pursuing training as nurse practitioners. This role facilitates more of an independent clinical practice. Given the heavy clinical focus of these practitioners, few are inclined to pursue a PhD. Doctoral graduates tend to pursue research agendas in keeping with their work as a doctoral student. A majority of faculty are trained as clinical practitioners or researchers and have little or no training in the basics of teaching (Kelly, 2002) . "Even though these nurses are expert clinicians, they frequently lack the knowledge of higher education and the teaching skills necessary to implement the educator role successfully" (Kelly, 2002, p. 25) .
Placing individuals in a situation where they do not have the tools to succeed is a recipe for failure (Kelly, 2002) . The academic unit may experience failure in outcomes as well as failure in motivating the educator. An inability to motivate the educator may lead to failure in retaining the clinically or research trained MSN or PhD. Unfortunately, the already stressed academic environment has few resources to offer adequate training to clinically-focused educators.
Competition with professional practice is particularly noticeable in younger faculty (AACN, 2003a) . Doctorally prepared faculty age 36 to 45 years have decreased by 18.1% over the past decade. Some of the loss of this age category is due to advancement to the next age category. However, AACN (2003a) reports that majority of this loss is due to younger faculty leaving academia. Observations of MSN trends revealed the same patterns. Surveys of this population reveals that 43% are pursuing careers outside of academia.
An analysis of SREB (2003) data over the past three years supports AACN (2003a) data. For 2001 and 2002, career advancement was the most common reason given for leaving, second only to family issues. In 2003, that changed when career advancement was listed more often than family with 23% and 21% respectively. When surveyed about the former faculty's disposition after resignation, practice was always the most frequent response. In 2003, working in practice accounted for 54.8% of the resignation responses with 15.2% of the rest unknown.
When attempting to understand faculty resignations, two key issues are revealed. The first issue is that of salary. The second issue revolves around faculty satisfaction with the nurse educator role.
Salary
Addressing the salary discrepancy is of utmost importance. Peter Buerhaus (personal communication, November 12, 2004 ) asserts that the quickest way to resolve the current nursing shortage is to double the salary of all nursing faculty. While this statement may seem bold, the salary-related barriers to becoming a part of nursing academia are significant. Salaries in professional practice tend to be greater than in academic practice (AACN, 2003a) . One basic comparison is that of the nurse practitioner to the nursing faculty with average annual salaries of $69,203 and $53,480 respectively (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003; Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . In both cases the RN may have a MSN and have the same academic background. Another comparison reveals that the head nurse of a medical floor in the hospital can make more (median of $68,194) than a PhD assistant professor of nursing (median of $65,212) (AACN, 2003a) . The academic salary in this comparison was calculated at a 1.22 rate to account for the discrepancy between the academic and calendar year.
These findings are troubling for two reasons (AACN, 2003a) . The first is that academia cannot compete financially with the professional realm. The second is that the MSN in professional practice has little incentive to return for the PhD when the wages are higher in professional practice without the PhD.
Faculty Training and Workload
Analysis of SREB (2003) data reveals that the reason for faculty’s leaving academia is often listed as returning to practice. When compared to leaving academia because of salary, the results show that leaving for a career in practice occurs more often. Data from 2001 shows that leaving for practice was reported 26% of the time while leaving because of salary was reported 22% of the time. In 2002, the split grew even larger for professional practice and salary with 21% and 13% respectively and 23% and 5% respectively in 2003. Another indicator of the issue of faculty leaving for practice is the post-resignation analysis (SREB, 2003) . Survey results reveal that in 2003 of all resignations reported 55% of faculty were in the clinical setting, 28.9% were in a different academic unit and 15.2% had an unknown disposition. The conclusion is that most faculty who leave academia are going to clinical practice in some capacity.
