Beyond Experience: How Doctoral and Pedagogical Training Shape Nurse Educators

Background/Objective: Nurse educators are central to consolidating nursing as a discipline and shaping professional identity, yet their preparation is heterogeneous. This study aimed to identify profiles of nurse educators based on the value they assign to teaching competencies and to analyze factors influencing these profiles. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive research design was applied, using convenience sampling to recruit 326 nurse educators from Spanish universities. Data were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire distributed to nursing faculty from public, private, and affiliated (semi-private) universities across Spain. The instrument included sociodemographic and academic variables, along with nine teaching competencies. Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, ANOVA, chi-square tests, and multinomial logistic regression were conducted using SPSS. Results: Three distinct profiles of nursing faculty were identified. The academic-pedagogical profile assigned the highest importance to all competencies (means 4.78-4.91), the clinical-pragmatic profile assigned the lowest (3.61-4.04), and the intermediate-researcher profile showed moderate values (4.26-4.50). Doctoral degree (χ² = 65.36, p < 0.001) and pedagogical training (χ² = 33.89, p < 0.001) were the strongest predictors of membership in the academic-pedagogical group, confirmed in multivariate regression (OR for doctorate = 0.07; OR for pedagogical training = 0.13, both p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study delineates three coherent and statistically robust profiles of nursing faculty based on their appraisal of teaching competencies. Academic qualifications and pedagogical training emerged as key determinants of these profiles. Tailored faculty development strategies that reinforce doctoral-level preparation and pedagogical expertise are critical to advancing the quality and consistency of nursing education.