A Systematic Review of Strategies to Address the Clinical Nursing Faculty Shortage

Abstract

This systematic review provides a comprehensive assessment of models used to expand the ranks of clinical nursing faculty. Nursing faculty shortages constrict the pipeline for educating nurses and make addressing the projected nursing shortage more difficult. Schools of nursing have denied admission to qualified applicants, citing insufficient numbers of nursing faculty as one major reason. Using key search terms in PubMed(®) and CINAHL(®), we identified 14 peer-reviewed articles published between 1980 and 2010 about models for expanding clinical faculty. Partnership models (n = 11) and expanded use of faculty resources (n = 9) were the most common strategies. Few (n = 8) studies assessed program efficacy. A need was identified for studies to assess the effect of alternative models on educational capacity and student performance and to examine the subcomponents of academic-practice partnerships and other innovative approaches to understand the essential factors necessary to implement successful programs.