By Amy Curtis | September 2025
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In this issue: State of Nursing in Kansas, Volume 2 available for download; Kansas nursing schools get creative with programs; PhD-prepared nurses both in decline and in demand.
This newsletter is 924 words long, about a 4-minute read.
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State of Nursing in Kansas, Volume 2 Released
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The Kansas Nursing Workforce Center released the State of Nursing in Kansas, volume 2. The report has been updated with trend data from 2015 to 2025 and describes the supply and characteristics of Kansas' nursing workforce.
The data included in the report are essential for workforce planning to ensure a sufficient number of well-prepared educated nurses to support safe, varied, accessible, and effective health care.
It is organized into five sections:
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Introduction, including key findings, numbers of licensed nurses by county, and a description of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) survey methodology
- Registered Nurse demographics, education, licensure, and employment information from the NCSBN survey of nurses
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Licensed Practical Nurse demographics, education, licensure, and employment information from the NCSBN survey of nurses
- Additional information about wages, vacancy/turnover, long-term care, multistate licensure, and education programs
- Reference materials, including data sources, references and a glossary of abbreviations
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It measures the things that matter to educate, retain, and sustain the nursing workforce.
We will also go through the report during the October Research Committee meeting. See details below to join us.
Download your copy here.
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Two Kansas Schools Launch New Nursing Programs
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Fort Hays State University launched a hybrid pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, welcoming a cohort of 10 students.
A story from the Hays Post notes that the program offers a “combination of online and face-to-face learning experiences, with theory-based courses delivered online and synchronous class sessions allowing for real-time interaction with instructors and classmates. Lab and clinical experiences are bundled together, enabling students to make fewer trips to Hays while still receiving hands-on training.”
Chamberlain University announced the opening of their 24th campus in Overland Park, KS.
The BSN program is a direct-entry, three-year accelerated program that “allows students to begin their nursing education immediately without prerequisite courses by applying a holistic approach to determining academic eligibility.” The first day of classes is set for January 5, 2026.
Why it matters: Kansas nursing schools continue to innovate and create opportunity in an effort to produce more nurses.
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PhD-Level Nurses Found to Be Both in Decline and in Demand
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One research publication and one story this month about PhD-trained nurses caught our eye. Both speak to the importance of PhD-prepared nurses.
PhD-educated nurses often work as researchers and academic nursing professors, influencing practice and health policy at health systems or in government.
The American Journal of Nursing looks at the disturbing trend of declining PhD program enrollments. The abstract notes that this trend threatens both nursing education and research into patient care.
As PhD-prepared nurses decline, there are fewer faculty available to train new nurses. As a result, qualified nursing school applicants may be turned away. This Catch-22 threatens to magnify the existing nursing shortage.
Interestingly, an article in Becker’s Hospital Review notes that the nurse scientist role is growing in hospitals. They speculate that the nurse scientist role is more common as health systems become Magnet designated, which emphasizes nurse research.
What they’re saying:
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- “It is essential that we continue to educate PhD-prepared nurses to continue to generate new nursing knowledge through research designed to improve health outcomes for patients,” said Becky Christian, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, Professor and PhD program director at the University of Kansas School of Nursing.
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“As a nurse scientist, it is great to see the role of the practice-based, PhD-prepared nurse scientist grow at the national level in general and particularly here at The University of Kansas Health System,” said Lisa Guthrie, PhD, RN, Nursing Research Scientist. “I agree that our Magnet designation has helped spur on the growth of our research and evidence-based programs (EBP). We continue to strategically grow and strengthen structures and services to make it possible for our staff to be successful in answering their clinical questions through the performance of research, EBP, and quality indicator projects and initiatives.”
- “Clinically based nurse scientists work to bridge the gap between research and nursing practice, improving satisfaction for patients and staff, cost, and quality through the work they do. It is critical to maintain PhD-prepared nurses to meet this need and the academic needs of the nursing profession," said another clinically-based Kansas nurse scientist.
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September Research Committee Meeting
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Watch a recording of the September research committee meeting where Dr. Tom Mueller, Assistant Professor at KUMC Department of Population Health and Director at the Kansas Center for Rural Health presented “Understanding Rural Healthcare Needs with Census Data and Other Sources.”
The next scheduled meeting is October 23, 2025 from 10-11 a.m. We will review the State of Nursing in Kansas, Volume 2.
Led by Shin Hye Park, PhD, RN, the 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.
Sign up here to receive the Research Committee meeting link. Please send to colleagues who may also wish to attend.
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We are pulling together information for the State of Nursing Education in Kansas report, set to publish in 2026, and we’d love to include your thoughts.
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We may use your ideas in this publication.
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—Barbara MacArthur and Amy Garcia
Kansas Nursing Workforce Center
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Have Kansas Nursing Workforce news, solutions, or kudos you’d like us to share?
Email nursingwill@kumc.edu
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