Vacancy Rates for Selected Hospital Personnel, December 2006

Yet despite these promising opportunities, our nation is facing a critical nursing shortage that is expected to last into the foreseeable future. There are currently more than 116,000 unfilled nursing positions at American hospitals and nearly 25,000 unfilled nursing positions in American nursing homes.³ And with more than half of today’s employed nurses planning to retire in the next 15-20 years, current projections estimate that the nationwide shortage could grow to as many as 500,000 nurses by 2025.⁴ (See Figure 1.)

Most active nurses are in their late 40s and early 50s,” says Charlotte Saylors, vice president of Strategic Development for Nursing and Health Care at University of Phoenix. “There is a significant nurse shortage. Although the most recent recession has seen a softening in the demand for nurses, the aging nursing population and the demands for nursing care as the baby boom generation ages will keep long-term job prospects for nurses strong.”

The current nursing shortage provides an excellent job opportunity for those seeking to enter the field of nursing―especially for working adults seeking to change careers or expand their earning potential while continuing to work at their current jobs. University of Phoenix offers a comprehensive nationwide nursing program that enables students to train for nursing careers virtually in every region of the country. Whether a prospective student is an LPN looking to pursue her/his RN/BSN degree in a select number of traditional, campus-based nursing-school setting, or a seasoned mid-career nurse looking to increase her/his earning potential by earning a BSN or MSN―or perhaps even become a nursing professor to teach the next generation of nurses with a Ph.D.―University of Phoenix has a program through a local campus or online that will fit her/his needs. (While widely available, not all UOPX programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats.)

University of Phoenix Offers a Variety of Nursing Programs and Learning Environments

With more than 13,500 students in all of its various nursing-degree programs across the United States, University of Phoenix is the nation’s largest nursing school. The University currently offers a plethora of nursing education programs at all academic levels and in a number of clinical practice areas: the LPN-to-BSN program; the RN-to-BSN program; and two graduate-degree programs, the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN), with various concentrations, and the Ph.D. in Nursing.

LPN-to-BSN Program. University of Phoenix operates four traditional campus-based nursing schools that serve as its pre-licensure program in nursing, which mirrors similar undergraduate campus-based programs in four-year colleges and universities across the United States. This program is an LPN-to-BSN curriculum, which is designed to serve students who are already Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurses (LPNs) and looking to enhance their skills and sit for the RN exam, while also achieving the BSN. These campus-based programs are currently located in Phoenix, AZ; Honolulu, HI; Denver, CO; and Modesto, CA. Like their counterparts at traditional colleges across the United States, they prepare students to sit for the national RN licensure exam.

In addition, the University of Phoenix pre-licensure program provides medium- and high-fidelity nursing simulation labs which incorporate patient care scenarios as part of its core curriculum. In the lab, the students participate in a safe, immersive learning environment, which allows students to practice patient care skills, assessment, clinical judgment and vital teamwork skills. These immersion scenarios duplicate the actual clinical nursing environment, but with safeguards (and clinical mannequin “patients”) that allow nursing students to explore, learn, and make mistakes in a safe and secure environment. “We want our students to improve upon their skills while performing inpatient scenarios, so they feel confident when they go into the work environment,” says Dr. Pamela Fuller. In addition, students can continue to review the decisions they make in these scenarios as part of their learning and clinical development process.

Moreover, University of Phoenix’s unique teaching modality gives students closer access to their faculty. “Other nursing faculty [at traditional colleges and universities] see their students maybe once or twice a week,” says Dr. Fuller. “Our faculty are in touch with their students anywhere from four to seven days a week.”

RN-to-BSN Program. University of Phoenix also offers an RN-to-BSN program, which allows working registered nurses with associate’s degree level training to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. With 60%-70% of all working RNs in the U.S. possessing only the standard two-year occupational education credentials, obtaining a BSN or higher degree places a nurse in a selected group.⁵

While most nursing jobs do not require a BSN, any nurse who wishes to advance his or her career into management-level positions generally must obtain a BSN degree at minimum. With nursing among the nation’s highest-paid professions at the bachelor’s degree level, the potential return on investment (ROI) for a BSN degree is substantial. For example, the median salary for RN-only level nurses in the United States is $57,000, while the median salary for mid-level nurse managers (positions which often require a BSN or higher) is $74,000―an annual salary increase of $17,000. Spread out over 25 years, that’s more than $650,000 in additional career earnings―a potential return on investment of more than 2600%. (See Figure 2.) The ROI numbers are even higher for nurses who use their BSN degrees to become nurse educators or directors of nursing, for example―both of which are possible with a BSN degree, although these positions often require an MSN.⁶

Potential ROI on BSN Degree versus RN only

Better-Educated Nurses Mean Healthier Patients

The benefits of obtaining a BSN aren’t just measured in terms of dollars, however. Studies have shown repeatedly that nurses with higher levels of education provide better patient care. A 2003 study found that surgical patients had a “substantial survival advantage” if treated in hospitals with higher proportions of nurses with a BSN or higher degree. The study further showed that for every 10% increase in proportion of BSN nurses in hospitals, those hospitals had a resulting 4% decrease in the risk of death.⁷

There are other motivators for working nurses to move away from being a “floor” nurse into management positions (or other non-clinical work) as well. “Nursing is a very physical work environment,” says Saylors. “Floor nurses have to do emergency procedures which require physical strength. As a nurse ages, she often wants to move away from direct patient care and go into some other area of nursing. She might become a nurse consultant or a nurse expert; she might work for an insurance company as a nurse specialist, an advisor to pharmaceutical company, or move into higher levels of administration or management. Or she can go into nursing education.” A BSN is the minimum requirement for many of these positions, while an MSN is preferred.

