Nurse Educator: Career, Training, & Certification

Nurse Educator

A clinical nurse educator performs an extremely broad range of tasks that help with the ongoing support and education of other nurses on the same team. These duties may or may not include aspects of the following. Generally, they are responsible for doing research in-house to ensure that patient needs are met, provide courses and continuing education to make sure that nurses are up to date on the latest research and procedures, providing general and specific competency courses, run orientations for new and returning staff members, revising policies and procedures, and teaching staff how to be mentors. Other administrative tasks may include staff recruiting efforts and applying for continuing education credits and paperwork for all of their team members. This position requires good communicators with a high attention to detail and a working knowledge of nursing.
 
Salary Outlook
 
Salary will vary depending on education and experience, with those possessing over 20 years of experience at the high end of the pay scale.
 
Average Annual Salary
$65,389
 
Salary Range
$45,496-$73,242
 
Work Environment
 
Nurse educators work in a variety of settings, including traditional health care environments such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, and community health agencies. In addition, they often will work within an academic environment to fulfill their teaching capacity. This encompasses senior colleges and universities, junior or community colleges, online distance learning facilities, and technical colleges. Educators may combine their own nursing practice with long teaching hours, or work side-by-side nurses in training.
 
Requirements
 
Nurse educators will need to show that they have their own knowledge base covered, usually by obtaining their own higher-education degrees. While the exact qualifications vary depending on the state that they are practicing in as well as the institution that they’re working for, in most cases a Master’s degree in their field of specialty is required. Additionally, they need to stay up to date with continuing education courses and have some administrative experience, along with a nursing license.
 
Career Outlook
 
As the healthcare industry sits primed to explode, the need for qualified educators is similarly important. There is a huge push at the moment for young people to learn the art of nursing in all its various specialties, and even older people are going back to school to cash in on the promise of a huge rate of job growth. Of all the industries to watch at the moment, this is the one with the highest rate of growth predicted. Nurse educators will be vital to the continued growth and success of hospitals, clinics, and smaller health care organizations across the country.
 
Professional Organizations
 
American Nurses Foundation
8515 Georgia Ave. Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 628-5227
www.anfonline.org
 
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
One DuPont Circle, NW
Suite 530
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 463-6930
Fax: (202) 785-8320
www.aacn.edu