The Shortage Within the Nursing Shortage: Why We Can’t Fix Healthcare Without Fixing Faculty
Date published: December 17, 2025
It’s no secret that we’re in the middle of a national nursing shortage. Hospitals are struggling to fill shifts. Emergency departments are overrun. And experienced nurses are burning out faster than we can replace them.
But beneath this well-known crisis is another one—quieter, but just as critical.
We’re also facing a nursing faculty shortage.
And without urgent attention, this second crisis could completely undermine our ability to solve the first.
The Numbers No One Is Talking About
As of 2022–2023, nearly 9% of all full-time nurse faculty positions were vacant. That might not sound catastrophic—until you realize that these vacancies directly limit how many new nurses we can train.
In fact, nursing schools across the U.S. turned away over 65,000 qualified applicants last year. Not because of academic performance. Not because of lack of interest.
But because we don’t have enough faculty, classroom space, or clinical placement opportunities to train them.
Why Faculty Roles Are Going Unfilled
There are a few key reasons:
Compensation: Many nurse educators take a pay cut—sometimes as much as $40,000/year—when they leave bedside roles for academia.
Retirement wave: The faculty population is aging, and we don’t have enough master’s or doctoral-prepared nurses entering teaching programs.
Declining advanced degree enrollment: Fewer nurses are pursuing the advanced training needed to become qualified faculty members.
It’s a pipeline problem—and the downstream effects are serious.
Real-World Impact
Let’s make this real.
A hospital in a rural region is short 12 nurses. They can’t staff their med-surg unit. But when they contact local nursing programs, they learn the schools had to turn away dozens of applicants this year because they didn’t have enough instructors or clinical preceptors.
This isn’t just theoretical. It’s happening now—and it’s happening everywhere.
What Can We Do?
Here are five evidence-based solutions worth fighting for:
Increase compensation for nurse educators.
The pay gap between clinical practice and academia discourages nurses from teaching. Federal and state funding must bridge that gap.
Incentivize clinical preceptors.
States like Texas and Hawaii offer tuition credits or financial bonuses for clinical teaching—and it’s working.
Support academic-practice partnerships.
These collaborations between healthcare systems and nursing schools allow hospitals to co-train and co-hire new nurses—growing faculty while meeting staffing needs.
Reimagine the recruitment pipeline.
High school outreach, simulation-based shadowing, and flexible degree programs can help attract a more diverse, younger generation of future faculty.
Engage in policy advocacy.
Nurse leaders must stay engaged with state and national nursing organizations. The more unified our voice, the greater our impact.
A Call to Leadership
Healthcare leaders often ask, “What can we do to fix the nursing shortage?”
Here’s the answer:
Invest in faculty.
Invest in clinical sites.
Invest in the entire ecosystem—not just recruitment at the bedside.
Because without enough nurse educators, we will never have enough nurses.
About Lifebeat Solutions
At Lifebeat Solutions, we’re helping organizations build cultures of clinical excellence and patient safety—by supporting the full pipeline of nurse development.
From case-based learning to leadership consulting, we’re equipping teams to not only train the next generation of nurses, but retain them. Because the future of healthcare doesn’t begin at the bedside. It begins in the classroom.
Visit our website https://drjuliesiemers.com/lifebeat-solutions/ and book a consultation with us. For inquiries, you can also reach out via email at [email protected].
#NursingShortage #NursingEducation #NurseEducator #NurseFaculty
#InvestInNurses
The Shortage Within the Nursing Shortage: Why We Can’t Fix Healthcare Without Fixing Faculty
Date published: December 17, 2025
It’s no secret that we’re in the middle of a national nursing shortage. Hospitals are struggling to fill shifts. Emergency departments are overrun. And experienced nurses are burning out faster than we can replace them.
But beneath this well-known crisis is another one—quieter, but just as critical.
We’re also facing a nursing faculty shortage.
And without urgent attention, this second crisis could completely undermine our ability to solve the first.
The Numbers No One Is Talking About
As of 2022–2023, nearly 9% of all full-time nurse faculty positions were vacant. That might not sound catastrophic—until you realize that these vacancies directly limit how many new nurses we can train.
In fact, nursing schools across the U.S. turned away over 65,000 qualified applicants last year. Not because of academic performance. Not because of lack of interest.
But because we don’t have enough faculty, classroom space, or clinical placement opportunities to train them.
Why Faculty Roles Are Going Unfilled
There are a few key reasons:
Compensation: Many nurse educators take a pay cut—sometimes as much as $40,000/year—when they leave bedside roles for academia.
Retirement wave: The faculty population is aging, and we don’t have enough master’s or doctoral-prepared nurses entering teaching programs.
Declining advanced degree enrollment: Fewer nurses are pursuing the advanced training needed to become qualified faculty members.
It’s a pipeline problem—and the downstream effects are serious.
Real-World Impact
Let’s make this real.
A hospital in a rural region is short 12 nurses. They can’t staff their med-surg unit. But when they contact local nursing programs, they learn the schools had to turn away dozens of applicants this year because they didn’t have enough instructors or clinical preceptors.
This isn’t just theoretical. It’s happening now—and it’s happening everywhere.
What Can We Do?
Here are five evidence-based solutions worth fighting for:
Increase compensation for nurse educators.
The pay gap between clinical practice and academia discourages nurses from teaching. Federal and state funding must bridge that gap.
Incentivize clinical preceptors.
States like Texas and Hawaii offer tuition credits or financial bonuses for clinical teaching—and it’s working.
Support academic-practice partnerships.
These collaborations between healthcare systems and nursing schools allow hospitals to co-train and co-hire new nurses—growing faculty while meeting staffing needs.
Reimagine the recruitment pipeline.
High school outreach, simulation-based shadowing, and flexible degree programs can help attract a more diverse, younger generation of future faculty.
Engage in policy advocacy.
Nurse leaders must stay engaged with state and national nursing organizations. The more unified our voice, the greater our impact.
A Call to Leadership
Healthcare leaders often ask, “What can we do to fix the nursing shortage?”
Here’s the answer:
Invest in faculty.
Invest in clinical sites.
Invest in the entire ecosystem—not just recruitment at the bedside.
Because without enough nurse educators, we will never have enough nurses.
About Lifebeat Solutions
At Lifebeat Solutions, we’re helping organizations build cultures of clinical excellence and patient safety—by supporting the full pipeline of nurse development.
From case-based learning to leadership consulting, we’re equipping teams to not only train the next generation of nurses, but retain them. Because the future of healthcare doesn’t begin at the bedside. It begins in the classroom.
Visit our website https://drjuliesiemers.com/lifebeat-solutions/ and book a consultation with us. For inquiries, you can also reach out via email at [email protected].
#NursingShortage #NursingEducation #NurseEducator #NurseFaculty
#InvestInNurses
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