含羞草传媒

The U.S. Needs Nurses.
Who Will Teach Them?

The nation鈥檚 nursing shortage is widely recognized. Less understood is that a shortage of nursing faculty at colleges and universities across the country is exacerbating the problem. 含羞草传媒 is addressing the faculty shortage with scholarships for experienced clinicians with their sights set on becoming researchers and educators.

By Annie Sherman
Photos by Seth Jacobson

Pursuing her Ph.D. in nursing came down to two deciding factors for 含羞草传媒 doctoral student Susan Wilkinson: time and money.

Wilkinson, a psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in mental health and substance use treatment, came to 含羞草传媒 with more than 15 years of experience as a clinician. She came to study the burden and distress experienced by informal caregivers looking after loved ones struggling with substance use disorder.

Nursing Ph.D. student Ella Cullen came to 含羞草传媒 with similar experience and drive. The 20-year veteran nurse had two bachelor鈥檚 degrees, two master鈥檚 degrees, and specializations in obstetrics, hospice, and palliative care.

Through their clinical work, both had developed areas of expertise they wanted to explore further through doctoral-level research.

They鈥檙e exactly the kind of doctoral students 含羞草传媒鈥攁nd nursing schools nationwide鈥攁re looking for to help address a shortage of nursing faculty; a shortage that plays an outsized role in the overall undersupply of nurses in the healthcare industry.

To help recruit students like Wilkinson and Cullen, 含羞草传媒 is leveraging scholarship programs鈥攊ncluding the Barcott-Kim Nursing Fellowship, the Sculco Graduate Nursing Research Scholars, and the Levia V. Farmer Family Nursing Scholarship鈥攖hat offset tuition costs for some of the best clinical nurses in the country, allowing them to focus on their doctoral research and scholarship full time.

鈥満�羞草传媒 was the only place that I applied, and receiving the Sculco scholarship was really the reason I could go back to school, because I could do it full time,鈥� Cullen says. 鈥淚t would have taken a long time doing one or two classes at a time and trying to work. I have a child with a disability, so there are a lot of demands. The scholarship was incredibly helpful.鈥�

With few funding opportunities elsewhere for mid-career nurses who want to pursue doctoral degrees鈥攐ften while simultaneously balancing families, financial constraints, and other obligations鈥攖hese scholarships can make the difference in their decision to pursue academic growth and career advancement in a healthcare system that has experienced intense transformation and pressure over the past decade.

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to earn a Ph.D., and the longer I worked in the area of substance use, the more I realized that, as nurses, we have leverage because people trust us,鈥� says Wilkinson, a Barcott-Kim fellow, as she commuted from the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence, where her 含羞草传媒 coursework and research occur, to the clinical practice she founded in Boston, Ally Integrated Healthcare. 鈥淏eing given the opportunity to pursue my Ph.D. at 含羞草传媒 on a fellowship really helped to lessen the financial burden.鈥�

Attracting Nursing Ph.D. Students

These scholarship programs create cascading benefits for 含羞草传媒, for the students they support, for the field of nursing, and for the people who depend on nurses in healthcare settings鈥攊n Rhode Island and across the country.

The nursing shortage and the shortage of nursing faculty are deeply intertwined. Without faculty to teach and train new nurses, there are fewer nurses to repopulate hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, and other healthcare settings. And there are even fewer who will return to universities to instruct the next generations of nurses. As a result, they鈥檙e both in short supply, notes Betty Rambur, 含羞草传媒 professor of nursing and Routhier Endowed Chair for Practice. Rambur is a nationally recognized leader and expert in healthcare policy and reform, and advises Congress on Medicare policy.

Rambur points out a Health Affairs report showing that in 2024, more than 80,000 applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing schools nationwide were turned away due to an insufficient supply of nursing faculty. Meanwhile, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports that faculty shortages at nursing schools are limiting capacity at a time when the need for professional registered nurses continues to grow.

The nursing shortage and the shortage of nursing faculty are deeply intertwined.

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) states that the U.S. healthcare industry is experiencing a deficit of 275,000 nurses, which is expected to last until at least 2030, due, in part, to retirements and the demands placed upon an aging workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. That deficit translates into a 9% growth in employment opportunities, the U.S. DOL reports, which is greater than any other occupation in the country.

