I read with interest the article concerning the dearth of nurse educators (June 2008, “Nurse Faculty Shortage: The Case For Action”).
It is my perception that a great many of the empty slots for nurse educators could be filled if there were not a proscription against using nurse educators who don’t happen to have an MSN. There are many wonderfully qualified nursing instructors out there in the real world with master’s degrees in allied subjects who are unable to teach in a nursing school because of the National League of Nursing requirements.
Nursing, in addition to being a skill and a service, is today a multicultural business. Nurses who have degrees in business administration, health care administration, social sciences, sociology, psychology, Chicano studies, and in many other fields, and who have practical knowledge in those areas, would be a huge boost to nursing schools. Many of these expert nurses already teach again and again in continuing education and institutional in-service programs.
It has been my experience that many MSN nursing educators actually have tunnel vision, having never actually been in the trenches, so to speak. I think it is time the National League of Nursing revised the requirements as to who is qualified to teach in a school of nursing.
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