Requirements for nursing faculty

It depends on the specific school. I suggest you ask some schools in which you're interested.

The problem is how would I be able to anticipate which schools I will want to be a professor at when I'm 5-6 years away from applying to faculty positions (3-4 year PhD program and a 2 year post doc)? Based off your advice, maybe it's a good idea to look on some faculty job boards at the nursing faculty postings and see if any mention an MSN. Thanks for the idea! I thought it was somehow regulated by state boards of nursing or something along those lines, but I haven't been able to find much.

Ok that's good to know. Thank you!

Faculty and Dean Vacancies

Looking at the first few vacancies, it seems that the requirement is for a PhD in nursing or a related field for the rank of assistant/associate professor. I would not think that a nurse that goes from BSN to PhD would be limited by the lack of an MSN. However, my state does require a certain number of credit hours in nursing education content to teach. I am not sure if this is common in other states but those classes are not typically part of a PhD curriculum.

Thank you! That's really helpful!

I've held contract faculty appointments in advanced practice. I don't have a doctorate. Most of the graduate faculty do, but there are some Masters only staff that have assistant associate professorships.

I've held contract faculty appointments in advanced practice. I don't have a doctorate. Most of the graduate faculty do, but there are some Masters only staff that have assistant associate professorships.

I just reread my original question and it is very unclear! Sorry about that! I will have my doctorate either way (I'm applying to PhD programs in public health and in nursing); I'm just wondering if I get my PhD in public health if I will still be able to be a faculty member in a school of nursing, since my highest nursing degree will be my BSN.

I don't think so. You could perhaps teach as an adjunct for community health nursing but I can't imagine that you would be able to teach nursing in other areas.

I'm sure it's less common, but I know some nurse faculty who have an EdD and not a PhD in nursing. They may have a master's in nursing, so maybe that would be a necessary first step, but that might be a good idea anyway because there are tons of nursing master's degrees specifically in nursing education. It's worth looking into at least.

As others have said, a lot depends on the particular school, the particular state, etc. But regardless what the "legal" or "required" minimums are ... not have a graduate degree in nursing would put you at a disadvantage for many positions. You might still meet the minimal requirements of some jobs with your highest nursing degree being at the BSN -- and "entry-level" degree and a PhD in something else. But you would be competing with nurses who had MSN's, DNP's, and/or PhD's in nursing. That would probably put you at a disadvantage in the job market for some jobs.

That is a really excellent point! Thank you! I'm struggling because my interests really lie within public health (and not at all within clinical nursing), and so a PhD in public health would maybe make a bit more sense than a PhD in nursing. However, I think there is much more demand for nursing faculty than public health faculty, so I was hoping if I go the public health route that I would still maybe be able to keep my options open and look for positions within nursing too.