Administrators of Nursing Education of Wisconsin (ANES), representing all of the nursing programs in Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA), representing all of Wisconsin’s registered nurses, are asking for $10 million in state funding to support a two-pronged solution to address the present and future nurse faculty shortage in Wisconsin.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the severity of the nursing shortage in Wisconsin. Before the pandemic, a nurse shortage of 2,800 was estimated for 2020(1) . That shortage will only increase as the burden from the COVID-19 causes more nurses to leave the profession. To address the basic needs of the future nurse workforce, you must immediately address the critical shortage of nurse faculty.
Wisconsin Demand for Registered Nurses
Wisconsin graduates over 3,000 new nurses a year and 74% of Wisconsin nurses received education from a school in state(2). Nurses who are educated in Wisconsin are more likely to stay andwork in the state. Interestingly, as the interest of qualified students seeking admission to nursing programs is increasing, the number of nurse educators available to teach is decreasing. WisconsinNursing programs are forced to turn away hundreds of qualified applicants because they did not have the faculty to teach them(3).
Unblocking the Bottleneck
Wisconsin will expand a two-pronged strategy successfully piloted by 4 UW Nursing Programs to include allaccredited nursing programs that have a physical presence in Wisconsin. This model will recruit and commit up to 250nurse educators to 3 years of teaching in Wisconsin Nursing Programs.
ANEW, WNA and the nurses of Wisconsin thank you for your attention to this critical situation. Now is the time to make changes and ensure Wisconsin’s healthcare can meet the needs of the citizens. We lookforward to working with you on addressing this critical issue.
A Two-Pronged Strategy
Strategy 1: Growing Our Own
Provide forgivable grants for nurses to pursue any of three advanced degrees required toteach professional nursing in Wisconsin in exchange for a 3-year teaching obligation at anursing school in Wisconsin once they complete their degree.
Strategy 2: Recruit New Faculty
Forgive a portion of qualifying student loans of an out-of-state nurse educator or appropriately credentialed practicing Wisconsin nurse in exchange for a 3-year teaching obligation at anursing school in Wisconsin.
| Growing Our Own | Annual Awards | Award Amount | Years Eligible | Total |
| PhD | 30 | 550,000 | 1 to 2 | $1,500,000 |
| DNP | 40 | $40,000 | 1 to 2 | $1,600,000 |
| Master’s in Nursing Education | 60 | 530,000 | 1 to 2 | $1,B00,000 |
| Recruit New Faculty | Participants | Maximum Award Amount | Total |
| PhD | 50 | 550,000 | $2,500,000 |
| DNP | 50 | $40,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Master’s in Nursing Education | 20 | 520,000 | $400,000 |
Administration and Promotion $200,000.00
TOTAL $10,000,000.00
References
‘ Casal, M. and Walsh, T. (2020). “Wisconsin Registered Nurse Supply and Demand Forecasts Results Report 2018-2020.” Department of Workforce Development.
- Zahner, , Pinekenstein, B., Kowalkowski, J., Henriques, J., & Brzozowski, S. (2019).Wisconsin 2018 RN workforce survey. Milwaukee, WI. Wisconsin Center for Nursing, Inc.
- Young, K., Alasagheirin, M., Aschenbrenner, A., Marcyjanik, D., Hanson Brenner, G., Sohn,K., & Adams J. L. (2020). 2018 Wisconsin nursing education and nurse faculty surveyreport.Milwaukee, WI: Wisconsin Center for Nursing, Inc.
° Young, LK. (2018). Nurses for Wisconsin handout. Eau Claire, WI: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
