PN Instructor vs RN Instructor

Rod, Male Nurse · Jan 20, 2018

At the school I teach at there is no pay difference between PN instructors and RN instructors...the pay difference is in the degree they have. MSN is higher pay...if you only have a BSN you cant teach RN students in the classroom or lab setting but can in the clinical settings.

I will preface my next comment by saying I love LPNs...I have worked with many and I never knew they were LPNs until i looked at their badge. One hospital I worked at still hired LPNs and if I were to have picked my top 5 nurses to take care of me if I were a patient, 4 of them were LPNs. I have great respect for my brothers and sisters wearing the LPN title. Now...having taught both RN and LPN students I have notices a HUGE undeniable difference in maturity level as well as motivation/determination level. RN students tend to be more mature and generally "want it" more than the LPN students Ive taught. You will notice this when/if you start teaching RN students.

State colleges pay poorly...private colleges tend to pay decent or at least commensurate with the degree you have obtained. State college instructors generally get paid the same regardless of the course taught (Nursing course, math courses, business courses, etc.) and it have been debated for a long time whether or not nursing instructors with an MSN should make more than the Calculus instructor with a Masters in mathematics or whatever. I say yes...i made more than that math instructor my first year out of school with an ADN...it cost me nearly six figures to obtain my MSN so I'd be taking a pay cut to teach people who will make more than me their first year out of school. Nursing is a specialized field that requires members to face rigorous testing and education, AND obtain a license that must be maintained. I say all of that to say, state colleges dont pay well because they cant...you get paid the same as every other Masters degree holding instructor gets paid no matter the specialty. I work for a private college and pay is the least of our (myself and the other nursing faculty) complaints.

Again, where i work (may not be applicable everywhere), if im not teaching then im grading (typically from home). My schedule varies...i usually have one day a week with no teaching scheduled...on occasion I'll have 2 days. I tend to not come in on those days...I get more done in 2 hours at home that I would on campus being bothered every 5 minutes. I am the lead instructor for the course I teach so i teach lecture, labs, sims, and clinicals. When im not doing any of that then im at home grading...if there is no grading to be done then Im likely taking advantage of my time off as anyone would.

It sounds like you are in a small program (most PN programs are these days...its seems to be a dying breed). Transition to RN, you'll enjoy the higher level of content you are teaching.

Murphree8 · Jan 20, 2018

Thank you this was extremely helpful! Where I work there isn't really a pay difference. But I will say MSN pays more than a masters for say an English instructor. The way ours is set up, MSN and Doctorate pay the most out of everybody. So that is a huge plus. The major difference between rn and pn pay here is the contract. In my pn it is 12 month contact and most rn is 9 or 10 month. So technically I will make more when I get my msn staying here in pn. I love teaching my pns but IV never taught rn. I was a lpn before rn and so I feel like I can relate to them. I have def heard that rn instructors have more off time for planning and etc. currently I only have one full day off but of course it varies. It is just me and my co worker teaching a pn class of 30. So we stay busy.

On another note,

I would be happy to hear any of your willing ideas for interactive lectures. I have been doing a lot of research on this and have many ideas but am always looking for more. I have only been teaching for two years so I am new at this. Thank you for your reply!

ReneDRN · Jan 30, 2018

I agree with everything Rod said.

- maturity level and wanting it

- pay minimal difference depending on your degree and years teaching

- i too am course lead I'm required to teach 12 hours. I teach fundies - lecture 2 days for 3 hours 1 8hour lab/clinical

-2 work from home days

-as far as flexibility i enjoyed this program

JaxJax5423 · Jan 31, 2018

where I teach the pn program has 2 instructors who work the full 12 months teaching various courses. It was a ton of prep because we had to lecture so much. Our clinical days were even longer because of required hours.

the ADN porgam faculty had a team. they divided up work so they lectured way less. They even would say they felt sorry for me and the amount of teaching I had to do. I think the hours on paper were the same but they somehow managed to lecture less. They also worked together to make exams and I just made all my own. They all worked 9 or 10.5 month contracts. So I'd be working through the summer while they traveled and rested. Pay I don't know. They all worked second side prn jobs, so it must be the same as lpn.

Just sharing how our school was.

ReneDRN · Jan 31, 2018

Oh no that's horrible.

feelix, RN · Mar 15, 2018

I work in a BSN program where 12 hours is considered full-time. Some people do 1 12 hour shift, and depending on need, some do 2. We are expected to put in minimum 3 hours; Max 9 hours of office time at the convenience of the students. Most of us come in 3 days to lecture and 1 day to lab/practicum. That leaves one day we cannot take officially off. You just post 'office hours by appointment'. There are also required volunteer hours for mentoring students, coaching, promoting the program, committee work and meetings. We sign 9 month contracts and Summer is optional.

Murphree8 · Mar 16, 2018

This is exactly how it is at my college. There are more members of the ADN team and so they rotate lecturing. They also only have "class" like to days a week and then one or two days of clinical. It iv recently found out they make less than we do in PN as long as degree and years of experience match. Because of their contract.

danarenee06 · Apr 17, 2018

I am starting to think about transitioning to nurse educator. Any advice in getting my foot in the door. I have 11 years of varied nursing experience I have an AASN but also have a BS and anMS from prior to starting my career in nursing.