The University's Nursing School received a record number of applications for the incoming first-year class for fall 2008. As the number of applicants rises, however, growth in the size of the Nursing School's student population remains limited by availability of faculty and physical space.
With nearly a 13 percent increase from last year's record of 358, the nursing school saw 404 applications for only 57 slots, according to Nursing School Communications Director Dory Hulse?.
Theresa Carroll, assistant dean for undergraduate student services at the Nursing School, identified the current nursing shortage as the main factor contributing to the surge in applications.
"The word about the nursing shortage has gotten out to the public," Carroll said.
According to Carroll, the Nursing School has seen a steady increase in applications in recent years.
"Our applications have been going up at least 10 percent in each of the past seven years," Carroll said, noting that admission to the school has also increased in competitiveness.
The increased interest in nursing, though, is not limited to the University's Nursing School, according to National League for Nursing Director of Research Kathy Kaufman. Over the past several years nursing schools nationwide have seen a substantial increase in the number of applicants, Kaufman said.
Kaufman said more than 80,000 qualified applicants nationwide were denied entry to nursing schools this past year, as schools are not prepared for the influx of students.
"A shortage of spots in schools and programs is particularly a problem in nursing," Kaufman said.
Although the number of applications increased at the University from last year, the size of the first-year class did not. For more students to be admitted, more faculty members and physical space is necessary, Hulse said. While the Nursing School has recently added faculty members, Hulse noted, the additions have not been able to keep pace with the greater number of applicants.
Hulse added that the Nursing School, to ensure patient safety, strives to maintain a ratio of eight students to one instructor. Keeping this ratio, which Carroll said is stricter than the state-mandated ratio of 10 students to one instructor, though, means the cost of educating a nurse is high.
"We have been limited by the number of faculty we have and the faculty-student ratio we have to maintain," Hulse said.
The nursing shortage has had an impact on the academic arena, Hulse said, as many nurses are choosing to work in clinics -- rather than in the classroom -- for higher pay.
"Academic salaries have not kept pace with salaries on the clinical side," Hulse said, noting that this fact makes recruitment of new faculty harder.
In regards to increasing physical available space, however, the new Claude Moore Nursing Education Building will be ready for use in June, Hulse said.
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