Tennessee Creates Plan to Increase Number of Nurse Educators

Tennessee, like other states around the country, has a shortage of nurses. And it is not because they cannot find enough people who want to be nurses, but because of a lack of nurse educators. To help build its supply of qualified nurses, Tennessee’s nursing community, with matching funds from the state, set up an incentive program—Graduate Nursing Loan-Forgiveness Program—that they hope will eventually guarantee the state the qualified nurses it needs to care for a growing population with diverse health care needs.

Encourage by the Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing report recommendations that call for nurses practicing to the full extent of their education and training and for an increase in the number of advanced prepared nurses, Elizabeth Lund, executive director of the Tennessee Board of Nursing, views her state's efforts as moving in the right direction for the profession and for health care consumers. Learn more.