VANCOUVER — The U.S. shortage of registered nurses could exceed 340,000 by 2020, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

While many college students are jumping for a chance at these high-paying jobs, according to the AACN, American nursing schools don’t have the faculty to train the large number of nurses required to fill the demands of a rapidly aging population.

A survey by the association discovered that nursing schools turned away 42,866 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate programs in 2006. Seventy-five percent of these programs cited a shortage of faculty as the reason for turning away qualified students.

Instead of a program to educate nurses to enter the profession, WSU Vancouver’s nursing program is training new educators for nursing.

What is really needed in the nursing community are more educators, said Ginny Guido, Intercollegiate College of Nursing assistant dean and regional director of nursing programs.

“The more nursing faculty there are, the more nurses can be trained,” she said.

The WSUV program is designed for nurses already in the field who desire to get their bachelor’s of nursing, master’s of nursing or even study to become a nurse practitioner.

For this reason, many nurses are returning to school at WSUV to earn one or two more degrees. With limited on-site faculty at WSUV, the nursing program is using the existing Academic Media Services, allowing students to participate in lectures at campuses in the Tri-Cities, Spokane and other branches of the Intercollegiate College of Nursing.

“We have a very strong faculty,” Guido said. “They are very committed to the success of this program and its students.” Guido estimates 90 percent of students who enter the program will graduate with their desired degree.

Registered nurses are returning to college because, with increasing shortages, the average nurse has to take on heavier workloads, which contribute to greater personal stress.

According to a study in the journal Health Affairs, more than 1 in 3 registered nurses younger than 30 are planning on leaving their job within the next year because of unmanageable stress levels.

With a nursing degree, nurses have more options in their field.

“A nurse with a BSN has more leadership roles,” Guido said. “The nurse practitioners have almost become what house doctors were years ago.” Guido believes a number of the master’s and practitioner graduates from WSUV could choose the teaching field.

“Some become teachers because of the hours – it’s essentially a 9 to 5 work week with holidays and weekends at home,” she said.

Many nurses also want to assist their profession and see teaching as a calling.

“I teach because I feel passionate about educating the next generation of nurse leaders and practitioners,” said Louise Kaplan, a nursing assistant professor on the Vancouver campus.

In a country with a national nursing shortage, more teachers are just what the profession needs.

Even with nursing schools bursting at the seams, the AACN predicts there will not be enough new nurses to fill the needs of the coming decade.

The average age of nurses practicing in the U.S. is 46.8 years old. According to a recent survey by monthly journal Nursing Management, 55 percent of nurses plan to retire between 2011 and 2020, leaving a nationwide gap in the medical community.

To make matters worse, the baby boomer generation is approaching 60 years of age, placing an even greater strain on the nursing profession as they will likely require more health care.

However, it is possible that the graduates of the WSUV nursing program will help soften the bumpy road ahead.