What does this data indicate from the SREB (2003) ? There seems to be a larger proportion of faculty leaving for non-salary reasons. One possible reason stems from the academic environment (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen, Crane, Letvak, Jones, & Hu, 2003) . Over the past few years many changes have occurred in nursing academia's environment. The undergraduate population of nursing students is getting older (Minnesota Department of Health, 2002) . AACN (2003a) reports that in the 1990s the average age of the newly graduated RN rose seven years to 30.9 years. In 2003, 73% of nursing students could be classified as non-traditional or adult learners.
Most nurse educators and potential faculty received their basic training in an environment that valued more of a knowledge-transmission type of learning (Mathews, 2003b) . The problem arises in the fact that many nursing faculty are untrained as educators. Therefore, they will be more likely to teach in the same fashion that they were taught during nursing school (Johnson-Crowley, 2004) .
The conflict arises because teaching with a knowledge-transmission type of learning model is not ideal for adult learners. The adult learner thrives in an environment that is more self-directed and learner-centered (Brookfield, 1986) . This type of learning model is referred to as andragogy. To successfully implement andragogy takes training, especially for those who were educated under a knowledge-transmission type of learning model (Johnson-Crowley, 2004; Mathews, 2003b) . A mismatch in teaching modality and learning needs will make for an unpleasant environment for the learner and educator. Teaching in an environment that is not enjoyable will be reason for not continuing in the nursing professorate (Lewallen et al., 2003) .
Another group of students is offering considerable challenges to the nursing faculty member. The group is the younger-student population (AACN, 2003a) . The AACN (2003a) reports that "mature faculty members as a whole have very different views about work, authority, relationships, responsibility, and the nature of learning than today's twenty something learners" (p. 10). Understanding these differences is vital to creating a successful learning environment that learner and educator can thrive in.
The younger-student population brings other variables that can be difficult for the faculty to manage. Today's high school graduates can present a variety of academic capabilities. The United States Department of Education reported that in 2002 approximately 33% of students who were classified as at risk for low academic success would be entering Bachelor's programs (as cited in AACN, 2003a) . These students will require faculty to implement remedial interventions. At the same time, higher achieving students will be vying for faculty time to pursue advanced understanding and study. This dichotomy can cause stress for nursing faculty.
Study habits of students may also prove to be a difficult issue for faculty to manage. Some studies indicate that over 80% of students report studying 15 hours a week or less (Young, 2002, as cited in AACN, 2003a) . Considering that most schools recommend studying three times that amount for a 15 credit semester, faculty will have the added burden of providing guidance and direction to foster success in younger generations. Extra guidance may be especially important for those born after 1980 who are categorized as optimistic and confident (Zemke, 2001) .
Workload is another issue causing stress for faculty (AACN, 2003a) . The nurse educator often has many more responsibilities than one would have in a clinical practice. Along with the teaching, mentoring, advising, and program administrative duties, the nurse educator may be called to maintain a practice. The value of current practice in the classroom is undisputed. Therefore, many faculty are either required or mandated to maintain some type of current professional practice.
In the clinical setting, faculty members are facing the same group of patients as the professional practitioners. Patients in hospitals are sicker and therefore the instructor who manages a group of students will have a more difficult load to deal with (AACN, 2003a) . If the instructor has seven students and each student takes two patients a piece, the instructor would have 14 very sick patients and seven nursing students to account for. This responsibility can be and often is overwhelming. Managing 21 people in such a high stress environment can lead to burnout, emotional exhaustion, and even early retirement (AACN, 2003a) .
Away from the clinical setting, nursing instructors have many responsibilities (AACN, 2003a) . Their regular duties can include advising and administrative chores. Many institutions expect faculty to be active in research and community service. Combining all the workload issues that a faculty member can face, clarifies the decision by many to leave academia for a different working environment (SREB, 2003) .
Strategies
The discussion has explored five areas that are contributing to the shortage of nursing faculty. Addressing the faculty shortage requires an understanding of how to address increased retirements related to the increasing age of faculty. Evaluating the barriers potential faculty face when pursuing the education needed to become a faculty member. Competition with the professional practice environment must also be addressed as many faculty are leaving academia due to frustrations with the workload and salaries.
