Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Home :: Career Center
:: Healthcare Career Profiles :: Nursing Career Profiles
Nurse Educator - Career Profile |
Career OverviewNurse educators are clinical and teaching experts who combine their clinical expertise and teaching skills to strengthen the current and future generations of nurses.
In both academic and clinical settings, nurse educators play pivotal roles to assist the nursing work force to develop and maintain the skills necessary to provide the best possible patient care and leadership to medical staff.
Nurse educators design, implement, evaluate, and revise programs for the education and training of nursing students and qualified nurses interested in expanding their range of skills.
A typical nurse educator is a registered nurse with advanced education and experience as a nurse and as a teacher, combining the two roles to work effectively with all kinds of nursing students, from recent high school graduates studying nursing to nurses pursuing advanced degrees.
In general, the professional experiences offered to nurse educators are intensely satisfying. Most nurse educators express a high degree of satisfaction with their work and considerable enjoyment interacting with students and watching them develop into competent professionals.
The job security offered to nurse educators is another compelling factor, combined with flexible work scheduling, access to and involvement with cutting-edge research.
Nurse educators have much to offer, advising students, encouraging scholarly work, presenting work to other nursing professionals, and supplying leadership within the academic community.
|
Career RequirementsNurse educators who work in an academic setting must have a Master's Degree in Nursing as a minimum, however, doctoral degrees are required for promotion to upper academic positions, such as that of associate professors or professors, and for the receipt of tenures for research. Most nurse educators who work in an academic setting on a permanent basis,
Nurse educators who work in clinical settings have at least a baccalaureate degree in nursing, but most have master's degrees to meet the requirements of the more prominent nurse educator positions in clinical settings.
A number of nurse educators also hold specialist graduate or post-graduate certificates in preparation for their role as educators. Certificate programs for nurse educators focus on developing the skills for advanced practice nurses to teach and the focus on developing the skills necessary for curriculum development, student counseling, program evaluation, and the principles that influence the education of adults.
More information about finding programs for nurse educators can be found from the following organizations:
American Society for Training and Development
1640 King Street, Box 1443
Alexandria, VA 22313
(703) 683-8100
www.astd.org
National Nursing Staff Development Organization
7794 Grow Drive
Pensacola, FL 32534
(800) 489-1995
www.nnsdo.org
American Nurses Credentialing Center
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 100 West
Washington, D.C. 20024-2571
(800) 284-2378
|
Advertisement
|
Job OutlookIn the next decade, nursing will be one of the top 10 fastest growing professions in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health care facilities will be looking to cut back on general costs.
The future looks bright in the nursing field, with the number of jobs for registered nurses expected to increase at a rate far greater than that of most other jobs in the next couple of years.
Over the next decade or so, the nursing profession is expected to change as well. Nearly one out of every eight Americans is over 65 years of age and the size of the elderly population looks set to double by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau.
Hospitals are constantly downsizing, cutting back on the number of general staff, and reducing the time of patients' stay as well, however, hospitalization is and will remain and important element of diagnosis and treatment for critically ill patients, regardless of whether their conditions are chronic or acute and there will continue to be a substantial need for nurses anesthetists as surgeries will still be performed. There has also been some discussion about dividing the field of nursing into professional nurses and technical nurses.
As the field develops, there is going to be an increased need for nurse educators, both in academia and in clinical settings. The role of the nurse educator is and will remain a vital ingredient to ensure a positive experience for trainee nurses and those looking to obtained advanced qualifications.
|
Career TrackNurse educators work in senior colleges and universities, in junior and community colleges, in hospital-based nursing schools and colleges, in technical colleges; they work in hospitals, community health agencies, home care agencies, and long-term care facilities. They also work with technology online to assist distance learning nursing students.
The outlook for nursing educators is certainly positive for the foreseeable future, in the context of the anticipated expansion of nursing. However, nurse educators in academic setting should anticipate the changes to the practice of nursing and adapt their curriculum and teaching methods to respond to these changes.
Likewise, nurse educators who work in clinical settings need to design their programs to ensure that their students are prepared to meet the challenges that the changes in the nursing profession will present.
|
CompensationThe annual salaries of nurse educators varies according to the setting in which they work and their level of seniority. Most academic appointments are for a nine-month period, offering a salary that ranges between $25,000 and $100,000 per year.
Those who work in clinical settings typically receive salaries within the same range. Positions of seniority in both settings, such as the position of associate dean, offer salaries between $93,500 and $111,000. Assistant deans earn between $72,000 and $93,000 per year on average.
|
|