Nursing schools had to turn away over 41,000 qualified applicants in 2005 because there weren’t enough faculty to teach. This is an unfortunate trend because of the overall nursing shortage nationwide.
According to USA Today, 7.9 percent of faculty positions at nursing schools remain unfilled, and the Department of Health and Human Service reports that the 10 percent RN vacancy rate will increase to 36 percent by 2020.
In July, I blogged about the high turnover rate in health care jobs and cited the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. As more baby boom generation nurses retire in a few years, the nursing shortage will get worse. For more information about the nursing shortage and possible solutions, see Nursing World’s fact sheet.
