A comparison of policies on nurse faculty workload in the United States.

Aim: This article describes nurse faculty workload policies from across the nation in order to assess current practice.

Background: There is a well-documented shortage of nursing faculty leading to an increase in workload demands. Increases in faculty workload results in difficulties with work-life balance and dissatisfaction threatening to make nursing education less attractive to young faculty.

Method: In order to begin an examination of faculty workload in nursing, existing workloads must be known. Faculty workload data were solicited from nursing programs nationwide and analyzed to determine the current workloads.

Results: The most common faculty teaching workload reported overall for nursing is 12 credit hours per semester; however, some variations exist.

Conclusion: Consideration should be given to the multiple components of the faculty workload. Research is needed to address the most effective and efficient workload allocation for nursing faculty.