Nurses are educated - not born

So the research studies have been completed and reviewed . . . and recalculated and reviewed again. The facts remain the same. By 2020 (that's just 9 years from now!), Idaho will lack about 30 percent of the nurses we need. Fortunately, there is no lack of interest in nursing as a career. In fact, nearly half (900 out of the 2300 applicants in 2009-2010) were turned away (Idaho Nursing Overview, 2011). Applicants were not turned away due to lack of qualifications; rather, they were not accepted due to shortage of nursing faculty. Consider the following facts: 1. Educators with advanced practice (graduate) certificates earn only 61% of the average wages for their equivalents that practice in other settings. 2. Nurse educators with master's degrees earn only 67% of those working in other health care settings (in fact, the average annual salary in Idaho for an experienced nursing faculty member prepared with a master's degree in nursing is less than $45,000 - this same nurse may be able to earn as much as $20-30,000 more working in the local hospital). 3. More than a 1/4 of Idaho nursing instructors plan to retire in the next five years. 4. 20% of Idaho's nursing faculty possess bachelor's or associate degrees, creating a large pool of workers who could benefit from increased credentials - however, instate access to graduate level nursing education in Idaho is greatly limited (Idaho Nursing Overview 2011 & Governor's Task Force on Nursing).
Per the Governor's Task Force on Nursing, "without sufficient numbers of qualified faculty, Idaho schools not only lack the ability to increase student enrollments, they are challenged even to maintain current levles of student enrollment . . . salaries paid to nurses in many settings exceed salaries paid to faculty . . . (consequently), nursing faculty leave academic positions for employment in local healthcare facilities".
Therefore, two very distinct components must be taken into action: 1. salary adjustments for current faculty to achieve equity with industry, and 2. additional monies for each new nursing faculty position necessary to increase student enrollments.
It is our responsibility as consumers, health care professionals, and Idahoans to let our voices be heard on the importance of higher education and equity between salaries.