Students studying nursing often struggle due to the sheer amount of information they must learn. As a nursing tutor, you can help these learners not only succeed, but be better nurses in their careers. Nurse tutors are those with first-hand knowledge of the practice, both in school and in the field. The result of your efforts is knowing that the next wave of nurses entering the field are trained well in science, medicine, and bedside manner, becoming competent and pivotal members of society.
What Is a Nursing Tutor?
A nursing student tutor is experienced and trained in the field of nursing. Ideally, they also possess the educational qualifications to teach student nurses professionally. While there is no strict qualification to become a private tutor of any subject in the US, trainees will not want to learn from someone without relevant, proven experience.
Keep in mind that becoming a nurse educator is a different position with stricter requirements.
Many nurse tutors are faculty members in a college or university or already work as nurses or nurse tutors at clinics or hospitals. They are likely nurses who teach new scholars on the side, especially in their practical experience.
I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.
John Wooden, Former UCLA basketball coach
However, these tutors can also be people who do not currently work in a medical setting. Retired nurses, nurses who switched to a different career, and people who completed nursing school but didn’t enter the field all have valuable information that can help learners.
To teach as part of a professional tutoring organization, like a college, clinic, or specialized tutoring center, you will most likely need to be a licensed RN, and you may even need further education in teaching.
Such tutors possess important, relevant information about nursing programs and practice and an effective way to teach it to nurses in training. So, if you can teach effective ways to study and learn nursing program information and/or practical ways for pupils to succeed in a practical setting, you can be a great tutor!
Responsibilities of a Nursing Tutor
Typically, a nurse tutor who works for a university or clinic is responsible for:
- Designing, developing, delivering, and evaluating a curriculum for their tutees, including lesson plans, homework assignments, and handouts
- Reviewing or writing educational material, like textbooks and handouts
- Documenting the learners' progress and advising them on their educational journey
- Monitoring pupils in a clinical setting, as well as evaluating and grading learners' class work, laboratory and clinic work, assignments, and papers
- Supervising students' laboratory and clinical work
- Helping learners prepare for exams and licensure tests
Nursing tutors who give private lessons outside of an educational setting typically:
- Help learners understand the material they are learning in class
- Give scholars the tools to utilize effective learning and studying strategies to better absorb and digest the information rather than memorize it without any further understanding
- Assist learners with their homework and studying/preparing for written and practical exams
- Help learners go through their nursing program without becoming too overwhelmed and burning out
- Monitor their pupils’ progress and help ensure their success in school and a practical setting
On a personal level, nursing tutors should be sure to stay up-to-date with medical sciences as they progress by reading current literature, communicating with colleagues and peers, and attending conferences. If possible, they should also get involved with scientific studies.
They should also be sure to have a strong understanding of how to be an effective educator and learn about pedagogy and teaching methodologies.
What Can't You Do as a Nursing Tutor
Since the medical field is highly regulated (for good reason!), there are some things you cannot do as a nurse tutor who does not work through an educational institution or clinic.
- You cannot advise and teach people in a way that leads them to believe they could practice medicine without also completing a certified educational program and earning a professional license to practice nursing.
- You cannot diagnose or treat trainees or their acquaintances or tell them to diagnose or treat others.
- You cannot act as a replacement for a certified educational program or licensing board.
- You cannot teach skills that must only be taught in a certified, licensed facility, like examining a cadaver or drawing blood, for example. Unless, of course, you are the tutor in charge of this type of education inside a licensed facility.
Be smart and ethical with the education you provide to your pupils!
Nursing programs are intended to educate, but not all of them inspire. You can be the pivotal figure in a student's career that helps them find their passion for helping people and making a difference in the world.
How to Become a Nursing Tutor on Superprof
Since the medical field is a highly specialized industry with no room for errors, how can you become a nursing tutor? Do you need to complete a degree and hold a special license? Well, yes and no.
Here is what you need to know about becoming a tutor for nurses.
Requirements to Become a Nursing Tutor
There are no laws in place for who can be a nursing tutor and look for nursing tutor jobs to provide private tutoring. If you were to join a licensed, certified educational program as a nurse educator, you would need to hold at least an RN license and perhaps a teaching degree or tutoring certification, depending on your state and the program.
However, on Superprof, there is less red tape. This is beneficial for knowledgeable tutors who want to be able to help scholars without having to work for a specific company, who only want to teach part-time, or who otherwise want to provide their service without the constraints of working for a nursing program entity.
Let us never consider ourselves finished, nurses. We must be learning all of our lives.
Florence Nightingale, English statistician
It’s also beneficial for learners who need some more help, but either not enough to justify the expense of enrolling in such a program or who otherwise can’t afford it. It’s also great for learners who don’t have availability during class hours at an official establishment.
