Nationwide school of nursing faculty shortages affect the Cape Fear

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The need for nurses is reaching an all-time high. Nursing schools are struggling to meet that need as nursing educators are becoming more difficult to find.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported a nationwide shortage of nursing faculty, with nearly 1,500 vacancies during the 2020-2021 school year. As of 2020, that contributed to nearly 80,000 qualified nursing student applicants being turned away simply due to both space and staffing.

“The two major limitations with expanding our programs are faculty shortage and the clinical site shortage,” said Dr. Matthew Gallek, UNCW’s Interim Director for the School of Nursing. Gallek says UNCW is adequately staffed now, but still has a few spots to fill.

“Especially for the graduate nurses,” he continued. “If you’re teaching in a nurse practitioner program, the pay is a little… competitive in practice and such.”

Nurses sometimes staying on the floor for better pay, and some leaving the medical field altogether instead of moving up the ladder.

“When people are getting tired at the bedside and need to move on, they might be changing professions or just retiring in general,” he said.

The pandemic greatly affecting nursing faculty and nurses on hospital floors. Since COVID-19’s start, Gallek has seen a marked difference in nursing school applicants.

“Our applications for our graduate programs have decreased since the pandemic began, and I would assume that has something to do with burnout,” said Gallek. That decrease is potentially feeding into the nursing shortage cycle.

We reached out to Cape Fear Community College about this nursing shortage. Though they’re adequately staffed they did say: “As the nursing shortage grows and the demands to increase enrollment in nursing programs increase, more qualified faculty that meet both the Board of Nursing and accreditation requirements will be needed.”