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A study commissioned
by the Tennessee Center for Nursing
(TCN) identifies positive and
negative trends regarding the
future of the nursing workforce
in Tennessee.
The good news is
that enrollment in professional
nursing programs has increased
in the state during the past three
years. From 2000 through 2002,
all RN initial licensure programs
experienced an average increase
in enrollment of 11 percent.
“Though
the state’s nursing student
enrollment levels are still not
to the level they were in 1996,
we are encouraged to find that
overall enrollment in nursing
schools is on a three-year rise,”
said Ann Duncan, executive director
of the Tennessee Center for Nursing.
The bad news is
that Tennessee may soon face a
shortage of individuals qualified
to serve as nurse educators. Some
programs in the state are already
turning away prospective nursing
students due to nursing faculty
shortages, Duncan added.
This preliminary
evaluation revealed that the number
of individuals enrolling in graduate
nursing programs is on the decline.
The enrollment in graduate nursing
programs during this same period,
which includes masters and doctoral
degree programs, declined 12 percent,
from 532 to 467. This trend could
have an impact on the state’s
ability to educate future nursing
faculty for the state’s
schools of nursing.
“The decline
in the number of men and women
enrolling in graduate level nursing
programs means fewer nurses in
Tennessee will have the minimum
educational level that is required
to teach at the state’s
nursing schools,” Duncan
said. “Increasing enrollment
in the state’s nursing programs
is only part of the solution to
the state’s nurse workforce
challenge. To provide the number
of nurse professionals needed
in Tennessee, the state must also
ensure that an adequate supply
of nurse educators is available
in the state.”
Among the study’s
other findings:
• Professional
licensure program enrollment grew
from 4,162 in 2000, to 4,538 in
2001 and 4,656 in 2002. The enrollment
in 1996, however, was 5,852.
• Practical nursing program
enrollment grew from 1,324 in
2000 to 1,444 in 2001 and 1,517
in 2002.
• Statewide, most nursing
faculty has master’s degrees
in nursing, while 25 faculty members
hold doctoral degrees.
• The state of Tennessee
offers RN licensure programs in
33 locations across the state
and LPN licensure programs in
25 locations.
The full report
can be viewed by clicking the
link below.
Tennessee's
School of Nursing Data.
TCN is working
with other nursing and health
care related organizations across
Tennessee to initiate several
activities to address the state’s
projected nursing shortage, including:
• Implementing a recruitment
campaign to interest middle and
high school age youth in nursing
as a career;
• Developing a recruitment
campaign to increase the racial,
ethnic and gender diversity in
the nursing profession;
• Promoting effective strategies
to recruit and retain practicing
nursing in the workplace
• Promoting effective nursing
educational strategies to improve
the articulation among the various
types of nursing programs, to
recruit and retain students enrolled
in schools of nursing, and to
make nursing education more accessible
for qualified student applicants.
The Tennessee Center
for Nursing, Inc. (TCN), established
in 1996, is a statewide non-profit
501[c]3 organization composed
of nursing educators, providers,
insurers, business representatives,
policy makers, consumers, and
representatives of professional
nursing and other health care
organizations. TCN’s mission
is to guide the ongoing development
of an appropriate nursing work
force, to conduct nursing work
force analyses, to propose recommendations
for nursing education and practice
reform, to disseminate the findings
and recommendations, and to develop
an ongoing system to address the
nursing work force as related
to the future health care needs
of the residents of Tennessee.
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