Multidimensional approaches to extending nurse faculty resources without testing faculty's patience

The diminishing number of nurse faculty requires the use of multidimensional strategies to extend faculty resources, especially for clinical courses. Chronic health problems and decreased endurance for demanding clinical courses often forces experienced faculty to retire early, increasing faculty shortages. The use of on-campus, high-fidelity simulation laboratories provides a learning environment that is less physically demanding than the hospital setting, while enabling older faculty to share their experience with students. Using high-fidelity simulations may also attract younger nurses to become educators. In addition to using clinical simulations, faculty resources can be extended through sharing faculty among nursing programs, using graduate teaching assistants in laboratory settings, and having senior nursing students validate underclassmen's competence in performing basic nursing skills.