Strategies have been developed to address these contributing factors to the faculty shortage.
1. Extending productive years of faculty;
2. Utilizing non-nursing professionals;
3. Recruitment;
4. Tuition;
5. Collaboration with professional practice;
6. Faculty development;
7. Technology;
8. Research;
The following discussion will focus on ways to utilize retirees and non-nursing professionals to improve the academic environment for faculty and students. Recruitment of different populations will bring awareness to individuals who may have never considered nursing or teaching as a career. Many stakeholders have an interest in alleviating the faculty shortage and with some creative discussion these parties can address ways to lessen the financial burdens of those who would choose to seek advanced degrees. Collaborating with professional practice will provide academia with the necessary human resources to manage some of the more labor intensive teaching duties. Addressing faculty development, even in times when academia’s resources are so limited, can have a long-term benefit in improving the motivation and success of faculty. Appropriate utilization of technology can also have a faculty sparing effect by decreasing time in clinical and allowing faculty to reach more students. Finally, research is needed to analyze the practice of nursing education.
Extending Productive Years
Strategies to address the aging nursing faculty revolve around extending the productive years of current and future faculty. One of the major issues to address is that of retirement. Retirement does not need to be a complete separation from the practice of teaching. Data has revealed that 50% of retiring professors, across disciplines, find themselves back in practice (AACN, 2003a) . Retired nurses have also reported missing professional interactions and will often pursue volunteer positions to stay active in health care.
The conclusion is then supported that retired faculty still have a significant interest in the profession. Retirees are needed in administration, advising, teaching, and as mentors or consultants to less experienced faculty (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen et al., 2003) . As some strategies for resolving the faculty shortage will include bringing in more graduate students, preceptors, non-nursing faculty and younger faculty, there will be a great need for the experience and expertise that these retirees possess (DeYoung et al., 2002) . To keep them connected to nursing academia will be a great asset.
At the University of Southern California , the Emeriti Center has provided venues for keeping retired faculty connected. Retirees are allowed to continue to teach and obtain research grants of up to $2000 (University of Southern California, 2003) . This keeps these valuable human resources still involved in academe to the benefit of all. The University of California developed a faculty-recall agreement whereby retired faculty can come back to teaching as long as the pay does not exceed 46% of their base salary at retirement (University of California, 2002) . Developing programs like these may allow more flexibility in keeping retired faculty involved in nursing academia.
Another possible solution is to utilize more retired faculty in online education. Learning facilitated over the Internet allows faculty to be anywhere and still manage courses (Ko & Rossen, 2001) . They may take part in the many things that attracted them to retirement while still being involved in teaching and mentoring from a distance. Considering that the number of seniors utilizing the Internet was predicted to nearly double between 2000 and 2003 (Vastag, 2001) , there is reason to believe that this could be a plausible strategy for retaining senior retired nursing faculty.
Non-nursing Professionals
When looking at strategies to help alleviate the faculty shortage, non-nursing professionals must be considered (AACN, 2003a) . These professionals can do well with advising and administration given the proper guidance from faculty. Having a registered dietician teach nutrition or a pharmacist teach pharmacology is ideal. Co-teaching with other professions, like occupational therapy and physical therapy, not only has a faculty-sparing effect but may also improve the student's understanding of the different professions and highlight the benefit of interdisciplinary teamwork. A physician assistant could very easily teach physical assessment while a lawyer could just as well teach legal-ethical classes.
Utilizing non-nursing faculty and staff frees the nursing faculty to teach in other critical areas more specific to nursing (AACN, 2003a) . These areas include medical-surgical nursing, nursing skills, nursing clinical, and community health nursing. An analysis of the Concordia University Wisconsin Nursing Curriculum (Concordia University Wisconsin, 2004) reveals that approximately 28% of the program could be taught by non-nurse faculty members.
