The Nova Southeastern Nursing Department is moving forward again. Sensitive to the nursing shortage and the increased need for nursing faculty to educate both new nurses and nurse educators, this fall NSU Nursing added a new PhD in Nursing Education. Considered the pinnacle of academic achievement, the PhD in Nursing Education program is designed to provide the tools that prepare nurses to conduct research and serve in nursing faculty leadership roles.
The United States remains in the middle of a nursing shortage expected to intensify as baby boomers age and health care needs increase (http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm). Auerbach, Buerhaus & Staiger, (2007) project that the U.S. shortage of registered nurses (RNs) will increase to 340,000 by the year 2020. This shortage is expected to increase by three times the current rate over the next 13 years. In order to meet the demand for nursing care, nursing colleges and universities across the country are moving to expand enrollment levels. However, tandem to the nursing shortage is the availability of qualified nursing faculty to educate individuals wishing to pursue a nursing career. According to a report on enrollment and graduation in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2006-2007 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing),in 2006 U.S. nursing schools turned away 42,866 qualified applicants to these programs “due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints” (http://www.aacn.nche.edu/IDS/datarep.htm). Almost three quarters (71.0%) of the nursing schools responding to the 2006 survey pointed to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into nursing programs. Faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country are limiting student capacity at a time when the need for nurses continues to grow. This current and projected nursing faculty shortage impacts the nursing profession on a national level, creating an increased demand for faculty positions at all levels of nursing education. Health care institutions are looking for nurses prepared at the doctoral level to develop evidence-based practice guidelines, organize new and innovative nursing care delivery systems, and serve in research/evidence-based practice positions within their education departments. The NSU Ph.D. in Nursing Education is designed for M.S.N.-prepared nursing faculty members, nurse researchers and nurses in clinical practice who wish to advance their careers pursing scholarly roles in the academic setting, community education, nursing organizations and health care institutions.
