Should I take CNE exam w/o teaching experience?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Hi all,

I'm interested in getting certified as a nurse educator. However, other than my practicum experience while completing my MSN, I have no formal teaching experience. I'm not really interested in teaching at a university/college. I'm essentially just waiting my turn as nurse educator jobs at my hospital seems to only come around once in a lifetime :banghead:. In the meantime, I'm exploring other areas of nursing and learning a lot.

I've read some of the posts regarding certification to become a nurse educator, my questions are; has anyone taken the exam without actually having experience formally teaching? If so, how did you prepare? Do you think it's a bad idea to take the exam without having teaching experience?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

This is an old thread, but I'm going to answer anyway.

Unless you have completed an MS/MSN with a nurse educator focus, you are not eligible to sit for the CNE without clinical education or academic teaching experience. Like any other specialty, the CNE requires a certain number of hours before eligibility to sit for the exam. An NP-focused MS/MSN would NOT qualify for eligibility. Review requirements on the CNE exam website.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Thank you! My question wasn't regarding the requirements, I know I already have the degree and the focus area for me to qualify to sit for the exam. My question was more so about whether the exam is passable for those who don't have teaching experience. For example, those of us who have a MSN (obviously with specialization in nurse educator) or Ed.D. and decided to stay in the hospital setting, thus, not have any formal teaching experience.

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Specializes in Education, Skills & Simulation, Med/Surg, Pharm.

I am about halfway through my MSN, Nurse Educator program and I currently work as faculty in a BSN program. I think the online resources for the CNE exam + formal education is the best prep. Just being an educator doesn't make you a good one :).

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Specializes in Nursing Education, ICU.

I just took the CNE exam this AM....it was TOUGH! Made my CCRN exam look like a cake walk :)

And it really is focused on the nurse educator role in academic institutions. The is a certification nursing professional development but all the clinical educators I work with (including myself) are just certified in their specialty area. I pursued the CNE primarily because I accepted a FT job teaching.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

My opinion is that having the degree doesn't prepare you for the job AT ALL! Well, hardly at all. If the exam reflects the job, if you don't have experience too, it will be very difficult for you to pass the exam.

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