Advice for future Nurse Educator

[wildcatarnp]

Hello fellow nurses!

This post is for Nurse Educators (and to hopefully help other future nurse educators).

I have been pondering pursuing a post-master's certificate in Nursing Education. Having now worked as an ARNP, I find that I enjoy the education piece that I provide to the patients. The best compliment I receive from a patient is when they say "you should be a teacher". Right now, I am thinking of starting by teaching Kaplan NCLEX prep courses.

However, before pursuing this path, I am doing my research. Part of my research is this post! If you can answer these questions, I would be grateful for your time and your education for all potential Nurse Educators.

1. What are the top 3 things you love about being a Nurse Educator?

2. What are the top 3 things you wish you could change in your position as a Nurse Educator?

3. Did you pursue additional education (i.e. obtained a Masters in Nursing Education, Post-Master's certificate, PhD)? In addition, what education would you recommend a Nurse Educator obtain (I ask this as a University instructor told me I would need a DNP, but I am more interested in community and technical colleges)?

4. What additional duties do you find you do besides lectures or clinical instruction (i.e. being on committees, etc).

5. What is the one thing you wished someone told you when you first started being a Nurse Educator?

It was hard to narrow it down to these 5! Again, I truly appreciate your time!