DCCC, state struggle to find nursing instructors

    They touch lives every day, but their numbers are growing alarmingly low. As the medical field keeps expanding, the number of nursing instructors is dipping throughout the United States and in Dodge City.
    “We've seen this trend for about the last five years,” said Rebecca Bredfeldt, director of allied health at Dodge City Community College. “In Kansas, we've seen it in mostly rural areas and around the extreme edges of the state.”
    She said there are a number of reasons for the trend, including the number of programs offered, requirements for becoming a nursing instructor and the pay scale.
    As enrollment in the nurse educator program decreases, so does the number of schools offering it. In fact, there are only two in Kansas: Fort Hays State University and Wichita State University. This means the program is less available to people outside those areas who may be interested in the program but unable to move from their current location.
    Not just anyone can become a nursing instructor, either. To be qualified, you must hold bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing.
    “Because this is a career that deals with human lives, the qualifications are very strict,” said Bredfeldt. “You must be a nurse. Your credentials must be in nursing. And while the state of Kansas provides flexibility with a provision called higher exception, in which a person who does not have a master's degree can be utilized in a nursing program to teach, but there are restrictions on what level of nursing they can teach and whether it is clinical versus theory or didactic. And you have to provide evidence of them continuing on the career ladder.”
    However, at the national level, the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission requires that all teachers have a master's degree in nursing at the associate and baccalaureate programs. And in order for these programs to be accredited at the national level, all teachers must be accepted at the national level.
    “So it's kind of a catch-22,” said Bredfeldt. “We can hire teachers that don't have their master's through the Kansas provision, but then we may not receive accreditation at the national level. If we don't have that, it could hurt our enrollment numbers.”
    Another problem in recruiting teachers is the pay scale. According to Bredfeldt, a person with a master's degree  in nursing could make approximately $40,000 to $50,000 more in the medical field than by teaching.
    “We have to increase wages for our nursing teachers,” she said. “It's hard to ask someone to take that type of pay cut.”
    At DCCC, there are currently four full-time positions and one part-time slot that Bredfeldt is trying to fill. To that end, she said she is looking into inviting nurse practitioners in the community to teach at the college part time.
    She said many nurse practitioners are ideal for teaching clinical courses, but she would also be open to having them teach lecture classes as well.
    “The challenge is there in teaching,” Bredfeldt said. “There may not be any Code Blue situations, but there's the ability to touch lives every day.”

Reach Ashley Nietfeld at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at ashley.nietfeld@dodgeglobe.com.