Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

Median salary

$80,250

Average salary

$86,410

Employment

77,960

Projected growth

16.8% growth

Annual openings

8,600

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

What Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary Do

Demonstrate and teach patient care in classroom and clinical units to nursing students. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: 0.4%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.6/5
Education and Trainingimportance 4.5/5
Psychologyimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.4/5
Biologyimportance 4.1/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
Mathematicsimportance 3.9/5
Therapy and Counselingimportance 3.8/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

E-Mail4.9/5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.7/5
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.7/5
Contact With Others4.7/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Neurologists98% skill match
Occupational Therapists98% skill match
Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary98% skill match
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary98% skill match
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary98% skill match
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary98% skill match
Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary97% skill match
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary97% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Instructingimportance 4.3/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.8/5
Coordinationimportance 3.8/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.6/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.3/5
Time Managementimportance 3.3/5
Persuasionimportance 3.1/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

In-Demand Technologies

Learning management system LMS

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Empathy
Social Orientation
Cautiousness
Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
InvestigativeMedium
ArtisticMedium
ConventionalMedium
RealisticLow
EnterprisingLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).