WCN workshop aims to support better representation among future nurse educators and address nurse faculty shortages

To graduate the number of nurses needed to meet the demand, Washington state needs more nurse faculty. In 2016, the Washington Center for Nursing (WCN) began efforts to examine whether there was a nurse faculty shortage. In the 2017 Survey of Nursing Educa­tors in Washington State conducted by WCN, 70% of Washington’s nursing schools reported program faculty vacan­cies. The survey also found that 38% of nurse faculty at commu­nity and technical colleges and 40% of faculty at four-year colleges and univer­si­ties planned to retire by 2027. Addition­ally, nurse educa­tors were less diverse than practicing nurses, nursing students and the general popula­tion. To increase interest in nursing educa­tion as a career, partic­u­larly among under­rep­re­sented students and practicing nurses, the ​So You Want to be a Professor” workshop was born.

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