Recruitment
Recruitment needs to focus on many different groups (AACN, 2003a) . There needs to be recruitment of the graduate-prepared RNs that hold the degrees required to teach. These RNs many times need only an invitation. Dianne Shantz at the Community College of Denver reports that "Every time I have advertised for faculty [for the accelerated ADN program], I get a great response from folks who have never taught before, but would like to learn teaching online" (personal communication, May 27, 2004 ).
The next group to focus on are practicing RNs (AACN, 2003a) . Many RNs never think about teaching because they either did not like school or think that they are not fit for teaching. What many practicing RNs may forget is that in most types of nursing practice the RNs are teaching throughout the course of their work. Compliments on interactions with students from current faculty can be a real motivator. In the author's personal experience, two BSNs began graduate work and started jobs as teaching assistants because of invitations to try teaching and interacting with the students. Another BSN who was working on her MSN was also encouraged and decided to become a clinical Teaching Assistant. Promoting the professorate is the responsibility of every nursing faculty member.
Students in BSN programs also represent another pool of potential candidates (AACN, 2003a) . The belief that RNs need to practice before they can teach is still held by many. Research does not support or negate this belief. Since it takes approximately twice the time for a BSN to reach a PhD as it does in other disciplines, the clinical practice requirement should be reconsidered (DeYoung et al., 2002) . New BSN graduates are more likely to be free of competing life issues, family, and full-time work than the student that practices for a few years and comes back to obtain a higher degree. By recruiting the new graduate BSN, a faculty member may be groomed faster (DeYoung et al., 2002) . Encouragement towards this career possibility should begin early in the student's academic career.
Finally, the precollege individual should be considered when recruitment is discussed (AACN, 2003a) . This can include the individuals who have degrees in other fields. By providing accelerated programs, these individuals may be more likely to move through the basic RN work and onto the MSN for faculty preparation. Second-career recruits bring a lot to the classroom with their varied experiences.
The other precollege population to consider are children and adolescents (AACN, 2003a) . By discussing the nursing career opportunities with this group, seeds are planted. Encouraging them in this direction may increase the pool of talented nurses to someday fill faculty roles. The high school graduate of 2004 could easily become the much needed nursing faculty member of 2014.
Tuition
Wage discrepancies call for strategies that will reduce the tuition burden on potential faculty. Not only are potential faculty likely to not receive financial gain through their academic pursuits, but they are also likely to experience lost wages while attending school (AACN, 2003a) . Private and public stake holders should consider providing grants and loans for future faculty. Loan forgiveness should be considered in exchange for service in nursing academia. The Bureau of Health Professions (2004) is offering the Faculty Loan Repayment Program, which provides $20,000 annual student loan forgiveness in exchange for practice in an accredited school of nursing. Through another BHPR program, students in graduate nursing programs can borrow up to $30,000 per year for up to five years. The loan is repaid through working as faculty.
Academic units may also provide tuition assistance in an effort to alleviate faculty shortages in a particular area. At Concordia University Wisconsin , MSN students are given free tuition credits in exchange for work as a teaching assistant in class and clinical (G. Peterson, personal communication, September 6, 2003 ). Teaching assistants at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (2004) can receive free graduate tuition and a salary of up to $22,321 per academic year of teaching undergraduate nursing.
Collaboration with Professional Practice
When addressing the ability of academia to compete with the benefits of professional practice, salaries are a large problem. Trying to compete with professional practice salaries may not be possible. Comparing the salaries of a head nurse (who may be BSN prepared) with that of a PhD-prepared Associate Professor, the data reveals that the wage of the latter is about $3000 less (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003a) . When comparing the MSN-prepared nurse practitioner to the MSN-prepared faculty, the data reveals that the wage of the latter is about $12,000 less (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003; Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . Just analyzing the growth in the nurse practitioner salaries reveals an increase of 9.55% over the last year and 8.19% over the two-year period prior to that (Tumolo & Rollet, 2003) . Academia may need to look at ways of attracting potential faculty without totally removing them from the higher paying professional practice.
