The United States is tussling with an urgent nursing shortage, but not solely for the reasons you'd expect. Yes, intolerable work environments, astronomic patient loads, and even a startling increase in workplace violence are leading some nurses to ditch the field. Others took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic for lucrative travel nursing roles. Still, there is a less obvious issue emerging beneath the surface - colleges and universities rejecting tens of thousands of eligible aspiring nursing students every year.
In the past year alone, while enrollment rates in universities expanded by an optimistic 6%, a whopping 66,000 eligible prospective students for nursing studies were turned away, reveals the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The situation is equally dire if not worse at the community college level. One disheartening example from Virginia shows up to 3,000 hopeful applicants either turned away or waitlisted each year for their nursing and health-care-related programs according to reports by The Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Hechinger Report.
Unsurprisingly, many of these roadblocks to nursing education orbit around the greenback. Teaching usually requires an advanced degree, but nurses holding such degrees generally make more money in practical venues than in academia. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics featured in a report co-authored by us and the Center for American Progress, a neutral think tank, showed a median wage disparity where nurse practitioners made $113,000 while professors with equal training earned roughly around $77,000. Consequently, colleges struggle to fill teacher vacancies and expand their nursing programs in line with the growing demand.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, however. Our research identified two other major constraints hindering the expansion of nursing education: a lack of clinical placements and inadequate campus facilities and equipment. Especially in the age of the pandemic, finding suitable clinical placements for students and maintaining the high-cost supporting infrastructure is becoming unsustainable.
The implications of America’s inability to produce sufficient nurses are devastating - nurses are the lifeblood of the national healthcare system. Furthermore, they significantly contribute to mitigating risks to patients, shortening hospital stays and reducing the undesirable aspects of health crises. Nurses, particularly those of color, provide the added benefit of reducing disparities within their communities.
Today's nurses are feeling an untenable strain, akin to the frustrations voiced by Jyme Kinnard, a rural nurse and chief nursing officer at a hospital in Perryton, Texas. "Everyone’s just exhausted," Kinnard said, navigating the challenge of filling eight nurse vacancies with a depleted team of just 12 full-time nurses.
Responding to the crisis, some hospitals and colleges are collaborating with innovative solutions like the joint program established by Ochiltree and others to train nurses. But such endeavors are far from sufficient to alleviate the brewing crisis. The threatening cloud of nursing shortages has been looming for years, with a 2018 study projecting a national shortage of over half a million registered nurses by 2030. This becomes even more problematic given the aging population and an increasing number of nurses approaching retirement.
In response, we need to legislate proposals such as the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act (FAAN) to boost nursing education funding. We equally need to devote resources for promoting under-resourced colleges and students from underrepresented backgrounds, while working on a long-term vision that involves collaboration amongst federal and state authorities, educators, nurses, and health care leaders. Congress also needs to fund the National Health Care Workforce Commission to provide constant monitoring and develop policy solutions for these impending nursing shortages.
Lastly, it's crucial to remember that a robust nursing profession is not just essential for nationwide health, but it's also a cornerstone for shared prosperity. Despite the challenges, good news remains - interest in nursing as a career has escalated sharply since the start of the pandemic. It's high time for our lawmakers to step up and give devoted and skilled aspiring nurses a fair chance to contribute to building a stronger post-pandemic America.
