August 16, 2008
The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce hosted a press conference at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing on August 26, 2008 to launch www.iTeachnursingMS.org. The press conference was held at 11:00am in the foyer of the School of Nursing with a reception following.The website is a comprehensive resource for connecting nurses interested in teaching and becoming an educator in Mississippi schools of nursing. This initiative is just one innovation to address and reduce the nursing faculty shortage. The site was developed under the Mississippi Critical Nursing Faculty Shortage Initiative, a Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future grant funded by the Robert Wood Johnson, Northwest Health Foundation, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, the Mississippi Hospital Association Health, Research and Education Foundation and the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce. For an overview of the project, please see the two attachments: PIN Fact Sheet – 2006 and PIN Fact Sheet – 2007.
Current analysis reveals a projected nursing faculty vacancy rate of 23.9% by the end of 2007-2008 academic years, an average faculty age of greater than 55, and faculty recruitment difficulties primarily due to salaries below regional and national averages. In addition to faculty statistics, the RN population’s average age is over 45. Overall, Mississippi hospitals have a 7.7% staff RN vacancy rate, an 8% projected increase in demand over the next two years, and a 22% turnover rate. In long term care, Mississippi averages a 7.4% RN vacancy rate, a 8.2% LPN vacancy rate and a turnover rate of greater than 50% for RNs and LPNs.