MSN: Nursing Education Specialization
Shape the future of healthcare practice.
Quick Facts
years to complete
total credit hours
per credit hour
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Prepare the Next Generation of Nurses
In the Nursing Education specialization, you’ll gain an understanding of the issues facing today’s educators and learn to design curricula, evaluate your students and step into the role of instructor.
The Nursing Education curriculum includes 180 clinical hours applying the theories, competencies and concepts you’ve gained in your studies in a real-world classroom. This is your opportunity to play a valuable role educating the next generation of nurses.
Interested in a standalone graduate certificate in Nursing Management & Executive Leadership? Request more information from one of our admissions advisor.
Career Outlook: Educators Urgently Needed
In 2018, more than 75,000 qualified nursing students were turned away from educational institutions, due in large part to a nationwide faculty shortage. In addition, more than one-third of today’s nursing faculty will retire by 2025, increasing the urgency of this issue.1
Meet the need for nursing educators and apply your skills in a wide variety of settings, from online colleges and universities to community health agencies and hospital-based schools of education.
The role of a nurse educator is financially and personally rewarding. If you decide to become a nurse educator, you will enter a market with the responsibility to train and educate the 11 million nurses needed to prevent a further shortage.4 You will share your expertise to shape the future of nursing, teaching, and mentoring tomorrow’s nurses.
Professor of Nursing:
$75,100/YEAR
As a Professor of Nursing, you’d teach in a classroom setting on your area of expertise, such as pediatrics, geriatrics, mental health or psychiatric nursing. You’d advise and evaluate your students and potentially contribute scholarship to the nursing body of knowledge.2
Nurse Educator:
$74,642/YEAR
As a Nurse Educator, you’d work within a hospital or other health services organization to train nurses or other health care practitioners. You would create educational curricula and resources, determine educational gaps and needs, lecture large groups and more.3
Careers and SalariesCurriculum: Excellence in Education
To ensure you receive a truly rigorous, up-to-date education, we’ve designed the Nursing Education specialization according to National League for Nursing (NLN) Competencies for Nursing Educators and the AACN Essentials for Master’s Education in Nursing.
Through nine specialization courses, comprising 27 credit hours, you will explore topics such as curriculum development and evaluation, the principles of patient and staff learning and the theoretical foundations of nursing education.
Course Spotlight: NU 553 – Advanced Pathophysiology
Assess the pathophysiology of common disease states, perform diagnostic tests and address alterations to major body systems that are commonly found in primary care settings.
Preview CoursesCourse Spotlight: NU 589 – Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing Education
Design and implement a curriculum according to evidence-based teaching and learning theory. Develop course objectives, learning activities, student evaluation methods and more.
More Options for Your MSN
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a question we don’t cover here, request more information or call 877-791-7181.
You can earn a Master of Science in Nursing with Sacred Heart University within two years.
You can take as long as six years to complete the program.
- Current, unencumbered RN license
- Bachelor’s degree in any field with a 3.0 GPA
- Official transcripts of all prior nursing and academic work
- Résumé
- Statement of professional goals: Why do you wish to pursue the MSN at SHU? Describe a significant accomplishment in your career or as a student that has prepared you to pursue graduate studies in nursing. In addition, please describe 2–3 professional goals.
- Two letters of recommendation (at least one from a direct supervisor): Must be from an employer, professor or a member of the medical/nursing profession and be written within the last two years.
- Proof of malpractice insurance ($1,000,000/$3,000,000)
- Prerequisite courses in statistics, health assessment and research
Yes, you’ll earn your degree with one of the following specializations:
- The Nursing Education specialization requires 180 clinical hours
- The Nursing Management and Executive Leadership specialization requires 120 clinical hours
- The Clinical Nurse Leader specialization requires 348 clinical hours
Sources:
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2019 April). Nursing Faculty Shortage Fact Sheet. Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/Fact-Sheets/Nursing-Faculty-Shortage
- Payscale (2019 April 30). Average Professor of Nursing Salary. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Professor_Of_Nursing/Salary
- Payscale (2019 September 18). Average Nurse Educator Salary. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Nurse_Educator/Salary
- Haddad LM, Toney-Butler TJ. Nursing Shortage (2020 November 16). StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved December 2, 2020 from, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/