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MSN: Nursing Education Specialization

online msn graduate inspects xray with another nurse

Prepare the Next Generation of Nurses with an MSN: Education

Prep for Certification

Complete Clinicals Close to Home

Tailor Curriculum

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  • Duration 2 years
  • Cost per Credit $695
  • Credit Hours 39

Program Benefits

  • 100% online coursework
  • Aligned with National League for Nursing (NLN) competencies for Academic Nursing Educators
  • Modeled using American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials for Master’s Education in Nursing
  • Focused on curriculum development using evidence-based practice

Step Into a Rewarding Nurse Educator Career

Become a well-respected mentor and begin preparing new nurses to care for the patient population. With SHU’s MSN in Nursing Education, you can transition into a teaching role, answering the call to address the nurse educator shortage as we lose one-third of our nursing faculty by 2025.

Among the most respected online nurse education programs, our CCNE-accredited SHU online degree features core knowledge in health care policy, practice and research plus nine specialized courses to prepare you as a nurse leader, educator and evaluator.

Engage with expert faculty and work with a preceptor in three immersions designed to apply theory to practice, and be eligible to sit for the CNE exam.

Admissions Estimator

Career Outlook: Educators Urgently Needed

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment in the nurse educator role is projected to grow by 22% from 2020 to 2030, much faster than average. 

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.3 You will share your expertise to shape the future of nursing, teaching, and mentoring tomorrow’s nurses.

Professor of Nursing:

$91,423/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:

$104,662/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.4

Careers and Salaries

Curriculum: 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 eight specialization courses, comprising 24 credit hours in the MSN Nursing Education curriculum, you will explore topics such as curriculum development and evaluation, the principles of patient and staff learning and the theoretical foundations of nursing education when you earn your online nurse education degree.

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 Courses

Course 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.

Graduate Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of the program, the student will be able to: 

More Options for Your MSN

MSN: Nursing Management & Executive Leadership

Discover how to manage a budget, create and implement administrative processes, make certain your procedures meet professional and ethical standards, and more.

MSN: Clinical Nurse Leader

Advocate for superior patient care and lead a team of integrated health care professionals, including social workers, pharmacists, physicians and fellow nurses.

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 course in statistics

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.
  • As of Jan. 1, 2024, Clinical Nurse Leader specialization requires 420 clinical hours.
Visit our FAQ page

Sources:

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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/
  4. Salary.com (2022 June). Average Nurse Educator Salary. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.salary.com/research/salary/listing/nurse-educator-salary.