How To Become A Nursing Faculty: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nursing faculty and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Rebecca Sarver

A member of the nursing faculty, or a nursing professor, is an individual who instructs future nurses in the classroom. These professionals supervise and advise students, conduct clinical research and even present papers at nursing conferences. They are responsible for developing lesson plans, nursing curriculum, lecturing, and grading exams and papers. In addition to these duties, a nursing faculty member also assists placing students in internships, provides guidance, counseling, and career advice.

Most nursing faculty members have a bachelor's or a master's degree in nursing, as well as a registered nursing license. They also must have recent clinical nursing experience in a hospital setting and experience teaching students in an academic setting.

If you are an experienced registered nurse and would like to transition to a teaching position, a nursing faculty member's career could be a great fit. A nursing faculty member can make up to $58,000 annually, and the career field is expected to grow 11% in the next ten years.

What general advice would you give to a Nursing Faculty?

Rebecca Sarver

Lecturer in Human Services Studies, Elmira College

Listen more than you talk. There is so much to be learned from clients, seasoned human service workers, and the community that you work within. By listening and observing versus always feeling compelled to speak, you will learn job skills, people skills, and your clients' needs.

ScoreNursing FacultyUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $63,552

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.6

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.33%

Black or African American 7.03%

Hispanic or Latino 10.02%

Unknown 4.91%

White 66.44%

Gender

female 89.79%

male 10.21%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress Level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.9

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a nursing faculty

Explore nursing faculty education requirements

Most common nursing faculty degrees

Bachelor's

38.4 %

Master's

36.2 %

Associate

15.3 %

Start to develop specific nursing faculty skills

Skills	Percentages
Home Health	9.62%
Course Objectives	8.60%
Community Health	7.61%
Mental Health	7.54%
Student Learning	5.49%

Complete relevant nursing faculty training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nursing faculties learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a nursing faculty based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nursing faculty resumes.

Research nursing faculty duties and responsibilities

Instruct students in medical assisting, medical billing and coding and anatomy & physiology courses.
Lead instructor for medical-surgical (med-surg) nursing, nursing skills, clinical rotations, and student advisement.
Specialize in med/surg and pediatrics.
Teach health assessment and pharmacology lab to RN students.

Prepare your nursing faculty resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nursing faculty resume.

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