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Nursing Lecturer

Education

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.

NursingEducation

Picture the job

Where you'd usually workA lecture hall

  • Mostly indoors
  • Dealing with customers or the public
  • Regular working hours
  • A noisy workplace

An illustration of a typical workplace, not a photo. The work-style notes come from US O*NET data, so read them as a guide.

In Malaysia

Most Malaysian nurses are trained at diploma level in Ministry of Health nursing colleges, where teachers are appointed as 'Pengajar' (U9) from experienced registered nurses rather than as university lecturers. Private university colleges and public universities also run nursing diplomas and degrees, where lecturers are hired on the DS scheme or private contracts.

How people get into it here
SPM (science) → Diploma or Bachelor's in Nursing → register with the Nursing Board Malaysia and work as a nurse for at least 3 years → honours degree (e.g. Nursing Education) → Pengajar U9 at a Ministry of Health nursing college, or Master's/PhD → university nursing lecturer (DS11).
Demand
UKM names Nursing (Faculty of Medicine) as a critical field where it will appoint lecturers on temporary DS45 terms (2024 criteria). UKM lecturer appointment criteria UA20241

Sources:spa.gov.myptdexam.compengambilancns.uitm.edu.my

Pay in Malaysia

Government starting pay

RM2,580

per month

Official basic pay for the government grade, before allowances. Private-sector pay can differ.

SPA – Pengajar Gred U9 scheme · Aug 2024

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. Typical entry

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationMaster's degree
The full route to this careerThe steps from school, UPU programmes and sourced costs, read against your answers.

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

IPG (Teacher Training)

Explore KPM's teacher-training route. Check current funding and apply through KPM's PISMP portal, not UPUOnline.

~5 years
Compare routes against your results and interests

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

Quick answers

How do you become a Nursing Lecturer in Malaysia?

SPM (science) → Diploma or Bachelor's in Nursing → register with the Nursing Board Malaysia and work as a nurse for at least 3 years → honours degree (e.g. Nursing Education) → Pengajar U9 at a Ministry of Health nursing college, or Master's/PhD → university nursing lecturer (DS11). Registration with Nursing Board Malaysia (Lembaga Jururawat Malaysia) is required to practise.

What should I study to become a Nursing Lecturer?

Related fields of study: Nursing and Education. SPM subjects that help most: Biology, Chemistry, English and Additional Science.

How much does a Nursing Lecturer earn in Malaysia?

The official pay scale put starting pay at RM2,580 a month (source: SPA – Pengajar Gred U9 scheme, Aug 2024).

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory and clinic work, assignments, and papers.
  2. 2Supervise students' laboratory and clinical work.
  3. 3Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  4. 4Assess clinical education needs and patient and client teaching needs using a variety of methods.
  5. 5Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
  6. 6Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as pharmacology, mental health nursing, and community health care practices.
  7. 7Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  8. 8Demonstrate patient care in clinical units of hospitals.
  9. 9Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  10. 10Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
  11. 11Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
  12. 12Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.
  13. 13Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
  14. 14Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
  15. 15Mentor junior and adjunct faculty members.
  16. 16Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
  17. 17Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
  18. 18Coordinate training programs with area universities, clinics, hospitals, health agencies, or vocational schools.
  19. 19Maintain a clinical practice.
  20. 20Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
  21. 21Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and laboratory equipment.
  22. 22Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
  23. 23Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.
  24. 24Conduct faculty performance evaluations.
  25. 25Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.
  26. 26Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.
  27. 27Act as advisers to student organizations.
  28. 28Participate in campus and community events.
  29. 29Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • Lecturer
  • Professor
  • Instructor
  • RN Teacher
  • RN Professor
  • RN Instructor
  • CPR Instructor
  • Faculty Member
  • Nurse Educator
  • Nurse Instructor

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

BiologyDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
ChemistryDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional ScienceDraws directly on Biology — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Medicine and Dentistry92%

    BiologyChemistry

  • Education and Training91%
  • Psychology90%
  • English Language88%

    English

  • Biology82%

    BiologyAdditional Science

  • Customer and Personal Service79%

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Leading or coordinating othersVery high
  • Handling conflict situationsOften
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentOften

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points, not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

14%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023, already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

0.00%

Of Malaysian Claude conversations, about this kind of work

Measures how much people use Claude for this work, not how many Malaysians do this job, and more AI use can mean people relying on it, not that it's replacing them.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

What beginner adverts asked for

We read 12 internship and fresh-graduate adverts in related fields (August 2026). A small sample from one job site, not every vacancy.

5 of 12 were internships

Allowance or pay, when stated

RM825 – RM2,450

10 of 12 adverts printed an amount: usually between RM825 and RM2,450 a month. Many print none.

Languages named

Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin

An empty line means the adverts did not say, not that employers have no requirement. Check each employer's own advert before you plan around it.

Related careers

If this interests you, these are worth a look too.

About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

Source: SPA – Pengajar Gred U9 scheme · as of Aug 2024

Check the salary figures yourself:SPA – Pengajar Gred U9 scheme

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org