What you’ll learn in this article…
- Wisconsin nursing programs reported 69 faculty vacancies in 2021-2022.
- BSN-prepared RNs can now teach clinical courses under supervision.
- The emergency rule may reduce waitlists by expanding clinical instructor pools.
On July 20, 2026, Governor Tony Evers signed an emergency rule allowing BSN-prepared registered nurses to serve as clinical instructors in Wisconsin nursing programs. The change follows a recommendation from the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce and directly addresses a faculty shortage that left 69 positions vacant in recent years.
Previously, a master’s degree was required to teach clinical courses. Now, experienced RNs enrolled in graduate study or holding national certification can supervise students under a fully qualified nurse educator. For prospective nursing students, this means expanded clinical placement capacity and reduced waiting lists. Wisconsin’s teacher pipeline is being rebuilt from within the bedside workforce.
Wisconsin’s Nursing Faculty Shortage: Why the Rule Change Happened
Faculty Shortage by the Numbers
Before the emergency rule change, Wisconsin nursing programs reported 69 vacant faculty positions in the 2021-2022 academic year, representing a 4.6% vacancy rate. By 2023-2024, the outlook grew more acute: estimates indicated that over 100 additional educators were needed simply to maintain existing program capacity, and another 138 would be required to expand slots for qualified applicants, a pattern that aligns with the broader nursing shortage detailed in the nursing shortage fact sheet.1
An Aging Workforce and Rising Intent to Leave
The existing educator pool faces compounding pressures. The average age of Wisconsin nursing faculty was 50.9 years in 2020, and nearly one-third (32.6%) expressed intent to leave within five years.2 Combined with a statewide registered nurse vacancy rate of 9% in 20253 and a projected shortfall of 20,000 RNs by 20404, nursing programs found themselves unable to hire enough instructors to meet clinical training demands, a dynamic that illustrates how nursing education is contributing to the nursing shortage.
Task Force Recommends a New Path
These converging shortages prompted the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce to recommend loosening faculty qualification rules. The goal was to widen the pipeline of eligible clinical instructors quickly, without sacrificing educational quality. The emergency rule easing nursing faculty requirements enacted July 20, 2026, directly responds to that recommendation by allowing BSN-prepared RNs with relevant experience and ongoing graduate education or certification to teach under supervision, a move designed to alleviate the bottleneck that had turned away tens of thousands of qualified nursing applicants nationwide5, placing Wisconsin among the states with the largest nursing shortages.
Old Vs. New: Wisconsin Nursing Faculty Requirements at a Glance
How do Wisconsin's updated nursing faculty qualifications actually differ from the previous standard? The emergency rule signed by Governor Evers in July 2026 introduces a clear alternative pathway for clinical instructors who hold a BSN degree rather than a master's degree.1 The table below compares the old standard requirements for clinical faculty with the new emergency rule provisions.
| Dimension | Old Rule (2024-2025 Standard) | New Emergency Rule (Effective July 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Degree | Graduate degree with major in nursing (typically MSN or higher) | Baccalaureate degree with major in nursing (BSN) |
| RN License | Current, active, unencumbered Wisconsin RN license or privilege to practice | Same as old rule |
| Clinical Experience | Clinical experience in the teaching area (no specified minimum duration) | At least two years of clinical experience relevant to the assigned clinical area |
| Graduate Enrollment / Certification | Standard exception path: must be enrolled in a graduate nursing program; emergency exception sometimes waived | Must be enrolled in a graduate program with steady progress, OR completed graduate-level courses in clinical best practices, OR hold a national certification in a relevant nursing specialty |
| Supervision | Supervised by graduate-prepared faculty (only for those teaching under an exception) | Purposeful engagement and formal oversight by a faculty member who meets the traditional graduate-level preparation |
Broadening Clinical Instructor Eligibility
The most visible shift is the degree requirement: a BSN now qualifies a nurse to teach clinicals, provided they meet the other criteria.1 This immediately expands the pool of potential instructors, especially for programs struggling to fill clinical faculty lines.
New Guardrails: Experience and Graduate Advancement
While the degree bar is lower, the new rule adds firmer expectations. The old rule simply required "clinical experience" without a set timeframe;2 now, two years of relevant clinical practice is mandatory. Additionally, BSN-prepared instructors must demonstrate ongoing professional growth, either through graduate enrollment, completed graduate coursework, or national certification, ensuring they stay current and deepen their expertise.1
Formalizing Supervision
Supervision has always been required for exception-based appointments, but the emergency rule mandates "purposeful engagement and formal oversight" by a graduate-prepared faculty member, such as DNP programs Wisconsin.1 This reinforces a structured mentorship model rather than a loose check-in.
