Key Takeaways
— To become a nurse educator, one must first become a Registered Nurse (RN), gain hands-on clinical experience, and then earn an advanced degree, typically a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
— The timeline to become a nurse educator can vary; for an existing RN with a bachelor’s degree, it may take an additional 2-4 years to complete the required master’s degree.
— Nurse educators have diverse responsibilities, including designing curricula, teaching classes, overseeing students’ clinical practice, and mentoring them on academic and career matters.
Nurses are essential in healthcare: they ensure their patients get the best care possible. They can also take educational roles and use their nursing skills and experience to teach others. If you’re ready to move forward in your career and are a person who enjoys teaching, becoming a nurse educator can be the right fit for you.
In this article, we’ll give you a career overview of nurse educators, including the answers to some of the most common questions, such as “How to become a nurse educator,” “How long it takes to become one,” “What a nurse educator does,” “Is becoming a nurse educator worth it,” and many more.
What Is a Nurse Educator?
Nurse educators are registered nurses (RN) who pursue advanced education and become teachers. They create and find ways to increase student engagement grounded on evidence-based practices.
Nurse educators can work both in clinical and academic settings, and many continue to provide for patients after becoming educators. As to healthcare facilities, they can work in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Whereas in educational settings, they work in universities, colleges, technical schools, or vocational schools.
Some of the positions they can take are:
— Clinical nurse educator
— Professor of nursing
— Simulator lab instructor
— Nursing instructor
— Nursing education consultant
What Does a Nurse Educator Do?
Nurse educators teach nursing students. Their responsibility includes designing, implementing, and revising educational programs.
By combining clinical experience and expertise, they make great mentors to their students. They also keep up-to-date with current trends, methods, and developments in nursing.
As a nurse educator, you may expect some of the following responsibilities:
— Designing curricula
— Developing classes and programs
— Overseeing students’ clinical practice
— Evaluating students’ work
— Facilitating group discussions in class
— Attending conferences and events for nurses
— Evaluating and improving current curricula
— Writing grant proposals
— Attending faculty meetings
— Documenting the outcomes of educational processes
— Continuing to practice as a nurse
— Mentoring students on academic and career issues
How To Become a Nurse Educator in 5 Steps
Although the path to success isn’t set in stone, if you’re interested in becoming a nurse educator, there are five steps you can follow to become one.
1. Become a registered nurse
The first step to becoming a nurse educator is being a registered nurse. Our registered nursing program takes a holistic approach to nursing. You’ll be able to learn more about nurturing patients’ mental and spiritual health, just like their physical health. You’ll also have to go through courses like chemistry, massage, pathophysiology, ethics, math, pharmacology, etc.
To become an RN, you need to earn a four-year BSN degree or complete a two-year ADN degree. However, earning a BSN degree will give you extensive training and education, which is a good foundation for the next steps in your career and provides you with more job opportunities. After getting your degree, you can apply for licensure and take the NCLEX-RN exam.
2. Gain clinical experience as an RN
After becoming an RN, it’s important that you have hands-on nursing experience. This way, you’ll be able to develop a strong skill set, take on leadership roles and collaborate with others.
You can also take the opportunity to build experience in specialized areas such as psychiatric nursing, accident, and emergency nursing, critical care nursing, pediatric nursing, family health nursing, etc.
3. Develop your skills
After becoming an RN, you should focus on developing the necessary soft and hard skills for nurse educators. Some of the general soft skills are communication, research, planning, mentoring, creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, etc. Whereas hard skills are more technical, some of which are lecturing, psychology, scheduling, curriculum development, patient care, etc.
4. Enroll in a nursing education program (master’s level)
When pursuing a career as a nurse educator, the next step to becoming one is to earn an advanced degree in nursing, mainly a master’s (MSN). By earning an MSN, you’ll be able to attain and communicate knowledge, develop curricula, how to assess student development, the best techniques to foster learning, and so much more. You’ll also go through advanced courses on pathophysiology, pharmacology, health assessment, population health, etc.
Nurses wanting to work in academic settings as professors or researchers should consider furthering their studies and earning a doctoral degree (DNP).
5. Get a certification
An optional step but still an important one is getting nursing educator certifications. By getting one, you’ll be able to prove your qualifications in the field to employers and peers. Those who want to work in academic positions should get the CNE certification, whereas those who want to work in clinical settings should get the CNEcl certification.
How Long Does It Take To Become a Nurse Educator?
Unfortunately, we can’t give a specific answer as to how long it will take to become a nurse educator, as there are many factors to consider. Depending on your current degree, becoming a nurse educator can take 2-4 years if you’re an RN. As we’ve mentioned, to become a nurse educator, you must have an MSN, which can take as few as two years to complete if you have a BSN. If you don’t have a BSN, it can take four years or longer to earn a master’s. We also have to consider the time needed to become an RN which can range from 16 months to four years.
Nurse Educator Job Outlook and Salary
The healthcare industry needs young and talented educators to set the grounds for new, highly competent nurses. Therefore, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates a promising job outlook of 22% for nursing instructors and teachers this decade.
The salary of nurse educators depends on factors such as years of experience, location, education, certifications, and additional skills. BLS estimates a mean annual wage of $84,180 for nurse educators.
Glassdoor reports an average base pay of $110,590 for nurse educators, the most likely range going from $95K to $145K.
According to the data collected by Payscale, the average salary for nurse educators is $80,955, with a likely range from $60K to $110K.
Conclusion
Nurse educators are crucial in shaping new generations of nurses and ensuring they continue to develop and grow. They also play a huge role in promoting quality nursing education by combining traditional and modern teaching methods.
Therefore, becoming a nurse educator has many rewarding benefits, such as employment opportunities in healthcare facilities and academic settings, strong growth prospects, personal fulfillment, less stressful than clinical nursing, and a flexible work schedule. Before deciding if you want to pursue this career option, keep in mind to consider how becoming a nurse educator fills your life and if it’s a role that makes you thrive. If this career path aligns with your life goals, explore our Registered Nursing School and start your journey today!