R & R – Recruitment and
Retention of Nursing Faculty
Bennie L. Marshall, Ed.D., RN, NE-BC
Professor/Chair
Norfolk State University
Norfolk, Virginia
Objectives
• Why is recruitment and retention of nursing
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faculty so important to the health of all?
What are some of the factors contributing to the
nursing faculty shortage?
What are the role expectations of the 21st
Century nursing faculty member?
How can we ensure a highly qualified education
workforce that is adequate in number to
educate the nursing workforce required for the
future? (quality, diversity, and quantity)
State of the Nursing Workforce
• Although the RN workforce grew by 24%
from 2008 – 2010 from 2.28 million to
2.82 million nurses, there is a shortage of
nurses that is predicated to increase.
• Approximately 55% of RN workforce hold
a BS or higher degree
• Approximately 25% of RN workforce are
non-white; 9% are male.
• One-third of RN workforce is older than 50
HRSA, April 2013
State of the Nursing Faculty Workforce
• Despite the shortage of nurses, schools of
nursing are denying admission for many
qualified applicants because of a shortage
of nursing faculty.
• The shortage of nursing faculty is
expected to increase as the Baby Boomers
retire (usual age – 62.5)
“Never before have we had so
in which to do
little time
so much.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“Never before have nurses had so
MANY INCENTIVES
to Lead Change and Advance Health.”
Bennie L. Marshall
Our time is now!!
2010 IOM Report on the
Future of Nursing – Education
• Increase the proportion of nurses with a
baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by
2020
• Double the number of nurses with a
doctorate by 2020
• Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong
learning
• Implement nurse residency programs
Factors contributing to Faculty Shortage
• Nursing education is expensive for all
• Insufficient funds for faculty hire
• Limited pool of doctorally prepared
educators; Introduction of the DNP,
primarily for advanced clinical practice
• Competition for limited pool of masters
prepared nurses and/or many masters
prepared nurses have a non-nursing
masters
Factors contributing to Faculty Shortage
• Salary disparity when compared to
masters prepared clinical nurse educators
and advanced practice nurses
• Job dissatisfaction with faculty roles
• Aging nurse faculty population and
emerging retirement boom
• Generational and cultural gaps
Factors contributing to Faculty Shortage
• Workload inequities compared to other
faculty in academia and faculty
evaluation criteria
• Methods used to calculate efficiency and
productivity do not favor nursing faculty
• Lack of demographic diversity
• Challenges in providing adequate nurse
faculty educational preparation specific
to teaching.
Factors contributing to Faculty Shortage
• Challenges in providing adequate nurse
faculty educational preparation specific
to teaching.
– Science of Teaching and Learning
– Outcomes Assessment (student, faculty, and
program)
– Program Evaluation
– Curriculum Development
Role expectations of
21st Century Nursing Faculty
Advisor
Teacher – didactic/clinical
Leader
Servant
Practitioner
Scholar
(research,
grantsmanship,
author)
Tutor
Mentor
(Student and
Peer)
Peer
Counselor
Curriculum Developer
Program Assessor
Policy Advocate
Strategies to ensure a highly
qualified nurse education workforce
• Address faculty salary disparities
– Salary increases
– Weekend/evening differentials for adjuncts
• Provide support for loan repayment/loan forgiveness and
scholarship programs
• Establish exemplary Faculty Orientation and Mentoring
Programs
• Increase the diversity of the faculty
– Seek younger faculty (prepare for challenges)
– Diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds
• Encourage the retirees to return or stay more productive
Strategies to ensure a highly
qualified nurse education workforce
• Conduct public awareness campaigns to increase
interest in nurse educator careers
– Health and Science Summer Academy for middle and
high school students
– Speakers’ Bureau
• Engage alumni in program as tutors, mentors,
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and members of advisory boards
Share achievements of faculty;
Reward and recognize full time faculty and
adjuncts;
Strategies to ensure a highly
qualified nurse education workforce
• Identify and recommend young, mid-
career faculty for fellowships and faculty
scholars programs, such as the RWJF
Program, the AACN Policy Fellows,
– Assess their potential; build upon it! Challenge
them!
• Seek external funding for faculty positions
Strategies to ensure a highly
qualified nurse education workforce
• Establish educational partnerships for dual
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appointments; special assignments, etc.
strive for hybrid/blended models of education
and clinical practice (APRNs)
Market expertise of faculty, particularly in
areas of research and outcomes assessment
Invite clinical partners to this Leadership
Institute and similar forums
Evaluating Innovations
In Nursing Education
Addressing the Nurse Faculty
Shortage by Supporting Evaluations,
Generating Evidence and Disseminating
Findings
NuFAQs is a web-based tool that guides you in
exploring the workload, job characteristics, and
attitudes toward work-life among
full-time nurse faculty in the U.S.
Recruitment and Retention Plan
• Assess your faculty to better understand
them and their needs
• Compare faculty perceptions with those of
the National Survey (NUFAQs)
• Develop a more informed and schoolspecific strategic plan for the Recruitment
and Retention of Nursing Faculty.
RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars Program
• Goal: develop the next generation of leaders in academic
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nursing through career development awards for
diverse, outstanding junior nursing faculty.
Program aims: strengthen the academic productivity and
overall excellence of nursing schools by providing:
mentorship, leadership training, and salary and research
support to young faculty.
Scholars in the program are supported for 60 percent
time for each of the three years they are in the program.
Future of Nursing Scholars
• Funded by the RWJF ($20 million) and the
Independence Blue Cross Foundation ($450,000)
• Goal: help nurses to become “transformational leaders in
education, research and policy.”
• Program Office: University of Pennsylvania
• Will support up to 100 doctorate nursing candidates
during its first two years.
• The first scholars will begin their doctorate studies in
2015. They will receive scholarships, stipends,
mentoring, leadership development and dedicated postdoctoral research support.