Wisconsin's emergency rule opens clinical instructor roles to thousands of BSN-prepared nurses, eliminating the previous master's degree mandate. This change can rapidly increase the teaching workforce and help nursing programs admit more students.
Who Can Teach Clinicals Under the New Emergency Rule?
Under Wisconsin's emergency rule, registered nurses with a bachelor's degree can now teach clinical courses if they meet specific criteria. This change marks a shift from the previous requirement that clinical instructors hold a master's degree in nursing, opening the door for experienced BSN-prepared nurses to step into faculty roles, but only within clearly defined boundaries.
Criteria for New Clinical Faculty
To qualify, a nurse must hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and possess a current, active, unencumbered RN license with the privilege to practice in Wisconsin. Additionally, they need at least two years of documented clinical experience in the area they intend to teach. This ensures that instructors bring real-world expertise into the clinical setting, even if they do not yet hold a graduate degree.
Ongoing Education Pathways
The rule requires that these BSN-level instructors demonstrate a commitment to advanced education. They must meet one of three conditions:
- Graduate enrollment: Be actively enrolled in a graduate nursing program and making steady progress toward a degree.
- Graduate coursework: Have completed graduate-level courses in clinical best practices, such as those found in nursing education certificate programs, even if not formally enrolled in a full program.
- National certification: Hold a current, nationally recognized certification in a nursing specialty relevant to the clinical area they teach.
These options help instructors overcome barriers to continuing nursing education while they teach, rather than requiring a terminal degree beforehand.
Supervision by a Qualified Faculty Member
Importantly, these new clinical instructors do not work independently. They must practice under the supervision of an RN faculty member who meets the traditional qualifications, typically someone with a master's or doctoral degree in nursing. This supervision requirement maintains quality control and provides mentorship, ensuring that students receive instruction aligned with established educational standards.
Clinical Instruction Only
The emergency rule applies exclusively to clinical instruction, not didactic classroom teaching. Didactic faculty roles , those involving lecture-based or theory courses , still require the higher credentialing that was previously standard for all instructors. This distinction is crucial: the rule is designed to expand the pool of clinical preceptors who supervise hands-on patient care, not to dilute the academic rigor of nursing programs. Students can expect that their classroom education remains led by highly credentialed faculty, while their clinical rotations may now involve more BSN-prepared instructors working under experienced supervision.
The BSN-To-Clinical Instructor Pathway: A Step-By-Step Guide
How the Rule Change Impacts Nursing Students and Clinical Capacity
Nursing students must balance getting into a program quickly with having enough qualified faculty for a quality education. Wisconsin's emergency faculty rule, effective July 20261, tips that scale by opening a new pipeline of instructors, potentially reducing one of the field's most stubborn barriers.
A Shortage That Shut Students Out
For years, Wisconsin nursing programs have turned away thousands of qualified applicants.3 The Wisconsin Center for Nursing's 2023-2024 Nursing Education Report notes that limited faculty and clinical placement sites are the primary reasons. By allowing BSN-prepared registered nurses with at least two years of relevant clinical experience to teach under supervision1, the new rule directly targets the faculty bottleneck. The Center argues in its letter to the Board of Nursing that this change will help reduce the bottleneck and open up enrollment for those thousands of students rejected annually.
How the Rule Expands Clinical Instructor Pools
Under the emergency rule, a practicing RN with a bachelor's degree can now serve as a clinical instructor if they are enrolled in a graduate program, have completed graduate-level clinical courses, or hold a national certification in their specialty. They must also practice under an RN who meets traditional qualifications. This widens the pool of potential instructors dramatically, allowing nursing schools to potentially offer more clinical sections and seat more students, especially in high-demand areas like medical-surgical and long-term care.
The Clinical Site Bottleneck Remains
While more instructors may become available, the number of clinical placement sites remains a limiting factor. The 2023-2024 Nursing Education Report confirms that insufficient clinical sites are a main reason programs cannot admit more students. Even with expanded faculty, hospitals and clinics have finite capacity for student rotations. The rule cannot solve this alone, but it may encourage health systems to partner more closely with schools, now that staffing the educational side is less burdensome.
What Students Can Expect in 2026 and Beyond
In the short term, students may see modest increases in program entry as schools adapt their hiring. The Wisconsin Hospital Association newsletter supports more options for BSN faculty, signaling that healthcare employers are on board. The rule's permanent fate will be decided at a September 10, 2026 hearing2, and its long-term impact hinges on whether programs can leverage the new flexibility to build sustainable clinical education models. For now, the emergency rule offers a tangible step toward lowering the barrier that has kept many aspiring nurses on the outside.
Navigating Faculty Exception Caps and the Approval Process
How does the new BSN clinical instructor pathway fit within Wisconsin’s existing 50% faculty exception cap, and what steps must program administrators take to secure approval?
