Factors Influencing Recruitment and Retention of Nurse Educators Reported by Current Nurse Faculty

Abstract

Nursing education will have to increase the number of new nurse graduates by 30% a year over the next decade to meet the growing demand for registered nurses. Building the nursing education workforce has become imperative. Strategies for recruiting and retaining nurse faculty have been outlined, but we do not know which are effective. This descriptive study used a nationwide Internet survey to ask teaching nurse educators what they believe are effective strategies to increase the number of nurse faculty. More than 2,100 associate degree in nursing, bachelor of science in nursing, master's, and doctoral nurse educators participated. Although the majority of the participants were White females age 46 and older, the proportions of men and minorities in the group younger than 46 years were twice that of the older group. The respondents said that they became nurse educators to work with students and to help shape the nursing profession. They identified 11 effective recruitment strategies and 14 effective strategies in retention. They confirmed that compensation inequities threaten the future of the profession. They recommended further study in building diversity, collaborative practice relationships, and salary parity while further evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment and retention strategies.