Teaching the Teacher: Preparing for the Next Generation of Nurse Educators

• A lack of nurse educators has led to an industry bottleneck and a need for nurses to transition from the bedside to the classroom.
• Nearly 2,000 faculty vacancies were reported for the 2023-24 academic year, according to a survey from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
• One recommendation to increase the amount of nurse educators is to create a national center for nursing education.

Thousands of future nurses have been turned away from the profession before they even had a chance to start — but through no fault of their own.

A lack of nursing faculty has led to an industry bottleneck and a need for nurses to transition from the bedside to the classroom to “train the next wave of nursing clinicians.”

The Need for Nurse Educators

Nearly 2,000 faculty vacancies were reported for the 2023-24 academic year among the institutions that responded to an American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) survey. That’s on top of the roughly one-third of nurse faculty members who plan to retire by 2025. 

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) stated in a 2021 report that the expected increase in retirements is “creating a significant ‘brain drain’ that will exacerbate the current faculty shortage.” This all contributes to a “crisis threatening the supply, education, and training of registered nurses,” according to the organization.  

Patrick Luna, MSN, RN, CEN, is a clinical teaching instructor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. He is among the nurse educators involved in academic precepting (what CU Anschutz likens to student teaching) and has learned to suss out students who could one day lead a classroom. 

“I keep an eye out at the undergraduate level for students who love to teach and you can tell who they are – they’re the ones leading study groups,” he stated in a news release. “I start putting that bug into their ear and tell them after they have some bedside experience, there’s a place for you to become a nurse educator.”

But challenges remain for future educators, according to the NACNEP, such as inconsistent guidelines or requirements from state to state and the influx of online learning.

Addressing the Need for Nurse Educators

NACNEP recommended that the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) spearhead the creation of a national center for nursing education to “advance nursing education.” Structured as a federal-private partnership (and congressionally funded), such a center would establish best practices, addressing diversity among nurse faculty and preceptors, and improving perception of the nurse faculty role, among other efforts.

While that has not yet been realized, HRSA did announce this summer that millions of dollars in grant funds were issued to universities and colleges through its Nurse Faculty Loan Program. Among them was Emory University, which received $1.3 million to help bolster the nursing workforce.

“Without an adequate number of nursing faculty and mentors, schools are limited in the number of students they can prepare,” Emory NFLP project director Kristy Martyn, Ph.D., RN, CPNP-PC, FAAN, stated in a news release. “We are committed to being part of a program that optimizes the conditions for graduating more nurse educators and — ultimately — more nurses, which will be key to meeting the nation’s health care needs.”

Amber Kool, associate provost at Arizona College of Nursing (AZCN), penned an editorial for Fierce Healthcare, arguing for “innovative solutions” in nursing education.

“I know firsthand the profound impact education has on individual nurses and the whole profession,” she wrote. “Your training affects how you think on the job, react to new scenarios, and deal with the stress of a challenging career. Solving nursing shortages and training a nursing workforce ready for the future begins with how we approach nursing education.”

Kool said education needs to focus on career readiness rather than “cram in more knowledge,” citing the use of advanced technology, a focus on mental health and resiliency training, and the acknowledgment that nursing school itself contributes to burnout.

“Ultimately, the task for us as educators is the same charge we place on nurses: we must care, innovate, and lead as the world changes around us,” Kool wrote. 

The Bottom Line

The nursing workforce shortage and lack of nursing faculty go hand in hand. Some nurse educators make it a point to determine which of their students might be suited for teaching after they’ve spent some time at the bedside. While there’s a general framework for the education level required to become a nurse educator, more specific guidelines and requirements from boards of nursing vary from state to state. To address the need for more nurse faculty, one organization has suggested the creation of a national center that would provide more uniform guidance, collect industry data, and improve the perception of becoming a nurse educator. 

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