Graduate Nursing Programs - MSN and Ph.D./NUR.

University of Phoenix offers two graduate degree programs in nursing―the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Nursing. Both of these programs are offered nationwide via the University’s trademark virtual learning program, which features a combination of online courses, virtual one-on-one faculty interaction, and team-based learning. Like many of the flagship academic programs at University of Phoenix, the MSN and Ph.D. in Nursing programs are accessible to working professionals seeking a flexible-yet-accelerated educational experience that will net rapid career results.

One recent University of Phoenix graduate who can speak to the accessibility and flexibility of these virtual learning programs is George Frisbie. Frisbie was a working RN with an associate-degree level of nursing education when he entered the University of Phoenix online BSN program, which he completed on schedule. But he didn’t stop there. Frisbie continued his graduate nursing education by completing the University of Phoenix MSN program, and is currently enrolled in the Nursing Ph.D. program. “I have worked full time through my BSN, MSN, and currently while in my Ph.D. program,” says Frisbie. “It takes a big commitment from me and my family to fit in home time, work time, and homework time.”

Frisbie goes on to say that his desire to advance in the nursing field was what kept him motivated throughout his studies. “I started my education at University of Phoenix because I got tired of people looking at me and saying, ‘You’re just an ADN nurse.’ I was a very good nurse regardless of my education, but now nobody can say I am ‘just’ anything. I am working to be the best I can be.”

The MSN and Ph.D. degrees in Nursing offer a number of different study concentrations. In addition to the generalist MSN degree, which covers a broad base of core nursing and clinical topics at the graduate level, University of Phoenix also offers MSN degrees with specializations in Informatics, International Nursing, Health Care Education, as well as dual-degree programs in Nursing/Health Administration (MSN/MHA) and Nursing/Masters of Business Administration (MSN/MBA).

The MSN with a specialization in Health Care Education is a relatively new specialization for University of Phoenix, and it offers graduates a particularly helpful program that can be used in a wide variety of ways. With more than 1,500 students nationwide, the MSN specialization in Health Care Education aims to address the critical shortage of nursing education faculty in the United States. The current shortage of nursing faculty is so acute that traditional nursing schools are turning away qualified applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs due to an inadequacy of available faculty to teach those applicants. “There is always a need for nurse educators,” says Pam Fuller, dean of the University of Phoenix College of Nursing. “When you start advancing your degree, you start advancing your opportunities.” The University’s virtual learning environment makes it particularly attractive to nursing faculty who are also working in the field, which is one of the reasons that this program has been able to expand despite the national shortage of nursing faculty. “Our faculty are working faculty, and they bring rich work experiences to the classroom,” says Dr. Fuller.

The Ph.D. program in Nursing is the crown jewel in the comprehensive nursing education program at University of Phoenix. As there are fewer than 30 Ph.D. programs in Nursing nationwide, most of them concentrated in the major coastal cities, the nationwide virtual Ph.D. program at University of Phoenix opens up an opportunity, via online learning, for working nurses in all 50 states to pursue studies at the highest level without disruption to their careers.

With its nationwide reach, the Ph.D. in Nursing program not only contributes to the advancement of nursing at the highest levels throughout the nation, it also addresses the critical faculty shortage at undergraduate nursing schools nationwide, which will only continue to worsen as the current pool of doctoral-prepared nursing faculty ages. In the academic year 2007-2008, for example, the average age of Ph.D.-holding nursing faculty nationwide for the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor were 59.1, 56.1, and 51.7 years, respectively. The average age of retirement for nursing faculty nationwide is 62.5 years.⁸

In addition, the current economic environment makes faculty positions in nursing far and away the most stable and promising sector for employment and potential advancement―despite the still-critical nationwide nursing shortage. “In the current economy, hiring decisions are being made based on economics, not patient care needs,” says Dr. Fuller. “Those positions are still open, but hospitals just aren’t filling them right now.” While clinical nursing positions may remain scarce in the short term until the economy stabilizes, the demand for nurse educators with advanced degrees will continue to increase.⁸

Job Market For Nurses With Advanced Degrees Is Bright and Diverse

Nurses with BSN degrees or higher have a broader job market in which to market their skills. While the majority of RN-only nurses work in clinical settings (e.g., hospitals, physicians’ offices, and nursing homes), nurses with higher degrees can often find positions that offer them greater responsibility (and often higher pay) in non-clinical settings, such as insurance companies, educational services, government agencies, and social service agencies. In 2006, the majority (59%) of the three million RNs in the U.S. worked in hospitals. Other industries employing large shares of RNs include: physicians’ offices (8%); home health care services (5%); nursing care facilities (5%); employment services (4%); and outpatient care centers (3%). The remainder worked mostly in government agencies, social assistance agencies, and educational services. The progressively dwindling percentages in these latter categories mostly represent RNs with higher levels of education, which in turn represent less than 30% of all the nurses working in the United States. With a smaller pool of candidates to choose from, it is therefore no coincidence that these types of positions tend to be better paying. (See Figure 3.)

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is expected to grow 23% from 2006 to 2016, a growth rate higher than virtually any other occupation. Driving this growth will be technological advances in patient care―which will in turn require more training and higher education for health care providers―and an increasing emphasis on preventive care. Another factor driving job growth is the aging of the baby boomer generation, which will lead to greater demands on the health care industry as a whole. (Note that these employment numbers focus solely on nursing “in the field,” and exclude the aforementioned strong demand for nursing faculty).

However, projected job growth for RNs will not grow at the same rate in every subset of the industry. The projected 10-year growth rates for RNs per employment sector are:

Projected RN Job Growth by Industry, 2006-2016

Whatever the stage of a nurse’s career, she will find an opportunity to grow and move forward at University of Phoenix.