Nurse educators are registered nurses that pursue a career in teaching that combines their passion for the classroom with their clinical experience. The ever-growing demand for nurses is making it increasingly important for nurses to specialize in nurse educator programs, because qualified faculty members are essential in shaping the next generation of nurses and nurse practitioners. Interacting with students and shaping new nurses are two of the most rewarding parts of becoming a nurse educator, where you will be able to apply your nursing experience and education in a truly proactive way by helping to create properly educated and trained nurses for a variety of career roles.

Nurse educator programs will prepare you to teach at the undergraduate level, for example. Here you will prepare registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) for entry-level positions in a wide variety of different nursing practices. You may also be able to teach master's degree level programs along with doctoral degree level programs depending on what your own education and experience is like. Here you will be able to educate nurse educators, advanced practice nurses, nurse researchers, nursing administrators and future leaders in the nursing industry.

Because the skills that they offer are in such high demand, educators in nursing can enjoy a significant amount of job security. Students graduating from nurse educator programs can oftentimes maintain dual roles, working both as educators and providing direct patient care as well. They tend to become role models for nurses that have less experience, and they also tend to work to ensure high-quality undergraduate experience and graduate education experience for the nurses that they are training. Nurse educators also work to design and implement academic programs for nurses, as well as to evaluate and revise these types of programs in academic as well as continuing education programs.

In order to teach in a setting preparing nurses for LPN degrees, associate's degrees and bachelor's degrees, there are specific requirements that may be preferred from you by the university or college where you want to teach. You need to have a registered nurse (RN) license and appropriate experience. You should also have a Master's degree in Nursing, also known as an MSN, or a Doctorate degree in Nursing, also known as a PhD. This will depend on what type of program you are interested in teaching, because graduate programs have higher requirement levels in comparison to undergraduate programs.

Salaries for individuals graduating from nurse educator programs can vary widely depending on your role, your qualifications and your specialty. Other characteristics that may impact the salary that you receive include your experience and your location. Salary.com has reported a median salary of $105,049 per year for a Director of a nursing school. A nursing education coordinator on the other hand may receive a median salary of $73,665. Nurse educators, in general, are going to earn more annually in comparison to registered nurses because they possess advanced skills learned beyond the education required for a registered nursing degree.