« Get well soon.... That'll be 5 bucks | Main | Credit Card Security »
June 24, 2005
Grant for Nursing Program
12 US nursing school received a grant from the department of labor. The grant is worth $ 12 million total, and 230 universities in the country applied for it, but the University of Minnesota was not one of the applicants. Each year, 1,1000 qualified nursing school applicants are turned away nationwide, because of a significant shortage in nusring school faculties since 2000. This trend would result in a 20 percent shortage in the number of nurses that is needed for the country's health system by 2010, according to the American Medical Association. Three factors contribute to the shortage in nursing faculty members, explained Joanne Disch, interim dean of the U's Nursing School and director of the leadership center. First of all, most nursing schools do not have enough teaching faculties to accomodate the explosion of people interested in pursuing the career; nurses make more money in a clinical setting than teaching; and finally, the average faculty members are in their 50's and will be retiring in the next 10 years. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, one of the recipients of the grant, plans to use the money to shorten the training period for nurse educators by 18 months to 24 months, and would also make it easier for people with associate degree in nursing or balchelor's degrees in other fields to get their master's in nursing.
This article caught my attention after hearing much about the brutal process of applying for nursing schools. After all, the reason of rejection is not that you are not good enough, but the schools simply cannot attract enough people into teaching. Our group talked about the social impact of nursing faculty shortage. The country has been generously investing in culturally expensive researches, such as the NASA, so as the U's attempt to becoming one of the most prestigious research insititute; yet, we are ignoring the basic need for the country's health system.
Comments
Yes, the application process and prerequisite work is difficult for someone trying to get into nursing school, but another part of the problem are the programs themselves.
Before I transferred to the U, I was in a nursing program at a local community college, and it's a grueling one. I'm currently carrying 10 credits here at the U this summer, and it's a walk in the park compared to the 8 credits of just one nursing class. The nursing program is so intense that I, along with 15 of my classmates, (out of the 90 in the class) got burned out in the first semester and dropped out. Between lectures, labs, exams for both, clinicals, mandatory community volunteering time, and of course studying, I lost all interest in the nursing profession.
Ultimately, I think that once students have proven themselves and been accepted into a nursing program, the focus of the program should be to promote the success of the students as quality nurses, not to do further "weeding". There are thousands of men and women who would be assets to the nursing profession, but the structure of nursing programs isn't at all accomodating to working adults. The intensity of the program makes it virtually impossible for anyone with work and family responsibilities to complete a two year program, let alone go on to earn a master's degree and teach nursing.
This is just my experience, but if it exemplifies typical programs in this country, there won't soon be an end to the nursing shortage without restructuring the programs to suit working adults as well as new high school grads.
Posted by: Patti at June 26, 2005 10:44 AM