Background A nursing faculty shortage means fewer nurses, exacerbating nursing shortages. Purpose The purpose was to determine RN-to-BSN students' intent for a future nurse faculty role. A secondary purpose was to evaluate differences between students who indicated high and low intent to pursue a faculty role. Methods The study was multisite and multimethod using 5 instruments. Results Of 137 RN-to-BSN students who completed the online survey, 20% indicated they intended to pursue a future faculty role. Students with high intent to pursue a faculty role reported higher self-efficacy and interests in faculty activities. Only 6 of the high-intent students had been encouraged to pursue a future faculty role. Conclusions RN-to-BSN students may be receptive to encouragement to consider a nursing faculty role in the future.

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The aim of this study was to explore registered nurse (RN)-to-bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) students' intent to pursue a faculty role. BACKGROUND The nursing faculty shortage is predicted to worsen as faculty reach retirement age. The shortage affects enrollment into nursing programs because of lack of qualified faculty. Increasing the number of faculty available is critical to maintain nurses needed to care for citizens. METHOD Using a qualitative descriptive approach, RN-to-BSN students were asked about their intent to become faculty later in their career. RESULTS Eight RNs pursuing their BSN were interviewed. Five themes emerged from interviews: modeling the role, positive and negative; planting the seed; perceiving rather than knowing; seeing the light bulb go on; and weighing the pros and cons. CONCLUSION Nursing faculty can influence RN-to-BSN students' intent to become faculty and can attract students to the role by conveying enthusiasm, being collegial, and maintaining clinical relevance.KEY WORDS Faculty Role -Nursing Faculty -Nursing Students T he nursing faculty shortage is anticipated to worsen as "boomer" faculty members reach retirement age. The shortage threatens the capacity to educate enough nurses with the competencies necessary to provide safe, quality care in a reformed health care system (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2020) and impedes the admission and preparation of qualified students as the need for nurses continues to grow. For example, baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs turned away more than 80,407 qualified applicants, citing lack of faculty as a main reason, and listed 1,637 faculty vacancies nationwide (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2020). A recent analysis of North Carolina data revealed an increase in faculty vacancies (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2018), a projected shortage of more than 16,000 registered nurses (RNs) by 2026, and an estimated 7,000 annual RN openings (US Department of Labor, 2019).Considering the number of future nurses each faculty member teaches, nursing faculty vacancies have a direct effect on patient care. The faculty shortage has consequences and repercussions for the next generations of nurses and educators and contributes to the nursing workforce shortage. The shortage threatens attainment of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's (2021) recommendations that 80 percent of nurses have a baccalaureate degree in nursing and that nursing increase the number of PhD-prepared nurses to help build the nursing faculty pipeline. The faculty shortage also impedes nursing research and continued practice development.To date, most nursing faculty come from a clinical background, with limited preparation for the faculty role. Financial constraints, academic environment, time required to complete the degree, uncivil encounters with students, and horizontal violence are barriers that limit the number of nurses transitioning to the faculty role (Bagley et al., 2018). There is a plethora of literature det...

Disparities in the incidence of disease and access to high-quality health care disproportionately affect socially and economically disadvantaged communities. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced an already strained primary care provider-physician workforce. 1 Fortunately, it is forecasted that by 2030, the nurse practitioner (NP) workforce is expected to grow by 6.8% (6 times the expected growth of the physician workforce [1.1%]). 2 This is important because NPs often enter practice as primary care providers and serve in ethnically diverse communities. This places NPs in critical positions that enable them to address health disparities within those communities. 3,4 Among vulnerable populations, well-being, morbidity, and mortality are negatively influenced by multiple factors including racism, bias, care restrictions, and medical distrust. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared racism a public health threat that adversely influences social drivers of health (housing, education, employment) and creates barriers to health equity. 5 As a historically underserved and exploited population, many Black Americans are deeply distrustful of White providers and the health care system based on a long history of inferior care, being refused care, unethical medical research, and abuse by clinicians (eg, forced sterilization). 6,7 Therefore, Black patients' skepticism of the health care system is logical and understandable. As system-level changes to address health equity are developed and implemented, increased workforce diversity may contribute to improvements in care. Black patients have reported that they (a) have greater confidence in providers who share their racial and ethnic background and (b) are more engaged in and satisfied with care delivered by Black and other providers of color. [8][9][10] The demographics of the current NP workforce do not reflect ethnic diversity in America. Black NPs account for only 7% of the NP workforce, whereas Black Americans