I want to be a nurse educator. I ave been an RN for 14 years an LVN 7 years. Altogether 21 years. How do I get into this role? I have my BSN, and I am working on my masters too. I have tons of experience. Any suggestions?
You may be able to teach in an ADN (2-year program) with a BSN, although most programs are now requiring an MSN. With a BSN you can also teach in an LPN program. They always want experienced people, but how does that happen? I’d suggest you offer to do clinicals as an adjunct faculty first. Also, see if you can offer to do any teaching where you work. Inservice Training, CPR, Community Education, or anything that will make you comfortable in front of people. If the schools accept your application, many will ask you for a short demo.
Look for a job in that category and apply. You have what it takes
I have been an RN for almost 11 years, and was an LPN for 10. I also have my BSN. I teach at a local 2 year nursing school. Many nursing schools will hire you to teach clinical or labs with a BSN. You can't do didactic (classroom) teaching without your MSN, but you can certainly get your foot in the door. I would go ahead and put in some applications.
If you want the formal route, as others have said you need to decide if your passion is more in line with teaching (such as clinical or didactic in a pre-licensure program) or professional development and onboarding. Once you decide that, start looking for positions. I got my first Nurse Educator role with only my BSN, though I had started my MSN program. I also got a waiver to teach in a pre-licensure program in the same fashion- I had my BSN and was working on my MSN.
If you have not taught before, I suggest doing some reading or video watching about adult learners and transfer of knowledge. The more interesting you can make your teaching, and the more you can get adult learners involved in the learning content and owning their own learning, the more successful you can be at sharing the same information as others who will rely more heavily on static learning and slide presentations or lectures. I try to teach nurses more like I work as a nurse: skills-based and focused on why this is important and how it makes their lives easier or addresses specific regulatory or policy requirements.
Beyond that- find a topic that interests you that needs to be updated or refreshed, and do some research and figure out how you can teach either the newest and greatest EBP for that topic or how you can collaborate with others (especially interdisciplinary) to make changes in a known issue. If you do that, people start asking you to speak to what you have done, and you can expand your teaching connections from there.
Start by talking to your facilities education department and either applying for a position there or starting to help them with projects for your floor and facility, like yearly skills training, new hire orientations, etc. When you said nurse educator, are you thinking about the educator for in-patient settings who coordinates training for staff to ensure competencies and promote nurses' development up the clinical ladder? Or are you thinking more about an educator who works through a nursing school program and teaches either theory or clinical skills? No matter what, starting as an adjunct clinical instructor for a local college is a good way to start moving into the education side of things.
