Nurse educator's workload

[Julaise]

What is a nurse educator's max workload? How are these hours calculated? Credit or contact hours? Do these hours include clinical supervision?

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Which type do you mean? There are professional educators who work in hospitals, and College and University teachers (and plenty of other venues I'm sure).

[Julaise]

Those who work in hospitals and colleges.

[twenzig1]

Nurse Educators at the college level will vary depending on the school. By your profile I can't tell what state you are from but states "right to work" laws may be very different than those with a union contract. Since I teach at a college with a union contract, my workload is calculated just as it is for any full-time faculty member. We use a system where hours for teaching in the classroom and clinical setting are adjusted to instructional load credits (ILCs). An hour of theory = 0.1 ILC and an hour of lab or clinical supervision = 0.08 ILC --- this is a very complex system and faculty are expected to have around 45 ILCs each academic year.

It's important to note that only scheduled face-to-face student time counts. Faculty and team meetings, grading papers, and office hours are considered just part of teaching. While it is disappointing not to get credit for this, I love impacting the future RNs in our community.

Good luck as you seek whether this is a good match for you.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I really don't think there's going to be an easy answer to this question. There are so many variables that can affect the workload: number of students/employees one is responsible for, the type of department or the clinical specialty being taught, and so much more. Instead, the best place to find this out would probably be by contacting the facilities you are interested in or reading the job descriptions posted online.

As an example, the two clinical educators in my facility are responsible for around 400 employees scattered throughout three different facilities. They maintain annual competency documentation, teach in the classroom portion of new employee orientation, are responsible for creating a monthly 1-hour education presentation, and so much more. And that's only one single department- there are some facilities out there where the educators are responsible for the facility as a whole, including teaching CPR and ACLS.

[Julaise]

Thanks for the information. It was indeed helpful. I am from the Caribbean.

[Julaise]

I am from the Caribbean and wanted to know what are the options in the United States. Thanks for your response.