| Press Release
For Immediate Release
Partnerships between the military and civilian schools of
nursing would help address the severe nurse faculty shortage
and increase the nation’s supply of registered nurses
WASHINGTON, DC, March 5, 2008 - Today, the American Association
of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) applauded Senator Richard Durbin
(D-IL) for introducing the Troops to Nurse Teachers (TNT)
Act of 2008 (S. 2705). At a time when the military and civilian
healthcare systems have been crippled by an acute nursing
shortage, the need for innovation solutions, like the TNT
program, are essential to increasing the number of educators
who will prepare the next generation of registered nurses.
“Our schools of nursing are struggling to increase
student capacity in the face of a severe nurse faculty shortage.
The TNT program would offer nursing schools a great incentive
to partner with the military to overcome this obstacle,”
said AACN President Jeanette Lancaster. “AACN is committed
to working with Senator Durbin and Congress to see this important
piece of legislation passed.”
The military faces the same difficulty in recruiting and
retaining nurses as civilian healthcare facilities. Neither
the Army nor the Air Force has met its active service nurse
recruitment goals since the 1990s. In 2006, the Air Force,
Army, and Navy experienced overall nurse vacancy rates of
15 percent, 8 percent, and 9.6 percent, respectively. In order
to address the current shortage, all branches of the military
are offering incentives to encourage nurses to join the Armed
Services.
However, the fundamental problem of the nursing shortage
is that civilian schools of nursing, where the military recruits,
do not have the faculty necessary to educate an adequate number
of nurses. According to AACN’s 2006-2007 annual survey,
U.S. nursing schools turned away 42,866 qualified applicants
to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. Almost three
quarters of the schools responding to the survey pointed to
faculty shortages as a primary reason for not accepting all
qualified applicants into their programs.
According to a Special Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions
released by AACN in July 2007, the national nurse faculty
vacancy rate has grown to 8.8 percent. The nurse faculty shortage
is expected to escalate as a wave of faculty retirements is
projected for the near future. According to a 2002 article
titled The Shortage of Doctorally Prepared Nursing Faculty:
A Dire Situation, the average age of nurse faculty at retirement
is 62.5 years. With the average age of doctorally-prepared
faculty currently 53.5 years, significant numbers of faculty
will be retiring within the next ten years.
The TNT program, offers a creative solution to help address
the nursing shortage. Modeled after the successful Department
of Defense (DOD) program called Troops to Teachers, the goal
of the four-pronged program is to increase the number of nurse
faculty members so schools of nursing may expand enrollments
and alleviate the ongoing shortage. The TNT program offers:
a fellowship program for Commissioned Officers with a graduate
degree in nursing; a scholarship program for Commissioned
Officers who have served at least 20 years of active duty
as a nurse and are eligible for retirement; a transitional
assistance program for Commissioned Officers of the Nurse
Corps who have served at least 20 years and are already qualified
to teach; and a program for retired Nurse Corps Officers who
can serve as full-time faculty in a accredited school of nursing.
The nursing community has widely supported this program since
its conception in 2006. Last year, 23 nursing organizations
supported the TNT program as an amendment to the DOD Authorization
Bill. This year, 28 nursing organizations have supported Senator
Durbin’s stand-alone bill. The overwhelming support
for this program is due to a clear understanding that the
nurse faculty shortage plays a critical role in the current
nursing shortage. AACN is grateful to Senator Durbin, and
the original ten cosponsors of the bill, including Senators
Inhofe (R-OK), Obama (D-IL), Lieberman (I-CT), Biden (D-DE),
Reed (D-RI) Mikulski (D-MD), Collins (R-ME), Menendez (D-NJ),
Dole (R-NC), and Inouye (D-HI). The nursing community letter
of support for S. 2705 can be found at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/pdf/TNTLetter.pdf.
“As a former military nurse and faculty member, I understand
the tremendous value the TNT program could offer nursing students,”
said AACN Executive Director Geraldine Bednash. “Military
nurses have the opportunity to share their experiences with
nursing students and help them to understand not only the
importance of the nursing profession, but also the significance
of a career as a military nurse officer.”
Many retired military nurses currently serve as faculty in
schools of nursing and are well-respected members of the team
as they offer unique perspectives on nursing to our students
and other faculty. In fact, one of AACN’s member institutions,
the University of Maryland School of Nursing, currently has
a contractual relationship with the Army Nurse Corps and eight
Army Nurse Officers are serving as faculty in their school
of nursing. For more information on this program, see http://nursing.umaryland.edu/news/2007/6-18.htm.
In support of the TNT bill, AACN will host a Military Nurse
Shortage Briefing on April 8, 2008 in the Capitol Building.
“Clearly this program benefits our schools of nursing,
but it also offers a huge incentive for the Armed Services,”
said Lancaster. “I cannot think of a better recruitment
strategy than to have experienced, highly-motivated, and passionate
Nurse Corps Officers explain to nursing students the benefit
of a military career.”
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is
the national voice for university and four-year college education
programs in nursing. Representing more than 620 member schools
of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide,
AACN's educational, research, governmental advocacy, data
collection, publications, and other programs work to establish
quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing
education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards,
influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and
promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing
education, research, and practice.
# # #
CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
|