Attracting the MSN or PhD in professional practice will require the development of partnerships between academic institutions and practice settings (AACN, 2003a; Zungolo, 2004) . The practice setting needs graduate RNs and academia hopes to produce graduate RNs. Capitalizing on this fact can create incentives for collaboration between academia and practice.
One collaborative program includes the use of clinical RNs in the training of the student RN (Velianoff, Sumner, Verdejo, & Price, 2003) . This can be done in two different formats (Stokes, 1998) . The traditional clinical teaching model involves one instructor to approximately eight nursing students. The instructor stays employed by the clinical organization. The RN's time is either donated to or bought by the academic unit from the clinical organization. Students practice the implementation of knowledge gained through theory classes in the clinical setting. Given the small ratio, clinical can be a very labor intensive class. Because this type of clinical teaching is so vital to the academic program, having this professional as a clinical faculty instructor can be very beneficial (AACN, 2003a) .
In the preceptor-based model of clinical instruction, the RN will stay employed in the clinical institution, but will be available to take nursing students for clinical training in a one-on-one relationship (Stokes, 1998) . The RN in this arrangement may be compensated by receiving faculty privileges to the university campus or tuition waivers towards classes. This type of clinical has shown many benefits. Clinical organizations report that when preceptors are employed, the professionalism and moral of staff RNs improve (Haas, Deardorff, & Klotz, 2002) . Researchers observed that students were able to better manage their time, practice more with interdisciplinary collaboration, and use more complex skills more often. One-on-one relationships between preceptor and student have also shown to improve critical thinking skills in the student (Myrick, 2002) .
Another method of utilizing clinical professionals without taking them away from their larger salaries is to create teaching opportunities that fit into their professional schedules. One way of doing this is through the use of distance learning and online technology (AACN, 2003a) . By creating a class online or at a distance, the instructor may have more flexibility to teach when time allows. If instructors are seeing patients all day, they won't be able to make the 9:50AM class on Mondays and Fridays. However, if they are teaching the class in an asynchronous format online, they may teach from the comfort of their home in the evening after they have geared down from a long day at the hospital.
Moving course work to the Internet, evenings, and weekends will allow professionals more opportunity to mix professional and academic practice. Benefits of these flexible arrangements include not only more faculty in the pool, but also more student interaction with practicing professionals (Haas et al., 2002) . The whole point of nursing academia is to prepare the student RN for professional practice. Therefore, the professional RN can be a great asset to the academic team (Kelly, 2002) .
Creating collaborative relationships with clinical agencies may allow academia to take advantage of the large pool of graduate-prepared nurses in clinical practice without trying to compete with the higher salaries of clinical practice. Salary discrepancies seem to play a role in the loss of many faculty to the practice arena (AACN, 2003a) . However, the size of the effect salary has on this loss is unclear.
Faculty Development
Faculty in today’s nursing programs are facing many different challenges compared to just a few years ago. Their students represent a much broader variety of generations, abilities and attitudes. Dealing with a variety of student characteristics and abilities necessitates training for faculty. Considering the large number of faculty without educator training, this is a significant issue (AACN, 2003a; Zungolo, 2004) . The myth that being knowledgeable about an area of practice is all that is required to be an educator is no longer accepted. Training for nurse educators should include not only knowledge-transmission but constructivist learning with actual classroom practicums (Kelly, 2002) . Student nurse educators should be paired with a mentor-preceptor who can serve as a resource for the new faculty member.
At Indiana Wesleyan University , practicing professionals may be hired to teach online courses in nursing. Prior to teaching, the potential faculty members have a few different phases of orientation that must be completed successfully (S. Strevy, personal communication, May 27, 2004 ). First, they must complete a three-week online class that models the correct way to teach a student in that environment. Next, the potential educator shadows a current faculty member for an entire course. Finally, when the new faculty has their own class, they will be mentored by another faculty member for the duration of their first course.
