Definitely not a good situation. It is going to get to the point where even if we have students interested in going into nursing, the programs won't be able to accommodate them.
I'm start to hear story after story of 1, 2 or even 3 year waiting lists to get into local nursing programs. On top of them starting to get fiercely competitive. Not a lot of students are going to put their lives on hold to wait for a spot.
Think the average age of a nurse is like 46 now, the average age of a faculty member is approaching 55. In just a few short years, a lot of nursing faculty are going to be retiring. Not a lot of nurses are going into teaching to replace them.
Ask yourself, if here in the Northeast, if you were making up to $60,000 a year as a staff nurse, would you take a $20,000 plus pay cut to work as a faculty member.
Most nurses can't afford to do that no matter how much they'd love to teach. Will have to see how it goes.
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursingschools.com