Understanding the 50% Exception Cap
The Wisconsin Board of Nursing requires that at least 50% of a nursing program’s faculty hold graduate degrees. The remaining positions, up to 50%, may be filled through faculty exceptions. These exceptions cover a range of non-standard hires, including those with non-nursing master’s degrees, emergency exception requests, and now, BSN-prepared clinical instructors under the new emergency rule. Importantly, every BSN clinical faculty approved via this emergency pathway counts toward that 50% cap.1 If a program already uses numerous exceptions for other reasons, adding these new instructors could push it past the limit. Administrators must track all exception categories to stay compliant.
The Approval Process: Step by Step
For each BSN clinical instructor, programs must submit DSPS Form #2662, the Request for Nursing Faculty Exception.1 This form requires pre-approval from the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) before the individual begins teaching. Completed forms and supporting documentation should be emailed to [email protected].
The submission package must demonstrate that the candidate meets all emergency rule requirements:2 - A bachelor’s degree in nursing - An active, unencumbered Wisconsin RN license - At least two years of clinical experience relevant to the teaching area - Enrollment in a graduate nursing program (with steady progress), or completion of graduate-level clinical best-practices courses, or a national certification in the relevant nursing specialty
The faculty member must also practice under the supervision of an RN who meets traditional graduate-prepared qualifications.
Timelines and Renewals
Emergency exceptions approved under this rule are valid for only one semester and cannot be renewed.1 If a program wishes to continue using the same BSN instructor in a subsequent term, it must submit a new Form #2662 for that semester. This differs from the standard exception process, which typically grants one-year, renewable approvals. Program directors should plan on submitting requests well before each semester, ideally at least four to six weeks in advance, to allow DSPS review. Keep in mind that the Board of Nursing’s quarterly faculty reporting deadlines (March 1, June 1, September 1, December 1) may also influence submission timing, as aggregate data on exceptions must be reported.4
Guidance for Programs Near the Cap
If your program is already close to the 50% exception ceiling, every BSN clinical instructor added reduces remaining headroom for other types of exceptions. To manage this, consider: - Evaluating which clinical groups truly require non-traditional instructors and reserving BSN hires for those placements - Prioritizing recruitment of graduate-prepared faculty for didactic and coordination roles to free up exception slots for clinical teaching - Reviewing all current exceptions (standard, emergency, non-nursing master’s) to see if any can be replaced by fully qualified hires before the new pathway becomes indispensable
Programs that consistently operate at or above the cap risk non-compliance findings during Board of Nursing site visits. If the permanent rule (Chapter N 1.08(3)(d)4, with a public hearing scheduled for September 10, 2026)3 alters exception limits or criteria, programs, such as Best Online RN to BSN Programs in Wisconsin, may need to adjust their faculty plans mid-academic year.
Special Considerations
- The emergency rule remains in effect until a permanent rule is adopted, but the one-semester approval period for each exception means constant monitoring.
- Out-of-state programs placing students in Wisconsin clinical sites must ensure instructors possess Wisconsin licensure and meet the same N 1 standards.4
- If you are unsure about how to complete Form #2662 or interpret the cap, consult DSPS Form #30314 (Guidelines for Nursing Program Approval) or contact the Board’s education consultant directly.
Questions to Ask Yourself
What Aspiring Nurse Educators Need to Know in 2026
If you're an experienced RN thinking about teaching, Wisconsin's faculty qualification framework sets clear benchmarks for every program level. The traditional rules remain in place for most roles, while a 2026 emergency rule opens a new clinical teaching door specifically for BSN programs.
Faculty Requirements by Program Level
Under Wisconsin's permanent rules, LPN programs require instructors to hold at least a bachelor's degree in nursing and an active RN license. ADN and BSN programs demand a graduate degree in nursing (typically an MSN) plus an active RN license. Graduate nursing programs require a doctoral degree, such as a DNP or PhD.2
The emergency rule change does not alter these baselines. It adds a BSN-level clinical instructor pathway: you can teach BSN clinicals with a bachelor's degree in nursing, two years of relevant clinical experience, an unencumbered Wisconsin RN license, and documented progress in a graduate program, completion of graduate-level clinical best-practice courses, or a national specialty certification.1 You also practice under supervision of a traditionally qualified faculty member.
Pathways to Full Faculty Roles
To step into a full, unsupervised faculty position, aim for at least an MSN. For LPN and ADN/BSN programs, the MSN is the standard; a post-master's certificate in nursing education can sharpen your teaching skills. If you want to teach in graduate programs, you'll need a DNP or PhD. These degrees open doors beyond clinical instruction to curriculum design and program leadership.
The CNE Credential's Role
The Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential signals your dedication to evidence-based teaching. While it doesn't replace the required degree or license, it can differentiate your application and demonstrates a commitment to excellence that both schools and the Wisconsin Board of Nursing value.
