From the news desk to the health care administrators desk, attention remains focused on the nursing workforce shortage. But news of the shortage of qualified nursing educators needed to teach tomorrows nurses is oftentimes missing from the headlines.
A 2005 study by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that more than 30,000 qualified candidates were denied enrollment in nursing programs because of a lack of nursing faculty. The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care services grows. With a projected shortfall of 800,000 registered nurses (RNs) by the year 2020, the need to educate more nurses for the health care industry is urgent. But who will teach them? For more than a quarter century, Florida International University (FIU) College of Nursing & Health Sciences (CNHS) has been pioneering the development of innovative education programs responding to the needs of the health care community. FIU CNHS answers the call again with a set of programs that reaches out to potential future educators for help in ensuring the future of the nursing workforce. Post-Masters Certificate in Nursing Education: An Immediate Solution To An Immediate Need In 2007, FIU Nursing successfully obtained government funding and support to establish this specialty track aimed at preparing graduates to function as nursing educators in a variety of academic settings, including schools of nursing and health care facilities. Building upon a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, this certificate track consists of a combination of courses that prepares graduates in the competencies that are essential to teach nursing in an increasingly complex health care environment. Goals of the program include:- Providing nurse faculty with the knowledge, skills, and structured experiences to enhance classroom and clinical teaching and learning;
- Preparing nurse educators from diverse backgrounds who can teach nursing students to provide culturally competent care for diverse communities; and
- Providing nurse educators with the expertise to use technologically enhanced curricula and facilities to teach
By designing the track as a 16-credit, 9-month curriculum (assuming full-time study), that reaches out to the masters prepared nursing professional, FIU CNHS can quickly and steadily grow the pool of urgently needed nursing faculty.
Grow Our Own Nursing Faculty Program: Schools Collaborate To Ensure The Future of Nursing Launched in 2006, the Grow Our Own Nursing Faculty program at FIU CNHS is an innovative way to directly impact the nursing faculty shortage by both educating and placing educators directly with the academic institutions that need them. The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commissions requires that nursing faculty must hold a Masters degree in nursing to teach in a community college nursing program. With this requirement in mind, the regions three largest nursing education institutions FIU, Miami-Dade College and Broward Community College devised an approach to recruit local RNs and encourage them to pursue a career in nursing education in order to fill particular faculty vacancies Thanks to an $820,0000 grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida, the program was established. Candidates in the program must hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from FIU or another accredited nursing school in the last 10 years, and have sufficient work experience. Through the grant, students receive financial support in the form of complete scholarships (covering tuition, educational costs and stipends), which allows them to purse the MSN nursing education degree full-time. In return, the candidates enter a 2-year work commitment to teach at one of the community colleges upon graduation.