By Amy Curtis | November/December 2024

In this issue: Nurses by Gender, November Research Committee recap, Is Nursing Faculty a Driving Factor in Nursing Shortages?

This newsletter is 1,652 words long, about a 5-minute read.

State of Nursing in Kansas 2024 Report Key Finding: Gender

Image of a male nursing graduate.

In the 2022 National Council of State Boards of Nursing survey, Kansas Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) self-reported their gender. RNs reported 91.8% female and 8.0% male; LPNs reported 90.9% female and 8.5% male. Both cohorts showed fewer males than the national survey data.

Changing trends?: In a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, they found that nationally the trend in the number of male nurses may be changing. The article reported that number of male RNs has consistently increased since the early 2000s, sitting at 14%, currently. They also found that many male RNs come from the military or jobs like paramedics or firefighting that exposed them to medical care.

What about in Kansas? We reached out to Kansas schools of nursing to get their take on male nursing students and the trend identified by the WSJ.

According to Debra Pile, DNP, APRN, PCNS, Chair and Associate Dean for Nursing Practice, College of Health Professions, Wichita State School of Nursing, they have  not seen an increase in the number of male nursing students nor are male nursing students following the national trend of choosing nursing after careers as paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, or military professionals.

Laura Mallett, MSN, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing, Neosho County Community College echoed similar sentiments. She said, “The number of male nursing students fluctuates from year to year but averages about 5 per cohort.”

Mallet also noted, “Generally speaking, current male students all have an EMT or military background. For people who were previously EMTs, there can be initial difficulty switching from field-based thinking to hospital or clinic-based thinking, but once they make the switch, they are excellent nursing students.

Meet one recent male RN grad: For KU School of Nursing grad, Christopher Liebert, nursing wasn’t his first career. He didn’t think he could be a nurse. Instead, he joined the army right after high school, got married at 19, was deployed to Afghanistan, Germany and Africa and now has two children, ages 7 and 5. His 

Christopher Liebert

mother is a nurse and as a result of many positive encounters with other nurses, he decided to pursue a career in health care.

After a five-year process of completing prerequisites online, Liebert enrolled as a nursing student at KU.

“I am the first in my family to graduate college, and it’s a big deal,” Liebert said. “I am privileged and honored to be where I am.”

Following graduation in May 2024, he was sworn in as an officer and assigned a new post in August.

Go deeper: Download your copy of the State of Nursing in Kansas report for full details about Kansas nurses.

When reading the report, see pages 15 and 31 for detailed information on RN and LPN gender in Kansas.

Catch up quick: November Research Committee Meeting

Screenshot from the November Research Committee meeting

Watch a recording of the November Kansas Nursing Workforce Center Research Committee meeting. Heidi Keeler, PhD, MSN/MBA, RN, University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Nursing and Alexander Alsup, MS, University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Biostatistics & Data Science presented the Midwest Clinical Instruction Regional Network (MCIRN) Regional Needs Assessment Report.  

Their Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) study addresses the preparation needs of nurse preceptors, clinical instructors, and clinical site placement staff in Region 7 (Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas).

Led by Shin Hye Park, PhD, RN, the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center’s Research Committee facilitates and promotes collaborative nurse research activities across the state. The committee's goal is to leverage research talent to better serve the healthcare community of Kansas, advance the field of nursing and healthcare and strengthen the nursing workforce in Kansas.

The Research Committee will not meet in December. We hope that you enjoy your time celebrating the holidays. You can sign up here to join the Research Committee or attend future meetings. Please forward to colleagues who may also wish to attend.

In January and February, we will host webinars, scheduled on January 23 and February 27 at 10 am CT, which will focus on how to read and use the State of Nursing in Kansas report (see last story for details).

Is a Shortage of Nursing Faculty a Factor in the Nursing Workforce Shortage?

Recently Becker’s Healthcare reported on “A quiet driver of the nursing shortage, explained”. Their article noted that nursing shortages are not new. (true). And that the current nursing shortage may be attributed to a lesser-known factor: a lack of nursing faculty.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) supports this premise. Their May 2024 Fact Sheet states that U.S. nursing schools turned away 65,766 qualified applications from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2023 due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors and budget constraints.

We were curious what Kansas nursing school leaders thought about this factor. Pamela S. Covault MSN, RN, CNE, Director of Nursing at Neosho County Community College (NCCC) provided these insights:

Do you agree with the premise of the article?

“I do agree with the article, but I think an even more significant problem is the lack of qualified applicants applying to the nursing programs in Kansas. We have not turned away anyone who was qualified in the last 3 or 4 years.

I also am concerned that the data regarding the number of students turned away is exaggerated in that students often apply to several different programs and then choose the one they wish to attend from those that they are accepted at. I am not sure that the data accurately captures that reality.”

What would you do or like to see done to address the issue?

“I personally think it is time for us to have another marketing campaign for nursing like Johnson & Johnson has done in the past.

I also think it is time to really hear why these newer nurses leave nursing after being in the profession just a few years and address this problem. I have heard nurses talk about the poor conditions under which they work. So, it might be time for healthcare agency administration to fix what is broken there as well.”

What could schools do in the meantime to stem the tide?

“NCCC does have a couple of agreements that allows NCCC to use a full-time employee of the hospital as an adjunct instructor and reimburse the hospital for the hours NCCC uses the instructor at NCCC rates, allowing the hospital employee to continue to get compensated at the higher hospital rate. This works well but doesn’t bring answer to the need for full-time didactic instruction.”

In 2025 the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center will dive into the State of Nursing Education in Kansas. We will create a report that examines nursing school data and look for actionable insights on what is driving factors like these in Kansas. Until then, we’d love to know…

What do you think? Email nursingwill@kumc.edu to share your thoughts about the article, solutions to the problem, or areas that need to be examined in our future report.

Happy New Year and Cheers to a Wonderful 2024!

Hello colleagues and friends!

We can hardly believe the year is coming to an end. 2024 has been simply remarkable and we thank you for being a valued partner in our work.

This month we’re fondly reminiscing about…

We’re also remembering how much we learned during the monthly Research Committee meetings…

And we’re looking ahead to 2025 when the Center will bring you…

Finally, we are grateful to you and your support.

We are excited to collaborate again so that Kansans can have access to nurses when and where they are needed, and nurses are supported as individuals and as part of the healthcare team!

Cheers!

—Barbara MacArthur and Amy Garcia

Kansas Nursing Workforce Center

What We’re Reading

Have Kansas Nursing Workforce news, solutions, or kudos you’d like us to share?
Email nursingwill@kumc.edu

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