All faculty members, whether primarily professional or primarily academic, should be trained for the educator role (AACN, 2003a) . Graduate programs in nursing should include nurse educator training. For those who have been trained, continued faculty development is essential. This is such an important issue that the AACN (2003a) is encouraging schools of nursing to "Identify minimum faculty development activities that should be required of all faculty, and incorporate these into internal hiring and/or evaluation strategies" (p. 22).
Technology
Technology may offer relief for the burdened faculty workforce as well. Utilizing virtual reality and simulation software may offer some solutions to the overworked faculty (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . The Oregon Center for Nursing has reported that schools of nursing are using simulation technology to prepare students for clinical (Oregon Center for Nursing, 2003) . Oregon is similar to most of the country. Limited clinical space can prevent a school from accepting all qualified candidates available (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . The technology is a vital part of their education given the limited clinical experience the students may receive.
Another technology issue relates to distance learning. Faculty-sparing effects have been linked to distance learning especially when the Internet is utilized (AACN, 2003a; Perlman, 2004) . If online technology is utilized appropriately, the faculty member’s expertise may be shared among different campuses. At Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC), in West Bend, Wisconsin, one faculty member teaches online pharmacology for all 16 Wisconsin State Technical Colleges (WSTC) (A. Brett, personal communication, April 29, 2004). Because every nursing program in the WSTC teaches a different non-clinical nursing course online, faculty in the face-to-face programs could have smaller class sizes since many students prefer the online option. At the Community College of Denver , every time an ad is placed to recruit online faculty many graduate-prepared RNs apply with no teaching experience (D. Shantz, personal communication, May 27, 2004 ). The main reason these non-academics apply is the flexibility of online teaching.
Research
The faculty shortage is causing strain on a variety of widely held norms in nursing academia. One of the more prevalent norms is the faculty-student ratio in the traditional clinical (AACN, 2003a) . This ratio may be 1:6, 1:8, or higher. However, the smaller the number of students per instructor, the fewer the instructors available to teach. Currently, there is not good data to support any ratio. Research needs to be done on the art of teaching with regards to faculty-sparing interventions and faculty performance in a variety of settings.
Unfortunately, there has been a decline in interest in educational research for a number of reasons. One reason is that the clinical focus of the majority of MSNs has made them less likely to pursue PhD education (AACN, 2003a) . This in turn is decreasing the number of PhDs. Another problem is the fact that there are fewer PhDs interested in academia. A lack of PhDs in nursing academia is affecting nursing's ability to empirically support changes in nursing education that can have a faculty-sparing effect while at the same time maintain quality.
The AACN (2003a) offers a few suggestions to help improve the research base of today's nursing academia. The first strategy is to simply promote educational research. Identifying stake holders, government or private, that will support this research should be easier than in the past because of the acute nature of the nursing and faculty shortages. When pursuing grants and other funding for faculty-sparing techniques, funds should be incorporated into the grant to empirically monitor outcomes (Kelly, 2002) . This could assist others with data that can be used to duplicate or further previous faculty-sparing programs. Researchers should also study current programs that are cutting edge for efficacy and efficiency. Academia needs to collaborate with experts in educational research in other areas. Utilize data from other professions to support further study specific to nursing.
Conclusion
The current faculty shortage has been growing since the early 1990s (DeYoung et al., 2002) . At the core of the faculty shortage is the devaluation of the nurse educator role (Kelly, 2002) . All efforts to resolve the faculty shortage should be partnered with goals of improving the perceptions of nursing education and research around this specialty.
The causes of the faculty shortage are as varied as the strategies that have been offered to improve this tough situation (AACN, 2003a) . At the base of the shortage is the overall shortage of RNs. Over the past two decades, the career possibilities of women have opened up dramatically. Since nursing is comprised mostly of women, 40% fewer college freshman identify nursing as their first choice than did in 1973 (Staiger et al., 2000) . These changes have caused a dramatic increase in the age of the RN and subsequently the age of nursing faculty. Estimates predict that in some parts of the country 41% of faculty in BSN programs will retire by 2005 and another 46% are expected to retire by 2010 (AACN, 2004) . Other causes include the stress that faculty face, the salaries that are usually less than realized in practice, and the barriers to advanced nursing education (AACN, 2003a; Lewallen et al., 2003) .
