Can you teach with NP degree

Specialties NP

Published

Specializes in ICU.

I was wondering if one can teach in a nursing school with an NP degree or is an MSN in education required. I'm not sure which route I want to go, but if it's possible to teach with a NP degree, I would probably go that way for more career options.

Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

The short answer is yes, you can. I've done it (I did teach graduate students) and I've known others who did it, as well.

Practicing pays better, though.

Specializes in ICU.

Thank you. It is surprising to me that teaching pays less. In central Ohio, I'm finding that NP doesn't pay much more than I make as a staff nurse. The average I've found is around $40/hr.

The MSN (any MSN) is the entry level for teaching at the university level, and you will find that most faculty have a clinical MSN degree -- only a small minority of the people teaching nursing actually have MSNs in nursing education. Schools of nursing prefer to have a faculty with as wide a variety of clinical backgrounds as possible, and, if you start looking at position postings, you'll find that schools are often advertising specifically for a PNP, ANP, CNM, etc.

And, yes, in nearly all cases teaching nursing pays less than the same person could make in clinical practice. Often a lot less. No one in nursing goes into teaching for the money!!

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