“Even as America is experiencing an acute shortage of nurses, qualified students who wish to dedicate their future to nursing are being denied that opportunity,” Durbin said. “Nursing schools last year turned away 35,000 qualified applicants, including 1,900 in Illinois, because they don’t have enough teachers on staff.”

At Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, for example, 233 qualified applicants were rejected as a result of a shortage of teachers and financial resources, while Illinois State University was forced to deny admission to 100 qualified students because of limited faculty and resources.

Durbin’s “Troops to Nurse Teachers” proposal offers incentives to nurses leaving the military to become nurse teachers. He noted that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing surveyed more than 400 schools of nursing last year and found that sixty-six percent of the schools reported vacancies on their faculty. An additional 15% said they were fully staffed, but still needed more faculty to handle the number of students who want to be trained.

“Nurses who have spent time in the military can help fill a critical gap that hurts both military and civilian health care facilities. Their service to our country will go beyond their work in military hospitals and include our classrooms and lecture halls,” Durbin said.

The “Troops to Nurse Teachers” program will provide transitional assistance for service members who already hold a master’s or PhD in nursing or a related field, and are qualified to teach. Eligible service members will receive career placement assistance, transitional stipends, and educational training from accredited schools of nursing to expedite their transition.

The “Troops to Nurse Teachers” proposal will also establish a scholarship program, on a pilot basis, that will provide financial assistance to members of the Armed Forces who have been involved in nursing during their military service in obtaining the education necessary to become nurse educators. Tuition, stipends, and financing for other educational expenses will also be provided. Recipients of scholarships must commit to teaching at an accredited school of nursing for three years in exchange for the educational support they receive. The Department of Defense may also require continuing service in the Selected Reserve, or some other form of public service.

With a projected shortfall of one million nurses by 2020, Durbin said a program like the “Troops to Nurse Teachers” offers an innovative solution that will help place more qualified nurses in faculty positions, which will in turn, increase the pool of trained nurses sought by civilian and military facilities. “The military faces the same difficulty in recruitment and retention of nurses as civilian medical facilities. If we are going to address the nursing shortage over the long term, and ensure that Americans have the quality nursing care they deserve, we must increase the number nursing faculty members,” he added.

Durbin’s initiative is based on the Troops to Teachers program created in 1994, which has trained 14,000 former service members to be math and science teachers. More than 6,000 have been placed in high-poverty schools.

Durbin’s proposal is endorsed by the American Nurses Association; American Hospital Association; American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Organization of Nurse Executives; American Health Care Association; and the National League of Nursing.