Nursing Schools in a For-Profit Sector

The number of for profit nursing schools has mushroomed in the past number of years.  The creation was driven in part by the nursing shortage and lack of traditional government supported programs to graduate adequate number of nurses needed for the workforce.  Many of these schools are closing because of poor academic outcomes often combined with a lack of adequate financial resources. While antidotal a frequent cause seems to be related to inexperience academic leaders and faculty who lack the experience and expertise to be successful with non-traditional students.  

For-profit schools provide a very valuable service primarily to socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who want to become nurses. The public university system admissions are extremely competitive and often lacks scheduling flexibility so that many of these students cannot attend the program.  Community colleges which many require one or more years of prerequisites to be completed before being placed on the competitive waiting list, meaning that the number of students admitted into the programs are limited. Most for-profit schools who admit qualified high-risk students do so with the understanding they too deserve an opportunity to meet their dream of becoming a nurse.

Without a doubt educating this high-risk group is challenging.  They typically have social and economic challenges which can impact their ability to focus on their academic careers. This means that schools within this sector must have significant resources to support students to address not only the educational content but also the other non-educational challenges. Therefore, it takes a unique mix of faculty, curriculum, and academic supports to achieve success.

Clearly some of the for-profit schools are doing good job at educating these individuals by achieving acceptable outcomes while others fail in their attempt.

There are numerous issues surrounding the creation of these alternative nursing programs and specific strategies for success are needed.  These include capital needed to sustain a program for the long term, clearly articulated accountability guidelines between the “business side of the operation” and professional education; administrative structure that support successful outcomes; the skills set required for Deans and faculty that are in some cases different than those needed in traditional programs.  An understanding of the regulatory environment with special attention to student outcomes, retention, career placement and program satisfaction is required.  Strategies to address these issues including achieving excellence in the classroom, use of high stake testing, practice of using publisher and testing preparation companies, retention strategies, post-graduation engagement best practices as well as use of consultants maybe required.

RL Anders and Associates