Because nurse educators are highly trained professionals, there are steps you must take in order to pursue this career. It’s important for future nurse educators to know the requirements as the rewards could be well worth every step of it.
A nurse educator career requires you to have a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) as well as typically a minimum of two years of experience as a registered nurse. Here are steps to take for future nursing educators:
Earning an Undergraduate Nursing Degree
Before you are eligible to pursue a master’s in nursing, you will need an undergraduate degree in nursing.
One of the most common undergraduate nursing degrees is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). For aspiring nurse educators who know early on that they want to follow this career path, earning a BSN is a required first step. An accelerated BSN (ABSN) may also be an option for you. In addition to a BSN preparing you to earn a master’s degree in nursing, this program will also teach you foundational skills to position yourself to potentially assume leadership roles in the healthcare field.
Completing a Nurse Educator Program
After earning your undergraduate degree, the next step is to enroll and complete a nurse educator program — more specifically, a master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis in education, such as a Master of Science Nursing (MSN) in Nursing Education if you are solely planning to become an educator.2
Earning an MSN degree is typically required for nursing educators,2 but it also teaches students a variety of important skills that they can use in their profession. At Grand Canyon University, some MSN courses include:
- Introduction to Advanced Registered Nursing
- Organizational Leadership and Informatics
- Translational Research and Population Health Management
- Advanced Health Assessment for Nurse Educators
Earning a Nursing Doctorate
If you truly want to pursue this career, earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree may be a good next step after earning your MSN. A DNP might not always be required to teach at the undergraduate level, but it is generally required to teach at the graduate level and, often, to become a tenured professor or a school administrative official.2 This degree program will teach nurses to apply research to improve healthcare systems and enhance patient outcomes, which is a common goal of nurse educators. While earning your DNP, you will likely study many advanced nursing courses on topics such as:
- Patient outcomes and sustainable change
- Leadership for advanced nursing practice
- Emerging areas of human health
- Population management
Throughout the course of a DNP program, you will experience a practice-based curriculum that can prepare you for a wide variety of careers and specializations, and for potentially becoming a leader within the healthcare field. This includes a role in academia within practice-based programs, teaching the next generation of nurses and generating new knowledge through innovation of practice change.
