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BRN committee hears faculty retention survey results; executive officer promotes strategic plan and sunset review
Summary
BRN Executive Officer Loretta Melby briefed the Nursing Education & Workforce Advisory Committee on the board's sunset review and a new strategic plan; the faculty subcommittee reported a survey showing low salaries and high workloads as primary barriers to hiring and retaining nurse educators.
At the teleconference of the Nursing Education & Workforce Advisory Committee, Loretta (Lori) Melby, the board's executive officer, told members the BRN has submitted its sunset review report and recently adopted a 2026'2030 strategic plan. She urged stakeholders to review both documents on the BRN website and to participate in the upcoming legislative session, noting statutory and regulatory limits on the board's authority to change salary or billing policy.
Why it matters: Faculty availability is a bottleneck for expanding nursing program capacity. The committee's faculty subcommittee reported survey findings that point to compensation and workload as the top barriers to recruiting and retaining full-time nursing faculty.
Dr. Tanya Alman, who led the faculty subcommittee report, said the survey of deans and directors had a low response rate but reinforced known problems: salary concerns were cited by a large majority of respondents (reported by the presenter as about 96%), and inadequate preparation to teach was also a commonly cited factor. Directors reported heavy teaching loads and a large share of leadership nearing retirement: 40.5% of director respondents said they plan to leave within one to five years.
Committee members discussed funding mechanisms and structural differences that limit nursing training support compared with graduate medical education, such as federal funding for residency slots. Participants noted targeted grants (for example, RNI funds through the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office) that aim to help community college faculty recruitment and retention.
Melby cautioned members that the BRN, as a licensing and enforcement board, cannot set wages or billing policy and must be careful about appearing to influence supply and demand. But she encouraged members to agendaize sustained discussion about faculty compensation and succession planning and to share the faculty survey instrument with BRN staff for possible inclusion in future statewide school surveys.
Next steps: Staff will coordinate follow-up on the faculty survey and work with subcommittees to agendaize focused discussions. The executive officer also asked members to use the BRN website resources and to respond to outreach for future agenda items so the board can prioritize efforts on education oversight and workforce supports.
