Photo courtesy of Belinda Isley/Idaho State University	More NurseWeek Features   Smoke-Free Zone   Nurses and patients tackle nicotine addiction   Bloodless Survival     Surgical techniques to use when transfusion drops out of the equation
Idaho State University's Fast Track program was in the news in December when the first group of students graduated. KTRV Channel 12 was on hand to do a story about the program. Cameraman Eric Geller films Tammy Schrader (left), and ISU Fast Track student, and "patient" Judy Nagel, and ISU nursing instructor.

If nursing program administrators could have one wish granted in the new year, it would almost certainly be more faculty.

The solution to the nursing shortage used to be recruiting more people into nursing to fill burgeoning job vacancies. As little as three years ago, nursing programs couldn't find enough students to fill the classrooms. Now, in the wake of Sept. 11, a weak economy and aggressive local and national programs to promote nursing as a career, more people than ever want to be part of a profession that offers job security, satisfaction and decent pay.

But nursing programs are rejecting applicants in droves.

"The scary thing is that right now we have hundreds and hundreds of qualified, motivated, potentially wonderful nurses that we're going to turn away," said Beatrice Yorker, JD, MS, RN, FAAN, director of the San Francisco State University School of Nursing. "Word will get out that you can't get into nursing school. We will lose this current bolus of part of the solution to the nursing shortage unless we can create additional slots in nursing education."

But nursing programs cannot be expanded because not enough nurses are willing and/or qualified to teach, and new funding isn't available to add faculty.

Nursing education programs are in a double bind. They face an aging workforce nearing retirement and faculty salaries that are far outpaced by the marketplace. In addition, nearly every state is grappling with record budget shortfalls, which have meant significant cuts this year for many nursing programs.

So instead of adding more faculty-and increasing salaries to lure nurses into teaching-many nursing programs are squeezed tighter than ever. Although a few programs have found ways to hire more professors and increase enrollment through industry partnerships, most schools have either cut programs or are struggling to maintain the status quo.

Last year, after 1,000 people applied for 140 spots in its bachelor of science in nursing program, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston planned to increase enrollment by 20 students. Then the nursing school's budget was hit with a 16 percent decrease.

"We couldn't add 20 students," said Patricia Starck, DSN, RN, FAAN, dean of the UTHSC-Houston School of Nursing. "We were doing good just to hold the line. We're not expecting the state to rescue us here. We know the state has no money. The state gives the university less and less of its budget every year."

Sharon Job, Ph.D., RN, Fast Track nursing coordinator for Idaho State University, also wanted to expand her program. It allows second-career students who already hold degrees to earn a BSN in 18 months.

"I sat down with the comptroller," Job said. "To add 10 students is $217,000 a year, plus another $27,000 for supplies and equipment. That's almost a quarter of a million dollars. We have the interest, but without the money, we can't take them."

In addition, Job said she has tried for a year and a half to recruit a faculty member to fill an open spot. "I can't compete with the salary that [hospital] facilities are paying," she said. "They're not going to work for me for $25,000 less than they would make working in a facility."

Starck agreed that faculty salaries are a huge issue in nursing. "We have not had faculty salary raises in so long we can't even remember," she said. "We are concerned that our graduates are going out and making more than their faculty."

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