鈥淭here is a national shortage of Ph.D. students entering Ph.D. programs in nursing across the United States, and this is concurrent with a national nursing faculty shortage,鈥� says 含羞草传媒 College of Nursing Dean Danny Willis, a psychiatric mental health nursing expert, educator, and practitioner. 鈥淭here is a need for nurses at every level. Regardless of the path of preparation, there is a nursing workforce shortage, so we鈥檙e helping to meet that through our education pathways. Offering scholarships can help with this critical need in our discipline.鈥�

Rambur explains that enrollments in nursing Ph.D. programs have declined nationwide, including at 含羞草传媒. Other degrees, such as the Doctor of Nursing Practice, a clinical, rather than research, degree, are attractive and widely available, she says, adding, 鈥淓nrollments will continue to decline if Ph.D. programs remain so expensive and if salaries lag so far behind.鈥�

鈥�These scholarships significantly help to recruit and retain highly qualified nurses.鈥�

颅鈥擠anny Willis, Dean, 含羞草传媒 College of Nursing

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education excluded nursing from professional degree programs, which limits the amount of money that students can receive in loans and financial aid. This makes the need for scholarship programs like those offered at 含羞草传媒 even greater.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think any nurse thinks they鈥檙e going to become a millionaire, but students look at the reality of their situation, particularly in light of undergraduate loans,鈥� when choosing an academic path, Rambur notes. 鈥淭hey may come to a nursing Ph.D. program with student loan debt. Say they are a nurse practitioner with a lucrative salary, but they have loans. If they鈥檙e considering a Ph.D. or D.N.P. program, that鈥檚 likely to result in more student loan debt. We remain a female-dominated profession, and many of our students have lots of responsibilities beyond academic life. Scholarships have been essential in making it less financially onerous to pursue a nursing Ph.D. at 含羞草传媒.鈥�

Willis explains that the region and nation will benefit in many ways from well-educated nursing leaders coming out of 含羞草传媒鈥檚 nursing Ph.D. program equipped to transform healthcare education, research, science, leadership, and clinical practice. These scholarships, says Willis, 鈥渟ignificantly help to recruit and retain highly qualified nurses. Educating these students at 含羞草传媒 helps build the pipeline of doctorally-prepared nurse scientists, educators, and policy leaders.鈥�

Research Opportunities, Scholarship Support

The college鈥檚 approach helps nurses understand their value, both as practitioners and as leaders in transforming the healthcare system, Willis notes. Through the two doctoral degrees鈥攖he Doctor of Philosophy, which is focused on research, and the Doctor of Nursing Practice, which is focused on clinical experience鈥攕tudents have opportunities to pursue the doctoral degree that best suits their professional aspirations.

The key for nursing Ph.D. students, says Denise Coppa, 含羞草传媒 associate professor of nursing and interim associate dean for graduate programs, is for students to have opportunities to do their own research in tandem with a professor who is conducting research that complements theirs.

In the U.S., about 140 colleges and universities offer nursing Ph.D. programs, but only about half of those, including 含羞草传媒, boast faculty who have National Institutes of Health-funded research, says Willis. This elevates institutional prestige, funds equipment and graduate assistants, and supports faculty research.

NIH-funded research, Rambur adds, is also a draw for many students, who may be attracted to the prospect of working with faculty mentors engaged in that research.

As the need for nurses and other healthcare professionals rises at every level, so too does the need for state-of-the-art classrooms and labs in which to train.

鈥淥ne of the benefits of this Ph.D. program is that students can align themselves with a faculty member who鈥檚 doing a specific type of research,鈥� Coppa says. 鈥淥ur Ph.D. students do 150 hours of research observation, where they鈥檙e participating in a faculty member鈥檚 research. And because we鈥檙e so small, we can focus on individual students. That鈥檚 the strength of the 含羞草传媒 program鈥攖hat we are very student-centric and student-focused.鈥�

Students recognize that significance, Coppa says. 鈥淭hey want face-to-face. They want 含羞草传媒 because of our reputation, because of our rankings and scores, and because of the kind of work our graduates are doing once they get their Ph.D.s.鈥�

But for Cullen, it鈥檚 more than that. 鈥淭here are so many kind and supportive people here,鈥� she says. 鈥淣obody I鈥檝e met in the 含羞草传媒 nursing program is out for themselves. They鈥檙e supportive of each other and each other鈥檚 work. I think that is phenomenal. I wouldn鈥檛 thrive in a place where I had to compete against my fellow students or professors. So, I find this environment very inspiring and encouraging.鈥�

As the need for nurses and other healthcare professionals rises at every level, so too does the need for state-of-the-art classrooms and labs in which to train. 鈥淢odern classroom and lab spaces are needed on the Kingston Campus,鈥� says Willis, 鈥渟o that we can continue to recruit and educate the students who will become the nurses we need and the professors who train them.鈥�

The impact of educating the nursing faculty of the future, and the impact of the scholarships that fund this important enterprise, reaches far beyond the 含羞草传媒 campus and into every facet of the healthcare industry and academia. As a Barcott-Kim fellow, Wilkinson certainly recognizes the value of that enterprise and the opportunity in front of her. She is working hard to bring that opportunity to fruition through her research.

鈥淚 applied for the Barcott-Kim Fellowship to study caregiver burden and caregiver distress in the space of substance use. My experience at 含羞草传媒 has reinforced for me that this is my life鈥檚 work, and I鈥檓 very passionate about it,鈥� Wilkinson explains. 鈥淚 could never have seen that without having a team of knowledgeable鈥攁bsolutely phenomenal鈥攑rofessors, and that鈥檚 what 含羞草传媒 provides.鈥