Strategies to resolve the nursing faculty shortage are being tried in different venues (AACN, 2003a) . No matter the area providing relief for the shortage, nursing academia must ensure that future faculty be properly trained (DeYoung et al., 2002) . Placing individuals in the teaching role with little training is setting them up for discouragement and potentially causing the loss of yet another faculty member (Johnson-Crowley, 2004; Mathews, 2003a) .
Some areas are using technology to alleviate strain on faculty. The government is providing incentives through loans and grants to encourage MSN students to consider a career in teaching (Bureau of Health Professions, 2004) . Academic units are collaborating with clinical practice sites to meet student needs in the clinical setting. Recruitment should focus on a variety of populations realizing that there is a potential faculty member in everyone from the primary education student to the police officer. Partnering with public and private sectors will provide much needed resources to help reduce the current faculty shortage.
Through creativity and determination, nursing academia can manage the current faculty shortage. Its responsibility is to meet this challenge because America is counting on nursing academia to provide the largest population of healthcare providers in recent years.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2003a). Faculty shortages in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs: Scope of the problem and strategies for expanding the supply. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved February 25, 2004, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/WhitePapers/TFFFWP.pdf.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2003b). Thousands of students turned away from the nation's nursing schools despite sharp increase in enrollments. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved April 2, 2004, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/NewsReleases/enrl03.htm.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2004). Nursing faculty shortage fact sheet. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 22, 2004, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/Backgrounders/facultyshortage.htm.
Anderson, C. A. (1998). Academic nursing: A desirable career. Nursing Outlook, 46(1), 5-6.
Ault, D., & Rutman, G. (2002). Managing the nursing workforce: The effects of wages, education, and family structure on the willingness to work as a registered nurse. Nursing and Health Policy Review, 1(1), 37-50.
Berlin, L. E., & Sechrist, K. R. (2002). The shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty: A dire situation. Nursing Outlook, 50(2), 50-56.
Brookfield, S. E. (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Buerhaus, P. I., Staiger, D. O., & Auerbach, D. I. (2003). Is the current shortage of hospital nurses ending? Health Affairs, 22(6), 191.
Bureau of Health Professions. (2004). Faculty loan repayment program. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/dsa/flrp/index.htm.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2003). May 2003 national occupational employment and wage estimates. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from http://www.bls.gov/oes/2003/may/oes_nat.htm.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2004). Economic and employment projections. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved May 20, 2004 from http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.toc.htm.
Concordia University Wisconsin. (2004). Concordia University Division of Nursing-BSN program model curriculum, updated spring 2004. Mequon, WI: Author. Retrieved May 27, 2004, from http://www.cuw.edu/Nursing/model_curriculum.htm.
DeYoung, S., Bliss, J., & Tracy, J. (2002). The nursing faculty shortage: Is there hope? Journal of Professional Nursing, 18(6), 313-319.
Finke, L. M. (1998). Teaching in nursing: The fauclty role. In D. M. Billings & J. A. Halstead (Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (pp. 3-16). Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co.
Finke, L. M., & Boland, D. L. (1998). Curriculum designs. In D. M. Billings & J. A. Halstead (Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (pp. 117-134). Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co.
Haas, B. K., Deardorff, K. U., & Klotz, L. (2002). Creating a collaborative partnership between academia and service. Journal of Nursing Education, 41(12), 518-523.
Hecker, D. E. (2001). Occupational employment projections to 2010. Monthly Labor Review, 124(11), 57-84. Retrieved May 20, 2004, from http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2001/2011/art2004full.pdf.
Johnson, L. A. (2004, March 28). A shortage of nurses can be costly ... or fatal. Wisconsin State Journal, p. A1.