Many nursing students only need tutoring in their theory classes, so attending an expensive, in-person class (in addition to their college courses) is superfluous.
So, while there are many aspects of nursing that trainees should learn only from certified institutions, there are a lot of things that they can learn from a private tutor unaffiliated with an institute without worry.
Steps to Become a Nursing Tutor
Nurse tutors typically need a certain level of education and experience before they can help other scholars. Because nursing is a highly specialized field, tutors must be highly qualified themselves.
At a minimum, you should have successfully completed a nursing educational program or currently be enrolled in one (peer tutoring is just as helpful to many learners!). Even better is if you also earned a license in nursing and practiced at a hospital or clinic for some time.
In a study, "Nursing Students and Nurse Tutors: The Influence of The Relationship on The Perception of The Tutorial Role and On the Final Outcomes of The Internship," it was determined that "The professional role of the tutor in the educational path of every nursing student is of great importance because it can influence the learning process and consequently the outcome of the internship," and that "The healthcare setting in its complexity presents many challenges for Nursing students; a good tutorial support is the best way to overcome them optimally."
You can also tutor student nurses in certain subjects without being a nurse or attending nursing school, like biology, math, chemistry, and general education classes that are required in nursing programs.
If you’re wondering how to become a tutor on Superprof, it’s quite a simple process!
- Sign up for a tutor profile
- Fill out your profile with a professional photo and information explaining your experience, qualifications, and teaching philosophy
- Post your ad
- Follow up with learners who reach out to you
That’s it!
Superprof vets tutors and learners for authenticity, so both tutors and tutees can be confident that the people they are contacting are legitimate.
Where to Find Nursing Tutoring Jobs
When you’re looking to provide tutoring or private tutoring to nursing students, there are a few different avenues to pursue.
You can look to become a faculty member of a college, university, or other type of nurse training program so you can help teach learners using the resources available at such institutions.
However, if you want to become an online nursing tutor or private nursing tutor, you can create a profile right here on Superprof and connect with pupils searching for “nursing tutor near me”!
By creating a profile on Superprof, you are opening yourself up to tutoring jobs online with students from all over the country in search of a tutor to help them with their education.
With Superprof, you set your own schedule and rates. It’s up to you which learners you want to work with and how you conduct your classes.
Depending on your experience and education, you can increase your rates appropriately. Most online nursing tutors charge between $50 and $100 per hour for their services. In-person tutoring costs can be more or less, depending on the services you provide.
Do you have special equipment like anatomical models that pupils can practice with? Are you willing to travel far distances to help a student in a hands-on approach? These things can allow you to charge more.
Benefits of Being a Nursing Tutor
Why should you become a nursing tutor?
Student nurses are extremely important people in society. They will go on to take care of all sorts of people in all sorts of medical situations. From assisting in birth to providing hospice care and everything in between, nurses are incredibly important people who need to be well-educated and skilled in their field.
You can help ensure that these students learn everything they need to know in the classroom, build the confidence they need to perform in a practical and clinical setting, understand how to take care of themselves to avoid burnout, and maintain a level of care and empathy that makes them effective healthcare providers.
Whether you teach pupils in a virtual setting or in person, your expertise and teaching can make a big difference in a student’s life and career.
The benefit for you is that you get to share your knowledge, set your own schedule and tuition rates, and know that you are helping to make a difference in the lives of your students and their future patients.
So, if you have experience as a nursing student or licensed nurse, can teach things like biology, chemistry, and more, and want to help make a difference, you can get started by creating your teaching profile on Superprof today!
References
- Nursing Students and Nurse Tutors: The Influence of The Relationship on The Perception of The Tutorial Role and On the Final Outcomes of The Internship. (n.d.). In www.heraldopenaccess.us. https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/openaccess/nursing-students-and-nurse-tutors-the-influence-of-the-relationship-on-the-perception-of-the-tutorial-role-and-on-the-final-outcomes-of-the-internship/
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I’m a retired nurse of 28 years experience. I would like to help with tutoring nursing students at any level that they are in need of.
Hello Hara! Thank you for your interest in Superprof. If you would like to become a tutor in nursing, sign up on our platform by clicking on tutoring jobs and filling out the required information. If you would like additional help, please email hey@superprof.com.
Question, I would like to become a nursing tutor but I hold certificate of nursing and midwife without licensed ,though I completed advanced level by studying ,physics ,chemistry and biology isn’t possible to become a nursing tutor
Hello Kurwa! Thank you for your interest in Superprof! Please reach out to our customer care department at hey@superprof.com for any questions concerning your eligibility and account. 😊
I am a Register Nurse with a BSN, I have a passion for teaching and would love to tutor LVN and Associate Level RN students.
That’s awesome! Thank you for your interest in Superprof, you can sign up to teach nursing at Superprof.com or reach out to our customer care department at hey@superprof.com, if you need additional help.