In the high-stakes world of medicine, every moment is a learning experience. Whether it’s a surgeon refining their technique, a nurse adapting to new patient needs, or a medical student absorbing complex procedures, education never stops. The foundation of healthcare is built on knowledge—passed from one generation of professionals to the next. But what happens when there aren’t enough educators to teach the next wave of doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers?
This is the crisis facing medical education today, particularly in nursing schools. While demand for skilled healthcare professionals continues to grow, the number of qualified educators is falling short. Without experienced instructors to guide students, the medical field risks a workforce that is underprepared, overburdened, and stretched too thin.
Never-Ending Education
Unlike many other professions, a degree in medicine is only the beginning. Every shift, every patient, and every new technology presents a fresh learning curve. The ability to adapt and evolve is crucial, as healthcare is constantly changing with new research, treatments, and advancements.
For doctors, residency programs offer years of intensive, hands-on learning under the guidance of seasoned professionals. Nurses, too, spend a significant portion of their training in clinical settings, applying textbook knowledge to real-life situations. The best healthcare workers are those who embrace the idea that education is ongoing—each case teaches something new, and each mistake is a lesson in doing better.
But this system only works if there are qualified educators available to provide that knowledge. And right now, the medical world is facing a shortage of instructors, especially in nursing programs.
“Investing in education helps the healthcare industry on every level. Right now there is currently a lack of qualified educators to help get people through nursing school. If there is no one to teach, then how will they graduate and get jobs within the industry? This lack of education creates a chain reaction because if there are no nurses graduating, then there will be more staffing issues, which ultimately puts patients’ health at risk,” says DoorSpace CEO Sarah M. Worthy.
Nursing schools across the country are struggling to keep up with demand. As the healthcare system faces staffing shortages, more students than ever are applying to nursing programs. Yet, despite the increasing interest, thousands of qualified applicants are turned away each year—not due to a lack of space, but due to a lack of faculty.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that in 2021, over 90,000 qualified nursing applicants were rejected from programs because schools simply did not have enough educators to train them. This is a major problem because as the current nursing workforce ages and retires, there aren’t enough new nurses entering the field to replace them.
This lack of educators creates a dangerous cycle: fewer teachers mean fewer trained nurses, which leads to more strain on an already overburdened healthcare system.
A shortage of educators doesn’t just affect students—it affects patient care. If nursing programs are forced to lower their admission standards, cut clinical training hours, or rush students through programs, the result is underprepared nurses entering the workforce.
“Hospitals should realize the value of education and how it will help their operations move more smoothly on every level. It’s not wasted resources, because helping nurses learn and get through their schooling, creates an automatic return on investment,” Worthy says.
In a profession where decisions can mean life or death, the consequences of inadequate training are serious. New nurses who don’t receive enough guidance are more likely to make medical errors, struggle with burnout, and leave the profession early—further worsening the staffing crisis.
This issue also extends beyond nursing. The entire medical field depends on experienced professionals passing down knowledge, from physicians mentoring medical students to specialists training residents. Without proper education at every level, the quality of healthcare suffers.
At its core, healthcare is about learning and sharing knowledge. Every doctor, nurse, and medical worker today owes their skills to the educators who trained them. But if we don’t address the growing shortage of qualified instructors, future generations of healthcare professionals will suffer—along with the patients who depend on them.
If we want to ensure that medical care remains safe, effective, and compassionate, we must invest in the people who teach it. Because without proper education, there is no future for medicine.
