Having an adequate supply of nurse faculty – the professionals who train new nurses – has been a concern in Colorado for a number of years. And little appears to be changing. CHI reports that that in 2010 Colorado’s nurse faculty shortage remains at least comparable to, and may be higher than, national faculty shortages.
Much of Colorado’s faculty is nearing retirement age, and at the current rate of retirement and other factors, nursing education programs will have lost almost half of their current faculty by the 2019-20 academic year.
CHI surveyed current nurse educators to get their views on supply and demand issues. It also gathered information from all 31 nursing programs on faculty vacancies and nursing student admission and enrollment to glean a picture of nurse education in the state.