TEMPLE, Texas — Many places around the United States are facing a nursing shortage, and unfortunately Temple, TX is no exception.
This is why Temple College will begin to offer sign-on bonuses and other benefits to incoming nurse educators, in the hopes to be able to teach more students about the field.
TC announced that they will use funding from the Nursing Shortage Reduction Program to provide the current nursing faculty with "market-adjustment and retention stipends", as well as sign-on bonuses for new full-time employees.
The Nursing Shortage Reduction Program is a grant intended to help recruit and retain faculty in the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program.
Temple College said they have been facing shortage of nursing faculty since 2021. They currently have three full-time positions in the ADN program and four part-time openings in clinical and simulation lab instruction.
TC said that having fewer faculty members means fewer students can be accepted into the nursing program.
“The top-tier quality of a Temple College nursing education is certainly still here, but the quantity of students who we can admit and still maintain that quality is in question,” said Tracey Cooper, MSN, RN, CNE, Temple College’s Division Director of Health Professions. “Just like nursing is a calling, nursing education is also a calling. Nurses who have the desire to give back to the profession by educating the nurses of the future are needed.”
The qualifications to teach in Temple College's ADN program include a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, according to Cooper. MSN degrees in education are reportedly preferable, but not required.
“We are able to hire someone while they are completing their MSN if they are within one year of completion,” Cooper said. “Nurses must have current practice experience in the area where they will be teaching.”
All full-time positions in the program are in Medical-Surgical Nursing and Mental Health, according to TC. All full-time faculty supervise students in clinical.
TC also has part-time opening for clinical instructors, which they say require one 12-hour shift each week as well as grading responsibilities.
Cooper said that there are benefits to a career in nursing education at Temple College, including day shifts Monday-Friday, holidays off with extended time at Christmas, Fall and Spring breaks off, 9 month contracts which allow for vacations or supplemental work over summers and state benefits such as paid insurance.
Cooper said Temple College nursing programs are among the best in the state with National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rates consistently above the state and national levels in both the ADN and Vocational Nursing programs.
“Temple College’s nursing program has long been a standard bearer in the industry. To maintain that exceptional reputation, we need to continue to provide the best training possible to our nursing students. We are doing everything that we can to retain our current faculty and to hire new faculty to teach the next generation of nurses,” said Cooper.
For more information on job openings or Temple College, visit the employment listings on Temple College’s website, contact Cooper at tracey.cooper@templejc.edu or call 254-298-8648.
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