The BSN Clinical Pathway as a Launchpad
The new emergency rule is a strategic entry point. By serving as a supervised clinical instructor, you gain classroom and clinical teaching experience while you complete your graduate education. This hands-on exposure lets you test the academic waters, build a professional network, and strengthen your resume for future full-time faculty applications. Schools submit a Clinical Faculty Exception Form to the Department of Safety and Professional Services to document your qualifications.
Will the Emergency Rule Become Permanent? A Look Ahead
Emergency rules are, by design, temporary bridges. One path keeps the 2026 faculty flexibility as a short-term fix; the other turns it into a permanent feature of Wisconsin's nursing education landscape. The difference matters for students, educators, and programs planning for future semesters.
How to Track the Rule's Status
- Check the Wisconsin Board of Nursing and DSPS websites: These are the primary sources for the official emergency rule status, including its effective period and any proposed permanent rule changes. Look for posted meeting agendas, rulemaking dockets, and public notices.
- Monitor the Wisconsin State Legislature's website: Legislative committees often hold public hearings on permanent rule proposals. Search for bill introductions and regulatory update notices related to nursing faculty requirements. Public comment periods are where your voice can weigh in.
Engaging with the Regulatory Process
- Attend Board of Nursing meetings: Public meetings sometimes include statements on long-term regulatory outlooks. Directly contacting the Board can clarify timelines and the rationale behind any pending decisions.
- Subscribe to professional association newsletters: Organizations like the Wisconsin Nurses Association frequently share timely updates on rule changes and advocacy opportunities. Their alerts can help you stay ahead of formal announcements.
The emergency rule creates momentum, but only sustained engagement ensures it evolves into lasting policy that supports both nursing students and the clinical instructors who guide them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wisconsin Nursing Faculty Rules
As Wisconsin tackles its nursing shortage, the state has revised faculty requirements to expand the pool of clinical instructors. Here are answers to the most common questions about nursing faculty rules, licensure, and career pathways in Wisconsin.
- What are the requirements to be a nurse in Wisconsin?
- Graduate from a board-approved nursing program, pass the NCLEX-RN, and apply to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) with a criminal background check and fees. Once licensed, you can practice as a registered nurse in Wisconsin.1
- What are the qualifications to teach nursing in Wisconsin?
- Professional nursing faculty must hold a graduate degree with a major in nursing.1 Practical nursing faculty may teach with a baccalaureate degree in nursing. Exceptions allow BSN-prepared RNs who are actively pursuing a graduate degree or hold a non-nursing master's to teach under supervision with Board approval.
- Can BSN nurses teach clinicals in Wisconsin?
- Yes, under the emergency rule effective July 2026, BSN-prepared RNs can teach clinicals with an unencumbered Wisconsin license, at least two years of relevant clinical experience, and one of the following: enrollment in a graduate nursing program, completed graduate-level clinical courses, or a national nursing specialty certification. They must work under a graduate-prepared RN's supervision.2
- How do I become a nurse educator in Wisconsin?
- Typically, you need a master's degree in nursing for academic teaching roles. The Wisconsin Nurse Educator Program offers scholarships (up to $10 million total) to support nurses in graduate education, with a commitment to teach three years full-time or six years part-time.4 BSN nurses may also qualify for clinical instructor roles under the new rule while pursuing advanced degrees, such as through online NP programs in Wisconsin.
- Is there a nursing faculty shortage in Wisconsin?
- Yes, the shortage is well-documented by the Wisconsin Nurses Association and Advocates for Nursing Education and Workforce (ANEW). It remains a major barrier to expanding nursing program enrollment.3 The emergency rule aims to address this by creating more flexible pathways for clinical instructors, helping schools increase student capacity.
- What are the didactic teaching requirements for nursing faculty in Wisconsin?
- To teach didactic (classroom/theory) courses in a professional nursing program, faculty must hold a graduate degree with a major in nursing.1 Exceptions may be granted for BSN-prepared nurses enrolled in a graduate nursing program or holding a related master's, but didactic instruction is primarily reserved for graduate-prepared faculty.
- When will the emergency rule become permanent?
- The emergency rule took effect July 20, 2026, and lasts up to 150 days. To become permanent, the Wisconsin Board of Nursing must propose a permanent rule through the standard administrative process, including public hearings and legislative review.5 If supported, a permanent rule could be adopted within 12 to 18 months.
- How will the faculty rule change affect nursing program admissions?
- By expanding the pool of clinical instructors, programs can increase clinical training capacity, potentially admitting more students.2 However, gains will be gradual: schools must recruit and onboard BSN instructors, and secure adequate clinical sites. The change removes a key bottleneck, but enrollment growth also depends on sustained funding and resources.