The Critical Role of Advanced Healthcare Educators in Upskilling and Addressing Nursing Shortages

Nursing shortages are often attributed to difficult working conditions. Long hours and emotionally draining work certainly aren’t helping anything. However, they aren’t what caused the problem. Experts have been sounding the alarm about nursing shortages for more than 15 years.

Why? Because they noticed a startling trend. Nurses were retiring or leaving the profession. Not enough or enrolling in nursing school to replace them.

It all starts with the education system. Who is being recruited for nursing programs? How are these decisions being made? What emphasis is the healthcare system placing on upskilling?

Nursing educators have the power to encourage a new wave of RNs. They also pass important skills onto the next generation of healthcare workers.

In this article, we take a look at why that matters and how it can be used to reduce shortages and increase the amount of skilled healthcare workers.

Disclaimer:

While educators can play an important role in improving the ongoing nursing shortage problem, system change is necessary for a long term solution to be realized. Nurses need and deserve: • Better working conditions • Higher pay • More support

If you are passionate about sustainable, high-quality healthcare in your community, look for ways to support RNs, either through activism, voting, or even by offering support to the nurses in your life. With a little help, healthcare networks all around the country can establish healthier, more sustainable working environments for their staff.

Healthcare Education Begins in High School

More specifically with recruitment. High school guidance counselors and college recruiters have a great deal of power when it comes to selecting the next generation of nurses and doctors. As an unusually accomplished spider once said, that power comes with great responsibility.

Not only do guidance counselors and recruiters have an obligation to help bring talented future healthcare workers into the training pipeline, but they also have the potential to help secure more equitable healthcare outcomes for everyone.

Diversity representation in healthcare is very low. This has led to significant consequences for minority patients.

Studies consistently show that majority-group doctors and nurses are not as effective as they should be when it comes to communicating with and treating minority-group patients.

Bad intentions? Of course not. Doctors and nurses want the best for all of their patients, but they don’t always have the skill set to fully understand people with backgrounds that are different from their own.

Diversity training can help with this, but it also only goes so far. By diversifying, the workforce school recruiters can play a part in making healthcare more accessible and equitable for everyone.

The Power of Great Teachers

Once students enroll in nursing programs, they are at the mercy of their teachers. Great educators have the power to inspire and discourage. It’s an odd thought, but nursing educators are the gatekeepers to the profession. This means they have the responsibility to encourage and mentor people with a genuine passion for nursing.

It also means they might sometimes need to redirect students who aren’t a good fit for the job. This can help reduce turnover in the profession. Almost half of all nurses leave the job entirely after five years. Redirecting students who aren’t a good fit for the job is also beneficial to them. No one wants to borrow $100,000 to learn skills that they’ll stop using in two years.

Upskilling

Educators also play a role in the lives of existing nurses. All nurses are required to engage in continuing education to maintain their licenses. This might involve training on newly developing technology or simple refreshes on their existing responsibilities.

Many nurses also participate in additional certification programs that will allow them to expand their responsibilities and earn more money. This is an important aspect of the healthcare system. Shortages are not limited only to hospital floors. The world needs more psychiatric nurses, for example, and only targeted certification programs can produce them.

Nursing educators working in this capacity have the power to pass along valuable skills that communities all over the country require.

How Do You Become a Nursing Educator?

Nursing educators were usually working nurses at one point in their careers. They then went on to acquire a graduate degree. Contrary to popular belief, professors are not necessarily specifically trained to be educators. Most universities will consider any applicant with an advanced degree.

That said, if you know that you want to become a nursing educator, it certainly won’t hurt to specialize through a master's program targeting nursing education.

Some nurses even go on to get a doctorate degree. Though these degrees take time and money to acquire the benefits can be significant.

Nursing educators command higher than average salaries and are able to work in a flexible environment that is more user-friendly than a hospital. Ready to get started?

There are tons of training programs both online and in traditional classroom environments. Start researching now to find a program that makes sense to you!