The nursing crisis has a cure — and it begins in the classroom | Expert Opinion

The nation’s nursing shortage is straining hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. Yet as this well-known crisis reaches a critical point, a quieter one threatens to make it worse: the growing shortage of nursing faculty. Without enough educators to train the next generation of nurses, efforts to expand the nursing workforce will fall short.

A survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing last year found nearly 1,700 faculty vacancies in 808 schools nationwide. As a result, thousands of capable and motivated future nurses are turned away each year — not for lack of talent or drive, but because nursing schools do not have enough faculty to educate them. In 2024, more than 65,000 qualified applicants were not accepted into entry-level undergraduate nursing programs nationally. Expanding the educator pipeline is a critical piece of the solution to issues such as understaffing at hospitals and burnout among nurses facing increasing workloads.

But building up the nursing faculty ranks involves challenges unique to academia. Many nurses pursue the doctoral education needed to become professors later in their careers, after years of clinical work. Those who do pursue doctoral degrees often have to reduce work hours, resulting in less income, and they have limited access to financial support for their education or loan repayment programs.

Then nurses who go into teaching typically earn significantly less. Practicing nurses can earn up to $40,000 to $50,000 more annually than those in academia. Given this pay gap, and heavy teaching loads and administrative duties for faculty at nursing schools, it is no surprise that many nurses choose the bedside over the classroom.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a steady 6% annual growth in nursing jobs through 2033 — meaning nearly 200,000 new nurses will be needed each year. We simply can’t graduate enough new nurses if there aren’t enough qualified faculty to educate them.

Another growing challenge is the shortage of clinical placements — essential hands-on experiences through which nursing students train. Today, healthcare systems are accepting fewer nursing students for clinical training than they did a decade ago, when educating the next generation was seen as an institutional responsibility. One reason is that healthcare organizations now employ many nurses who are new to practice themselves and may not feel prepared to precept students. There’s also more pressure on healthcare organizations to focus on financial efficiency, with providers caring for more patients to generate more revenue.

This has left hospital nurses and physicians increasingly reluctant to serve as preceptors — mentors who guide nursing students during clinical rotations. Facing intense pressure to meet productivity targets, they worry that mentoring students will slow down patient care, impacting them financially. This shortage of preceptors makes it challenging for students to complete the clinical hours required to graduate.

To address this concern, several Philadelphia-area nursing deans, including myself, are advocating for policy changes that could attract more physicians and nurses to serve as clinical preceptors. We’re meeting with Pennsylvania state leaders in Harrisburg to lobby for tax incentives adopted successfully in several states, such as to provide $2,000 to $3,000 in annual tax relief directly to the nurses, and sometimes the institution, as an incentive to address preceptor shortages.

Simulation learning centers offer another promising strategy to give nursing students hands-on experience without always needing bedside placements. But to truly move the needle on the nursing shortage, universities must also support and invest in educators. At Villanova University, we’re trying to innovate with programs such as the Conway Scholars Program — an accelerated PHD program in which scholars are prepared for and commit to nursing education positions upon completion. This program is unique because students are supported financially to complete the training within three years, in contrast with the typical four-to six-year trajectory.

To patients, the nursing shortage may mean longer time spent in the waiting room and slower care at the bedside. But for those of us in healthcare education, it signals a looming crisis that threatens patient outcomes. We must act now.

Donna S. Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN is the Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor at Villanova University’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. She is a registered nurse and health services researcher focusing on nurse workforce issues.