Value of Nurse Educator Certificate

[RN34TX]

I see the nurse educator certificate offered as part of some MSN programs.

Are they worth getting? Do they have any value in the academic or staff development world?

I have no experience with teaching or formal education roles in hospitals so I was wondering if they hold any value for people who hire people into those roles if I decide later that I want to pursue an educator position.

Just wondering if it's worth the extra time and money vs. just getting an MSN in a non-education specialty.

To clarify, I'm talking about a graduate level certificate in nursing education, not the certification exam itself to become a CNE (certified nurse educator).

[llg, PhD, RN]

Yes ... they can be valuable. People looking to hire nurses for educational roles want to know that the applicant has taken some courses in nursing education. In some states/employers, that certificate is required for certain jobs. If you are an applicant for an educational job and the other people have that certificate (or an MSN in Nursing Education or experience in education) and you just have an MSN in an un-related field, you would be unlikely to be hired.

However, in some places ... MSN's are so rare that employers will hire anyone with an MSN for some jobs regardless of whether or not the MSN matches well with the work they will be doing in that job.

So I guess the ultimate answer is that it is more valuable in some locations and in some situations than others.

I work in Nursing Professional Development and we often get NP's applying for the jobs we post. Our questions are always, "She may be a good NP, but does she know anything about teaching? Does she like to teach? Is this just a job she is willing to take on a short-term basis, planning to leave as soon as an NP job comes along?" etc.