“We need nurses in the pipeline” – $2.8M helps recruit, retain educators for nursing programs across Maryland
MARYLAND -“We are still seeing other professions that individuals are choosing over the health care profession at this time. We’re still seeing schools with limited seats available to take students in. Likewise, we’re also seeing the struggles with enough faculty to teach those students,” Salisbury University School of Nursing Director Debra Webster said.
Those are just some of the factors health care officials told us contribute to the lingering nursing shortage in Maryland. To address that, more than $2 million in grant funding from the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s Nurse Support Program II will assist with the need to get more nursing educators in the classroom. “Along with other sources, including state funding, it’s become really important that we try to recruit faculty to an area that is often hard to recruit faculty to,” Webster said. “We’re working in a way that we have to compete with hospitals and clinical areas that can pay nurses a lot more.”
Both Salisbury University and Wor-Wic Community College will get a portion of those dollars through the New Nursing Faculty Fellowship fund. “Nominated faculty can receive $50,000 over a five-year period. It’s $10,000 a year as long as we retain them and they stay with us to teach,” Wor-Wic Nursing Department Head Brenda Mister said.
The New Nurse Faculty Fellowship awards can be used for a variety of purposes including professional development, additional income, and assist those who want to pursue a graduate education.
Mister said that funding will go to support three faculty members in their program. Despite that, she told us they’re still faced with the growing number of retirements. “The average nurse’s age I believe in the last study was between 50-52. We are aging and we need nurses in the pipeline. We need the next generations to step up,” Mister said.
Webster told 47 ABC WMDT that the additional funding helps with recruiting more students. She added that they also want those future professionals to know that they have options. “Nurses can work everywhere. They don’t just work in hospitals. They can work in clinics, school systems, research facilities, and in any type of specialty they want,” Webster said.
Salisbury University said they’ve also seen a limit to the number of clinical placements they have for students. We’re told that without those proper clinical placement’s students can’t learn to care for patients.
The New Nurse Faculty Fellowship was awarded amongst ten universities and eight community colleges in Maryland.
