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DENVER - Hospitals that have been dealing with a shortage of nurses for years face a new, cruel irony: An inadequate number of instructors is forcing nursing schools to turn away thousands of applicants each year.
And the numbers are growing. Last year, nursing schools around the country turned away 147,465 applicants for baccalaureate or associate's degrees and diplomas, up 18 percent from the previous year, according to the National League for Nursing, which collects data on all nursing education programs in the country.
In Colorado, nursing schools expect to turn down more than 5,000 qualified applicants, the Rocky Mountain News reported Friday.
Nationally, an estimated 1,390 budgeted, full-time nurse faculty positions went unfilled at nursing schools in 2006, up 32 percent since 2002 in baccalaureate and advanced-degree programs, the National League for Nursing said.
Part of the problem is that nurses who work in hospitals are paid more than instructors. Experienced nurses can earn $100,000 per year in hospitals, compared to about $60,000 a year as college instructors.
Experts also say there are fewer nurses willing to invest the time and money necessary to get the advanced degree needed to teach.
By 2016, Colorado could be 7,000 nurses short of the number deemed adequate, experts said.
Many Colorado nursing schools have a two-year waiting list for applicants.
Before they can graduate, nursing students must spend time in hospitals in rotations in practice areas including surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics and psychiatry. There must be at least one nurse with an advanced degree available to supervise every six students.
Enrollment in nursing schools depends on how many clinical rotations are available for students.
And nursing schools face a shortage of clinical instructors and nursing professors with doctorates.
"The sad thing is that within a year of graduating, my students will make as much as I make," said Diane Shantz, a professor and assistant director of nursing at Metropolitan State College of Denver. "And five years down the line, they'll be making 30 percent more."
Colleges, hospitals and the state government have taken steps to help ease the shortage.
Voters last fall approved Referendum C, allowing the state government to keep money that otherwise would have to be refunded to taxpayers, and some of that money will be funneled to higher education. And this spring, lawmakers approved a loan-forgiveness program to help nurses to return to school for advanced degrees that qualify them to teach.
The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence in Denver won a $1 million, three-year grant from the state Labor Department in 2004 to open nursing-scholar programs at several hospitals. The program was designed to help 45 nurses earn the qualifications to supervise students in clinical settings, but hospitals and colleges helped stretch the program, in part with help from professors who volunteered to teach, and 150 nurses have graduated from it.
It's a good start, but not enough, experts said.
"Our whole health care system is at stake," said Kathy McGilvey, associate dean of nursing at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. "With all the headlines about medical errors and medical safety, I'd want the highest educated nurses taking care of my family members. And that means the best nursing education."
And the numbers are growing. Last year, nursing schools around the country turned away 147,465 applicants for baccalaureate or associate's degrees and diplomas, up 18 percent from the previous year, according to the National League for Nursing, which collects data on all nursing education programs in the country.
In Colorado, nursing schools expect to turn down more than 5,000 qualified applicants, the Rocky Mountain News reported Friday.
Nationally, an estimated 1,390 budgeted, full-time nurse faculty positions went unfilled at nursing schools in 2006, up 32 percent since 2002 in baccalaureate and advanced-degree programs, the National League for Nursing said.
Part of the problem is that nurses who work in hospitals are paid more than instructors. Experienced nurses can earn $100,000 per year in hospitals, compared to about $60,000 a year as college instructors.
Experts also say there are fewer nurses willing to invest the time and money necessary to get the advanced degree needed to teach.
By 2016, Colorado could be 7,000 nurses short of the number deemed adequate, experts said.
Many Colorado nursing schools have a two-year waiting list for applicants.
Before they can graduate, nursing students must spend time in hospitals in rotations in practice areas including surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics and psychiatry. There must be at least one nurse with an advanced degree available to supervise every six students.
Enrollment in nursing schools depends on how many clinical rotations are available for students.
And nursing schools face a shortage of clinical instructors and nursing professors with doctorates.
"The sad thing is that within a year of graduating, my students will make as much as I make," said Diane Shantz, a professor and assistant director of nursing at Metropolitan State College of Denver. "And five years down the line, they'll be making 30 percent more."
Colleges, hospitals and the state government have taken steps to help ease the shortage.
Voters last fall approved Referendum C, allowing the state government to keep money that otherwise would have to be refunded to taxpayers, and some of that money will be funneled to higher education. And this spring, lawmakers approved a loan-forgiveness program to help nurses to return to school for advanced degrees that qualify them to teach.
The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence in Denver won a $1 million, three-year grant from the state Labor Department in 2004 to open nursing-scholar programs at several hospitals. The program was designed to help 45 nurses earn the qualifications to supervise students in clinical settings, but hospitals and colleges helped stretch the program, in part with help from professors who volunteered to teach, and 150 nurses have graduated from it.
It's a good start, but not enough, experts said.
"Our whole health care system is at stake," said Kathy McGilvey, associate dean of nursing at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. "With all the headlines about medical errors and medical safety, I'd want the highest educated nurses taking care of my family members. And that means the best nursing education."
