BY ANGELA BONILLA & VANESSA HOLT
A statewide shortage in nursing faculty has prompted local health care and higher education officials to take action with a program to bring nurses into teaching roles. The Shared Nurse Academic Practice Partnership Initiative, a collaboration between Sam Houston State University and four hospital systems, aims to address that. “There is a nursing faculty shortage in the United States. ... In Texas in particular, it’s acute,” said Devon Berry, director of the SHSU School of Nursing. As Texas sees a shortage of nearly 46,000 registered nurses this year, SHSU is piloting the program to allow students to get hands-on experience led by nurses who’ve worked in the field for years, Berry said. Initially funded by $999,500 from Texas Higher Education Coordination Board’s Nursing Innovation Program Grants, SNAPPI launched in 2024 with a feasibility study showing SHSU was able to reduce reliance on part-time faculty by 10%, Berry said. Workforce shortages spur partnership
What’s being done
the clinical placement. We have to have enough nurses to train the new nurses,” said Melanie Graves, director of nursing support services at St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands. According to information from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, in 2024, the number of nursing students offered admission was lower than the number of available seats, with the primary reasons being lack of space and lack of qualified instructors.
SNAPPI pairs the SHSU School of Nursing with four major health care organizations in North Houston—St. Luke’s, Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist and HCA Houston Healthcare—to provide instruction from working nurses. Students in the program were randomly selected to participate along with experienced nurses, Berry said. “Our struggle really now is … trying to get more nurses educated. And part of that challenge is
Professional nursing program admissions Seats for new students Qualified applications
Percentage of qualified students not accepted
Offered admission
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
35.7% 2022
34.3% 2023
27.2% 2024
41.4% 2021
SOURCE: TEXAS CENTER FOR NURSING WORKFORCE STUDIES/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Diving in deeper
Licensed vocational nurses Demand Supply
Next steps
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, some factors contributing to the nursing shortage include: • Increase in age for faculty • Increase in early retirements • Leaving for better pay in private or clinical settings “Our hope is, by using the SNAPPI model in which we’re effectively sharing a nurse between a clinical and academic setting, that we’re able to continue to reduce this massive gap that we have in nursing faculty,” Berry said. SNAPPI allows nurses to continue to receive clinical pay while providing support as faculty. “Post-pandemic, the difference between what we pay a nurse in academia and what we pay a nurse in a clinical setting can exceed 30%, and you’re getting paid better in the clinical setting than you are in the academic setting,” Berry said. “So there’s a huge economic disincentive to get engaged with education.”
80,000
As of March 17, SNAPPI was approved for an additional $999,500 grant to help with scaling through replication, expansion and diversification in Texas, SHSU officials said. The expansion could help increase the number of nursing educators, Berry said. Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center leadership will also be meeting with SHSU in late June to discuss that hospital system’s partnership with SHSU. 23% of RNs have retired or plan to retire over the next 5 years. 46 is the average age for nurses. 2032 is the year by which Texas will face a shortage of several types of nurses.
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
2022
2036*
Demand Supply Registered nurses
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
SOURCES: SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY, TEXAS CENTER FOR NURSING WORKFORCE STUDIES/COMMUNITY IMPACT
2022
2036*
*PROJECTION
23
CONROE - MONTGOMERY EDITION
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