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With the end of National Nurses Week yesterday, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson cosponsored the Nurses’ Higher Education and Loan Repayment Act of 2009 which aims to establish a federally-funded student loan repayment program for nurses who pursue a career in nurse education.
“A shortage of qualified nurses already is a serious issue in Nebraska and across America,” said Senator Nelson. “Without incentives for nurses to become nurse educators, the numbers of those qualified to educate future nurses have decreased greatly. This bill provides those needed incentives, allowing nurse educators to get help paying their loans while training new nurses.”
This bill will provide up to a total of $40,000 in loan repayment for nurses obtaining a master’s degree; up to $80,000 for nurses obtaining a doctorate nurses degree. These amounts are designed to cover or nearly cover the costs of obtaining advanced degrees from public or private institutions nationwide.
The current shortage of qualified nursing faculty is the primary factor driving the inability of nursing schools to graduate more registered nurses to meet the growing demand and alleviate the nursing shortage. Due to the great demand for registered nurses, qualified nurses have little incentive to become nurse educators – particularly because the average annual salary for nurse educators is at least 20% less than their counterparts in clinical practice. Low salaries are the number one reason nurse educators are considering leaving the field, according to survey data.
By the year 2020, Nebraska will face a shortage of about 3,800 nurses, if nothing is done to provide incentives for nurse educators.
“Loan repayment is the most direct incentive that can offset the smaller salaries for nurse educators,” said Nelson. “This will be a powerful recruitment tool to ensure that our future nurses are properly trained by experienced, educated nurse educators.”
Nelson cosponsored the bill with Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and at least seven other senators. The legislation is endorsed by 44 nursing organizations in the United States, including the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), as well as the American Association of Community Colleges.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 233,000 additional jobs for registered nurses will open each year through 2016, in addition to about 2.5 million existing positions. The 2008 annual survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) found that U.S. nursing schools turned away 49,948 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate programs in 2008, up from 40,285 in 2007. The main reason cited for turning away qualified applicants was faculty shortages.
In a survey of more than 400 schools of nursing, the AACN found that 63% of the schools reported vacancies on their faculty. An additional 17.8% said they were fully staffed, but still needed more faculty to handle the number of students who want to be trained. It is expected that 200-300 doctorally-prepared faculty will be eligible for retirement each year from 2005-2012, reducing nursing faculty while the need for qualified nurses continues to increase.
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