23: THE DNP IN THE ACADEMIC ROLE ■ 5073.5 million in 2025 ( Table 23.1 ). Meeting this projected demand will require a signif-
icant increase in nursing graduates, perhaps by as much as 50%, to fill new nursing
positions as well as to account for attrition from an aging workforce. This corresponds
to an increase in the demand for nursing faculty. According to the AACN, U.S. nursing
schools turned away 68,938 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nurs-
ing programs due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space,
clinical preceptors, and budget constraints (AACN, 2014). In a survey of 714 baccalau-
reate and/or graduate nursing programs a total of 1,236 faculty vacancies were identi-
fied across the country. In addition, those surveyed reported the need to generate an
additional 124 faculty positions to accommodate student demand (AACN, 2014). The
survey also reported the critical issues related to faculty recruitment and were noted to
be the limited pool of doctorally prepared faculty, finding faculty with the right spe-
cialty mix, faculty willing/able to conduct research, and faculty willing/able to teach
clinical courses. Consequently, increased supply will require a major expansion of nurs-
ing faculty and other educational resources. With the “graying” of the current pool of
nursing faculty and academic nursing administrators and a large number of expected
retirements over the next decade, efforts must be made to convince more nurses and
nursing students to pursue academic careers, and to do so earlier in their career trajec-
tory. Careers in nursing education are typically marked by long periods of clinical prac-
tice or administration before entering a faculty role (DeNisco & Barker, 2016). The idea
of advanced practice nurses with clinical doctorates versus research doctorates working
in academia is supported by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties
(NONPF), the NLN and the AACN. The DNP degree is the answer to getting our most
TABLE 23.1 Supply, Demand, Shortage of Nurses
Registered Nurses
Supply
Estimated supply, 2012 2,897,000
Estimated supply growth, 2012–2025 952,000
New entrants 1,950,000
Attrition a (998,800)
Change in average work hours b 800
Projected supply, 2025 3,849,000
Demand c
Estimated demand, 2012 2,897,000
Estimated demand growth, 2012–2025 612,000
Changing demographics 584,000
ACA-related increase in the number of insured 28,000
Projected demand, 2025 3,509,000
Supply in excess of demand, 2025 340,000ACA, Affordable Care Act.
a Includes RNs who exit to become APNs.
b This represents the change in nurse full-time equivalents resulting from a change in the demographic
composition of the future workforce and the associated effect on average number of hours worked.
c The model assumes that demand and supply are equal in 2012.
Source : Data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (2014).