Johnson-Crowley, N. (2004). An alternative framework for teacher preparation in nursing. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 35(1), 34.
Kelly, C. M. (2002). Investing in the future of nursing education: A cry for action. Nursing Education Perspectives, 23(1), 24.
Ko, S. S., & Rossen, S. (2001). Teaching online : a practical guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Lewallen, L., Crane, P., Letvak, S., Jones, E., & Hu, J. (2003). An innovative strategy to enhance new faculty success. Nursing and Health Care Perspectives, 24(5), 257.
Mathews, M. (2003a). Nurse educator resources: Renew, retain, and retool. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 34(6), 249.
Mathews, M. (2003b). Resourcing nursing education through collaboration. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 34(6), 251.
Minnesota Department of Health. (2002). Minnesota Nursing Student Profile. Retrieved May 10, 2004, from http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/rhpc/PDFdocs/Nursingstudentprofile.pdf
Myrick, F. (2002). Preceptorship and critical thinking in nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 41(4), 154-164.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2002). Spring 2002 practice and professional issues (PPI) survey. Chicago: Author. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from http://www.ncsbn.org/regulation/researchregulation_6233CB45C0074970A822CF2BE3C73B43.htm.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2004a). Education Issues. Chicago: Author. Retrieved May 21, 2004, from http://www.ncsbn.org/regulation/nursingeducation_nursing_education_issues1.asp.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2004b). NCLEX® examination pass rates. Chicago: Author. Retrieved May 21, 2004, from http://www.ncsbn.org/regulation/epls.asp.
National League for Nursing. (2002). Position statement: The preparation of nurse educators. New York: Author. Retrieved May 21, 2004, from http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/PositionStatements/prepofnursed02.htm.
Oregon Center for Nursing. (2003). Agenda: Oregon workforce investment board. Salem, OR: Author. Retrieved May 27, 2004, from http://www.workforce.state.or.us/noframes/owib/meetings/agendas/DecemberAgenda.pdf.
Perlman, E. (2004, May). Brother, can you spare an RN? Governing Magazine, 40.
Southern Regional Education Board. (2003). Reports from the Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing: Author. Retrieved May 21, 2004, from http://www.sreb.org/programs/nursing/presentations/presentationsindex.asp.
Staiger, D. O., Auerbach, D. I., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2000). Expanding career opportunities for women and the declining interest in nursing as a career. Nursing Economics, 18(5), 230-236.
Stokes, L. (1998). Teaching in the clinical setting. In D. M. Billings & J. A. Halstead (Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (pp. 281-298). Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co.
Tumolo, J., & Rollet, J. (2003). Gliding higher: NP salaries ascend at a steady pace. Advance for Nurse Practitioners, 12(1), 32. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from http://www.advancefornp.com/common/editorial/editorial.aspx?CC=27756.
University of California. (2002). Salary administration: APM-600. San Diego: Author. Retrieved May 23, 2004, from http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/apm/apm-600.pdf.
University of Southern California. (2003). Emeriti Center. Los Angeles: Author. Retrieved May 23, 2004, from http://www.usc.edu/org/emeriti_center/index.htm.
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. (2004). Policies and procedures for the appointment of teaching assistants and project assistants. Milwaukee, WI: Author. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/Publications/TAPAManual/index.html#Appendix_A.
Vastag, B. (2001). Easing the elderly online in search of health information. JAMA, 285(12), 1563-1564.
Velianoff, G. D., Sumner, J. F., Verdejo, T. S., & Price, H. J. (2003). Innovative programs to address the nurse faculty shortage: NEWDAC at work. Nursing Education Perspectives, 24(4), 210.
Zemke, R. (2001). Here come the millennials. Training, 38(7), 44-49.
Zungolo, E. (2004). Faculty Preparation: Is Clinical Specialization a Benefit or a Deterrent to Quality Nursing Education? The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 35(1), 19.
▾
▾