Nursing Instructor
A Nursing Instructor plans, teaches, and evaluates classroom, clinical, and skills-lab learning experiences, facilitating students’ achievement of course objectives and preparing them for careers in nursing. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Nursing Instructor do?
A Nursing Instructor provides instruction that facilitates students’ achievement of course objectives, engages in scholarly and service activities that support professional development, and contributes to the success of the college and its students. The role serves as core nursing faculty within a nursing program.
Alongside teaching didactic and clinical classes, the instructor plans, teaches, and evaluates classroom, clinical, skills-lab, and other learning experiences in conjunction with other team members. They connect students to institutional resources and consistently demonstrate and coach students on the soft skills that matter in healthcare practice.
Didactic instruction is classroom teaching of nursing theory and knowledge, while clinical instruction supervises students applying that knowledge with real patients. A skills lab is a controlled practice environment for procedures before clinical placement. A Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) is a credential recognizing expertise in the academic nurse educator role.
Where does the Nursing Instructor sit?
Key responsibilities of a Nursing Instructor
- Provide instruction that facilitates students’ achievement of course objectives across assigned subject areas.
- Teach didactic and clinical classes, and plan, teach, and evaluate classroom, clinical, skills-lab, and other learning experiences in conjunction with other team members.
- Common teaching combinations include Med Surg and OB, Med Surg and Peds, and Med Surg and Mental Health.
- Connect students to college resources that support their academic and clinical success.
- Consistently demonstrate and coach students on the soft skills that support effective patient care and professional practice.
- Engage in scholarly and service activities that promote professional development and contribute to the college’s mission.
- Maintain professional competence through nursing practice, continuing education, conferences, workshops, seminars, academic courses, research projects, and professional writing.
What qualifications does a Nursing Instructor need?
- Graduate degree required. If the graduate degree is not in nursing, a bachelor’s degree in nursing plus a graduate degree in a related discipline from a program accredited by a body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
- Current, unencumbered state professional registered nurse license, or enhanced compact nurse licensure relevant to the teaching location.
- A minimum of three years of experience as a professional registered nurse providing direct patient care.
- Previous experience teaching in a registered nursing program at a college or university is preferred.
- Certified Nurse Educator certification and national certification in an area of nursing specialty are preferred.
Why is the Nursing Instructor role important?
Nursing instructors prepare the next generation of nurses at a time when the shortage of qualified nurses is chronic and growing. The quality of their teaching translates directly into how ready graduates are to deliver safe, capable patient care, which means the role shapes outcomes well beyond the classroom.
Because the work spans theory, hands-on skills, and supervised clinical practice, the strongest instructors pair deep clinical credibility with genuine teaching ability. They are practitioners who can also coach, and that combination is what turns students into confident, employment-ready nurses.
A hiring note from Excelon
Nurse educator searches hinge on a specific combination: a current unencumbered RN license, the required graduate credentials, and real bedside experience, paired with the patience to teach. Through our healthcare practice, we screen hard for clinicians who can carry a classroom and a clinical group equally well, since that mix is the scarce part of this market, not the license alone.
The best nursing instructors are practitioners who can also coach, and that combination is what turns students into employment-ready nurses.
Related sample job descriptions
Nursing Instructor: frequently asked questions
What does a Nursing Instructor do?
A Nursing Instructor plans, teaches, and evaluates classroom, clinical, and skills-lab learning experiences for nursing students. The role facilitates students’ achievement of course objectives, coaches them on clinical and soft skills, and connects them to resources that support their success.
What qualifications does a Nursing Instructor need?
This sample role requires a graduate degree; if it is not in nursing, the candidate needs a bachelor’s in nursing plus a graduate degree in a related discipline from an accredited program. It also requires at least three years as a registered nurse in direct patient care and a current, unencumbered RN license.
What is the difference between didactic and clinical teaching?
Didactic teaching is classroom-based instruction in nursing theory and knowledge, while clinical teaching supervises students applying that knowledge with real patients in healthcare settings. A Nursing Instructor may teach either or both, alongside skills-lab sessions.
Is a Certified Nurse Educator credential required?
It is preferred rather than required. Certified Nurse Educator certification and national certification in a nursing specialty strengthen a candidate, and instructors are expected to maintain competence through practice, continuing education, and scholarly activity.
Why is the Nursing Instructor role important?
Nursing instructors prepare the next generation of nurses at a time of sustained nursing shortages. The quality of their teaching directly shapes how well graduates are ready to deliver safe, capable patient care in their communities.
Hiring a Nursing Instructor?
Excelon Associates places nurse educators and clinical faculty at nursing schools and healthcare education programs across the United States through our healthcare recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL.
More Sample Job Descriptions
Templates you can adapt for your own roles.