Nursing educators- salaries

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What are current salaries for new MSN graduates who want to teach in a hospital nursing school or community college program ?

Also how are part time clinical instructors paid ? Hourly ? Average wages ?

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

I feel your pain, berylmac, and I am in the midst of a major job transition myself.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
Hi! I am starting my 4th year as an associate professor of nursing at an Oregon rural community college ADN program. I am a MSN with 23 years of clinical experience in addition to being a professional educator for 34 years. I love nursing and teaching, but due to the demeaning low salary of a nurse educator, ($41k) this will be my last year at the college.

I also teach and consult in project management and I make $125 an hour so I will be leaving nursing in order to be financially secure. It is ironic that I need to leave a profession that I love and contribute substantially to in order to be financially stable.

As a profession and nation of consumers, we had better wake up and take action to recruit and retain qualified nurse educators with comparable market value to that of middle to upper nurse managers. If we don't - we all will lose!

Welcome to the Nursing Educators Forum, berylmac. Yes, the low salaries and overwhelming workloads are forcing many experienced educators to seek other venues of employment. And with tragic consequences, considering the critical need for nursing educators, coupled with the burgeoning demand for new nurses. :o

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Specializes in Emergency, Outpatient.

I graduated last year with a MSN education focus and I am currently 4 classes away from finishing a post master's certificate as a FNP. I just can not afford the salary cut to be an educator. :o

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About 5 years ago, I taught clinicals (as an adjunct assistant professor) for an ADN program at a community college in New York at a rate of $57/hr. I recently saw an add for an adjunct clinical instructor at a community college in Philadelphia for $60/hr. A friend of mine currently teaches clinicals for an LPN program in Ft. Lauderdale for $30/hr. (I have a MSN, she has a BSN). Another friend teaches in NY, not sure of her title, but she has been there for about 8 years and teaches both clinicals and lectures. I believe she told me she makes apx $60,000/yr. She has a MSN.

You can make about that as a RN. It really has to be about loving your job in a situation like that.

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Specializes in Pre-hospital, & E.D..
I have an application in for a tenure track position in a BSN program. I don't know what the salary is (obviously I'll be interviewing them as they interview me...) but I don't expect it to be as much as I could make in clinical practice. HOWEVER, it better d@mn-well be comparable to the salary of a similarly qualified assistant-to-full-professor in Biology or Journalism or English!!!

To bad we can't make what the Athletic Director gets.

When you phrase the question to the search committee about salary, and you want to include other educators at the institution in the Departments of Biology, Journalism, or English, just remember to ask them how many of these Profs have devoted years and money to obtaining a Ph.D.

As the brother of an Ivy league educator, I can report that that, 'D', after their names increases thier salary.

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Yes, nursing educators are grossly underpaid. At my community college they offer new employees with an MSN 37,500 per year! Our ADN grads start at over 50000. What is worse is that nursing faculty are not compensated the same way as other disciplines such as english, history etc. Our labs and clinical times are compensated (toward "load") at 67 and 83%. This devalues the lab and clinical learning experience. I have looked at many schools and found that there are several across the country who are also compensated in this way. Lectures are compensated one for one. So all the other disciplines who only lecture work less hours to make "load" than the nursing faculty. In addition, the time to make assignments, usually about 2-3 hrs the night before clinical is not counted at all!! At our school we are adressing it with administration but it will be a battle. I encourage all nurse faculty to do the same. It seems crazy to me to think that lecturing to a class of 35 is not equitable to educating 18 students in lab and 8-10 student nurses in a clinical setting. The scope of our practice as well as the acuity of our patients have taken 'clinicals' to a whole new level. Those antiquated formulas of reimbursement no longer work. Our faculty are adamant about changing this. It would be great if it was a national effort.

Thanks for listening and for any support.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I have a full time job as a CNS/staff development instructor in a hospital. Partly for "fun" and partly for some extra cash, I am teaching an online course this fall as an adjunct. The standard pay for online adjuncts at my school is $3500 per course.

llg

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

A local school of nursing (actually where I did my CNS) pays new instructors (minimum of an MSN) $31/hour.

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Hi berylmac

I feel your pain. I have previously posted in the nurse ed salary section. I too am in a CC with low pay and high workload....more hours than the other disciplines have to work as lab and clincal are not compensated the same as lecture. We are currently addressing it with our union and adm but it is a battle with adm. We would like to see some national efforts at improving the situtation.

Best of luck in your new position. It sounds like Oregon lost a great educator!

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I'm very suprised that salaries are so low for nurse educators in the states (41K). Here, in Canada, even the novice nurse gets more money.

So how come it happened?

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Specializes in critical care, management, med surg, edu.

My contract is about to change for the worse. I am wondering if those who teach in an evening weekend program are compensated in any way for the undesirable hours? We have been in the past, but that is about to be changed.

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We dont have a differential for the evening weekend program. I think it is outrageous that we dont. In the very recent past, I have read numerous position papers, testimonies etc from high level people in nursing (Deans, NLN leaders etc). They are bringing to the limelight the dire need for nursing faculty. The NLN "toolkit" for the workplace addresses low salaries and increased workload. I would bring these things to the attention of your union reps. Let me know if you need any of these documents and I can send them to you

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