Nursing instructor shortages impact local colleges

As more students enter college nursing programs to help ease a nationwide shortage of nurses, southern Illinois colleges are finding they don't have enough instructors to teach them.

Nursing schools across the country are increasing enrollment numbers to try to alleviate the nursing shortage. They also have tried to increase the number of instructors but are running into problems filling the positions. In 2000 the American Association of Colleges of Nursing surveyed 220 schools from across the country to determine nursing faculty position vacancy rates. These schools reported 379 positions open out of 5283, or 7.4 percent. Only 20 schools reported no openings. That has since reached 8.6 percent. The association said even a shortage of one or two instructors at one school can create an overload for existing faculty.

Nursing school officials at SIU-Edwardsville, John A. Logan College and Southeastern Illinois College all reported vacancies for nursing instructors. These colleges have all had more students apply for their nursing schools in the past year than they can accommodate.

Marsha Maurer, dean of the School of Nursing at SIUE, said one cause of the shortage is nursing schools are often not able to pay instructors as much as they could earn in the field.

"There are a lot of things that are impacting this problem," Maurer said. "The salaries are totally non-competitive with the service sector." The association's Web site showed a nursing instructor with at least a master's degree can make between $60,000 and $70,000 per year while a nurse with the same education level in practice can make up to $100,000 per year in administrative positions.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that by 2010 there will be more than 1 million vacant positions in the nursing field because of high demand for nursing care and a number of nurses near. Maurer said this demand is reflected in the rates of applications for admission in nursing schools.

"People are grasping the idea that there is a shortage," Maurer said. This summer, SIUE will start an accelerated nursing program. So far it has had more than 500 applications for the program. It can accept only 20 students. John A. Logan College had nearly 500 people apply for 70 spots last year. Marilyn Murphy, director of nursing at John A. Logan College, said she has trouble finding full-time instructors because those positions require a master's degree in nursing. While the college does not have any openings for full-time positions, it is having difficulties finding part-time instructors. Maurer said she expects this shortage to worsen within the next 10 years because of retirements. As the Baby Boomer generation nears retirement, there is not a large enough pool to replace it.

"If the average age of faculty is around 51, there will be a huge number in retirement here in about 10 years," Maurer said.

According to the association's Web site, 70.7 percent of instructors were older than 50 years in 2002.