AFT NURSE FACULTY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION

WHEREAS, the shortage of nurses in this country is well documented. The federal government estimates there will be 1 million fewer nurses than will be needed by 2020. More people need to be recruited into the profession. But even the best recruitment strategies will be ineffective if there are insufficient faculty members available to teach potential nurses:

RESOLVED, that the 2008 convention of the American Federation of Teachers adopt the following Recommendations of the AFT Nurse Faculty Shortage Task Force:

Recommendation 1. Create a work environment that is conducive to recruiting new nursing faculty and retaining those nurse educators already in the profession.

• Increase nursing faculty salaries through the collective bargaining process.
• Create a workplace culture within schools of nursing to mentor new faculty. Incentives (financial, reduced workload, etc.) should be provided to mentors and mentoring should become an accepted part of the faculty role.
• Support local unions and their facilities that choose to develop and implement clinical and classroom ratios (including a cap on the number of online students per course offering).
• Organize faculty around the country in order to maintain professional standards.
• Support the development of an educational program for agency preceptors (instructors and mentors in clinical settings) that will benefit the nursing faculty, students and clinical nurses.
• Ensure that nursing faculty have the appropriate education in teaching methods.
• Support existing faculty and encourage new faculty with incentives such as reimbursement for conferences, continuing education and release time for professional activities.
• Create a document that describes the many facets of the faculty role and guide faculty development efforts of individual schools.
• Provide professional development activities and resources to all nursing faculty.
• Provide time in a normal workload schedule for research.
• Make teaching assistants and stipends available for nursing faculty support.

Recommendation 2. Increase the amount of public and private money available to properly fund nursing programs and provide for the expansion of nursing education programs while also working to improve the image of the profession.

• Continue to advocate for full funding of the federal Nurse Reinvestment Act and for increased funding in other nursing workforce development programs administered by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. Additional funds in Title VIII programs are essential to meeting the future demand for nursing educators. Specific programs to educate nurses in master’s and post-master’s programs have had funding cut when, in fact, appropriations need to be increased by 15 percent to 40 percent to meet demand.
• Negotiate with hospitals and other clinical agencies to provide financial resources to nursing schools for fiscal and personnel resources.
• Lobby for increased state funding for nursing education programs, including monies earmarked for faculty education, professional development and other resources to support nursing education programs.
• Support research that would explore various types and levels of nursing education and what effects, if any, they have on patient care outcomes.
• Seek opportunities to improve the public image of nursing and of nursing education.

Recommendation 3. Develop and implement updated and nontraditional methods of instruction to prepare future nursing instructors.

• Explore new models of teaching nursing students in light of the complexities in today’s healthcare infrastructure.
• Investigate various ways to deliver clinical skills education including clinical simulation.
• Study existing nontraditional and accelerated programs to determine their success, lessons learned and potential use as models for future programs to educate future nurse educators.
• Reduce or streamline prerequisites for graduate study, looking specifically at fast-track options and mandatory minimum years’ experience prior to entering a graduate program.
• Promote nontraditional pathways to and through graduate study that result in quicker matriculation from the program.
• Promote postgraduate study and nursing education as a desirable career choice early in a nurse’s education.

Recommendation 4. Utilize faculty and facilities in a collaborative manner consistent with quality nursing education, academic independence of nursing institutions and the best use of faculty time.

• Increase formal partnerships between schools of nursing and clinical facilities, identifying and capitalizing on specific benefits that are attractive and useful to both partners.
• Explore collaborative use of resources between schools of nursing to ensure nursing schools have fiscal resources available for faculty.
• Create roles for retired nursing faculty, utilizing their skills and expertise, in support of current faculty.