As seen in the Mission Statement of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) at JSU, the primary focus is on producing superb graduates and on serving the community: The mission of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences is to provide excellence in professional undergraduate and graduate education and service to the community, as well as to pursue scholarly activities. The College has long enjoyed the reputation of being one of the finest nursing programs in the state. Currently the nursing profession, and thus the nation as a whole, is facing a health care crisis the magnitude of which we have never seen.

Heavy recruitment by schools of nursing, as well as a national media campaign highlighting the nursing shortage, have resulted in schools of nursing being deluged with applicants. Unfortunately, the existing structure for educating nurses is inadequate to respond.

In 2003, 15,944 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools in the US due to insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, preceptors, and budget constraints. In June 2003, 614 faculty vacancies were identified at 300 nursing schools across the country. In an SREB study released in 2002, a serious shortage of nursing faculty was documented in all 16 SREB states and the District of Columbia. The average age of doctoral prepared faculty is 53.5 years.

The Institute provides a strategy responsive to society’s urgent need for more nurses. An 8:1 student to faculty clinical ratio is required by the Alabama Board of Nursing and is heartily supported by the CNHS. Critical thinking, sound decision making, and highly sophisticated skills can only be taught by masters and doctorally prepared nurses with exceptional levels of clinical expertise. Therefore, the CNHS faces a desperate need for well qualified nursing faculty and the infrastructure to support expansion.