TITLE:
Utilization of retired physicians as nursing faculty
AUTHORS:
Patricia L. Starck, Shelly Liss, Gerda Gomez, Michael E. Speer
KEYWORDS:
Retired Physicians; Supply and Demand; Nursing Faculty Shortage
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.3 No.7,
November
15,
2013
ABSTRACT: The
nation’s nursing shortage is predicted to worsen, as nurses retire (supply) and
more patients have access to care with the full enactment of the Affordable
Care Act (demand). Schools of nursing are under continuing pressure to increase
enrollment in entry level nursing programs [1-4]. Nurse educators have been
engaged in a variety of creative and innovative projects to increase enrollment
with some success. A primary reason for the lack of educational capacity is the
shortage of nursing faculty [3-7]. The University of Texas
Health Science Center-Houston School of Nursing undertook an innovative
project to alleviate the nursing faculty shortage at that school. Working with
a retired physician group, physician volunteers were solicited to teach in the
laboratory portion of an undergraduate health assessment course. Twenty-two
physicians volunteered in the first year in a class that involved forty
baccalaureate students in their first-semester. The objectives of the project
were twofold: First, to determine the suitability of retired physicians to
serve as teachers of baccalaureate nursing students and second, ascertain
possible monetary savings by using these physicians. Both of these goals were
realized. The students valued the physicians’ enthusiasm, wisdom and experience
and the cohort of physicians equaled the equivalent of four nursing faculty
members. With an average annual faculty salary of $100,000, savings were
significant.