Question? Advice?

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 25, 2011

I can't give you specific numbers for your location ... But generally across the country, hospital staff development instructors (or "Nursing Professional Development Specialists" as the role is coming to be called) earn an "in between" amount. By that, I mean that we earn less than Department Directors, but more than most staff nurses who don't pick up premium pay by working off-shifts, overtime, etc.

Usually, our base salary is higher than that of most staff nurses ...but we don't earn shift differentials, overtime, holiday pay, etc. and my end up earning less money per year than an experienced staff nurse earning those pay premiums. But many of us aren't too bothered by that as we know we are trading those pay premiums for a better work schedule and higher overall quality of work life.

I recommend checking some of the large surveys of nurse salaries that are published in some of the journals and on their online sites. You can get a feel for how compensation for that type of position compares to other types of positions -- then estimate where that would put you in your region, adding in whatever specific numbers you can get about your local area. Do a literature search and you should be able to find some national surveys.

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jun 25, 2011

If you work in a hospital setting as a hospital employee, you could be paid the same as a staff nurse with the same experience at that facility, unless your Master's is recognized and you're filling a job that requires a Master's.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jun 28, 2011

I'm a nurse educator - working at the corporate level in a large hospital system.(MSN, EdD) I make more than most of my tenured colleagues in academia. Most healthcare organizations are becoming very serious about employee education and training, especially as we hurtle toward deadlines for meeting Federal 'meaningful use' and other regulatory measures that will have a direct impact on reimbursement. Organizational leaders are finally realizing that 'hi tech' is doomed to failure unless employees can (and will) use the technology as it is intended.

So - the rising tide of organizational accountability is floating our (workplace educators) boats also!! Our work is being recognized as essential rather than 'fluff' that anyone can do. Organizations are looking for qualified educators rather than inservice deliverers.... YEA!! "Instructional design & teaching strategies" are actually being discussed in implementation meetings... (gasp). Those of us who develop on-line learning are really in demand. Opportunities for qualified workplace educators in the healthcare industry have never been better, especially since we now have to design & deliver physician education also.... to meet High Tech initiative requirements.

To the OP, Go for that MSN with a focus on Education. While you're at it, try to convince the school that they need to incorporate more eLearning instructional design & program management/evaluation into their curriculum.... I had to go elsewhere for mine, but that was a while ago.

jmqphd · Jul 3, 2011

I'm a nurse educator - working at the corporate level in a large hospital system.(MSN, EdD) I make more than most of my tenured colleagues in academia. Most healthcare organizations are becoming very serious about employee education and training, especially as we hurtle toward deadlines for meeting Federal 'meaningful use' and other regulatory measures that will have a direct impact on reimbursement. Organizational leaders are finally realizing that 'hi tech' is doomed to failure unless employees can (and will) use the technology as it is intended.
So - the rising tide of organizational accountability is floating our (workplace educators) boats also!! Our work is being recognized as essential rather than 'fluff' that anyone can do. Organizations are looking for qualified educators rather than inservice deliverers.... YEA!! "Instructional design & teaching strategies" are actually being discussed in implementation meetings... (gasp). Those of us who develop on-line learning are really in demand. Opportunities for qualified workplace educators in the healthcare industry have never been better, especially since we now have to design & deliver physician education also.... to meet High Tech initiative requirements.
To the OP, Go for that MSN with a focus on Education. While you're at it, try to convince the school that they need to incorporate more eLearning instructional design & program management/evaluation into their curriculum.... I had to go elsewhere for mine, but that was a while ago.

HI... this may be a little bit off-topic and I don't want to hijack the OP. But your comment is interesting. In our area, the two main competing hospitals are in a cut-throat competition to monopolize the health care plans for all area employers. So they underbid each other. They are losing millions of dollars per year. (I'm not a big executive, so their behavior is anti-intuitive to me. I guess if I had an MBA, I might get it... but...) At any rate, because they are both broke, they have to lay off people. They don't want to get publicity for laying off "bedside nurses" so they lay off middle-level nurses, usually the nurse educators with MSN's. I'm currently in academia where a lot of these nurses have landed, and our faculty is richer and deeper because of them.

To the OP: NLNAC accredited us not long ago. One of the things they were looking at was the number of folks with straight MSN's vrs. the number with Masters in Nursing Education we had. As it turned out, we had too many educators. Serious shuffling had to take place to get the right balance. One of our very fine faculty members is an APN in Women's Health, and she is the backbone of our Ob courses. I don't see why you couldn't have your cake and eat it too. Based upon my limited and very regional experience, I would say the NP Masters is more bankable than the Masters in Nursing Education.