Nursing woes created by shortage of faculty, training sites

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由教师，训练用地不足，造成护理困境
Aspiring nurses interested in applying to programs at Florida’s 11 public universities are stuck in a quagmire that will eventually affect the quality of health-care throughout the state, according to nursing school deans and the Florida Center for Nursing.

About half of the qualified student nursing applicants were turned away this fall from University of Florida, Florida State, Florida A&M and Florida International universities, deans and associate deans said.

It’s one thing to turn away an applicant who is not qualified, they said. But highly qualified applicants are being rejected.

There aren’t enough training sites in the schools’ respective cities to properly educate students — Tallahassee included.

Even if there were enough hospitals or health-care facilities to properly serve as training sites, there aren’t enough qualified nursing faculty in the public university system, said Divina Grossman, chairwoman of the Florida Association of Colleges of Nursing and dean of FIU’s College of Nursing.

“It’s very difficult attracting people to academia,” Grossman said. “The disparity in pay is quite large.”

Grossman said a registered nurse who is qualified to teach earns more money outside of the university’s classroom setting — as much as $80,000-$100,000. Grossman faces the daunting task of hiring four faculty members in the Miami area for a salary of $45,000 a year.

She’s not alone. Lisa Plowfield, FSU’s dean of nursing, and UF’s Karen Miles face similar problems.

“The economy has really affected us because people are not willing to move. We have been unable to fill positions for several years,” said Miles, associate dean for academics and student affairs at UF’s College of Nursing.

The Florida Center for Nursing reports, “Advanced practice degree programs are growing rapidly while teaching and research-focused preparation over time is declining. Over time, this will set the stage for a crippling faculty shortage.”

The center recommends that “faculty salaries must be more competitive with those earned in advance practice.”