Vital signs: A trend analysis of the nursing faculty workforce

Background: Nursing faculty are a vital component of the nursing workforce. However, the nursing faculty workforce has reached a critical juncture; fewer nurses are enrolling in PhD nursing programs, and many current nursing faculty are approaching retirement. Purpose: This cross-sectional study aggregates survey data from 2017 through 2024 to provide a comprehensive data-driven narrative of the nursing faculty workforce. Methods: Aggregate data from the National Nursing Workforce Survey were used to examine various characteristics and qualities of nursing faculty employed at schools of nursing. Descriptive statistics by year and age were generated to support a longitudinal analysis of the nursing faculty workforce. Results: The proportion of nursing faculty at retirement age (≥65 years) doubled from 16.9 % in 2017 to 34.2 % in 2024, while fewer nurses aged between 18 and 39 years entered or were retained in faculty roles during the same time frame. Between 2017 and 2024, the median salary gap between graduate-educated faculty and their nonfaculty counterparts grew from $24,000 to $32,000. For faculty intending to leave nursing within 5 years, outside of retirement (89.6 %), nursing faculty identified stress (22.3 %), workload (18.7 %), and salary (11.6 %) as the primary reasons driving their decision. Conclusion: As more nursing faculty continue to reach retirement age and fewer younger nurses take faculty roles, policymakers and administrators need to work to attract more nurses to graduate-level training programs and address existing faculty concerns of stress, workload, and salary. This longitudinal analysis offers actionable insights for interested and concerned parties and policymakers to inform strategic interventions that will shape the future of nursing education.