Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary
In short: today's best AI models could do about 20% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 37% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 55% of the time, stays with people.
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.
77,960 people do this job in the US. $80,250 a year.
Reviewed on October 1, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work7 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet10 h
- Stays with people22 h
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 7 hours become checking its work, 10 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 22 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Write, give and grade exams (about 1 h, a person checks); Prepare course materials (about 1 h, a person checks); Serve as department head (under an hour, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 44%
- 1%
- 14%
- 26%
- 14%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 20% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 20%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.0056% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 440th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 4 of its 29 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.02% to 0.028% (released February and March 2025); 0.032% to 0.029% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.0053% to 0.0056% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.02% | 446 of 708 | 17 of 29 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.028% | 368 of 703 | 17 of 29 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.032% | 298 of 655 | 17 of 29 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.029% | 325 of 672 | 19 of 29 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.029% | 346 of 677 | 18 of 29 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.0053% | 431 of 434 | 3 of 29 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.0056% | 440 of 447 | 4 of 29 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 22% of this job's working time as physical work. For 0% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere. 0.00 of 3.
- Not physical 78%
- No robot shown 22%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
53% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Supervise lab and clinical work, the in-person work, 10%
- Keep a clinical practice, the hands-on work, 8%
- Hold office hours, the in-person work, 4%
- Serve as department head, the conversation, 4%
- Research and publish, the hands-on work, 4%
- Coordinate clinical placements, the conversation, 3%
What becomes checking the machine
34% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 3% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Research and publish, costly if wrong, 7%
- Revise curricula and courses, costly if wrong, 6%
- Write, give and grade exams, costly if wrong, 4%
- Write grant proposals, costly if wrong, 3%
- Prepare course materials, costly if wrong, 3%
- Serve as department head, costly if wrong, 3%
What to learn
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 44% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- The conversations. About 40% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
- Signing off under your license. Some tasks need a licensed, certified or sworn person to do or sign them. The license, and the judgment it stands for, stays with the person.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 29 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.Analysis and writing, with some field or data work.Done yearly or less by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 19% | 3.5 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.4 work months | Documents 80%, hands-on 20% | 0%Desk part half by Jan 2029 |
| Supervise students' laboratory and clinical work.In the lab and on the unit with the students and their patients.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 5 h1.7 h to 1 work day | In person 60%, hands-on 40% | Stays with people |
| Maintain a clinical practice.Nursing practice with patients.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 1.3 work days | Hands-on 70%, in person 30% | Stays with people |
| Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.Planning on paper, with discussion among colleagues.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Documents 80%, conversation 20% | 25%Desk part half by Mar 2027 |
| Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.Mostly conversation with the department's people, plus reading and deciding.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.1 work days | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 34%Desk part half by now |
| Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.Writing and marking the exam, and sitting in the room while students take it.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Documents 70%, in person 30% | 56%Desk part half by now |
| Coordinate training programs with area universities, clinics, hospitals, health agencies, or vocational schools.Calls and agreements with the hospitals and schools.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.6 work days | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 25%Desk part half by now |
| Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.Students at the office door.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as pharmacology, mental health nursing, and community health care practices.Preparing the lecture and giving it in the hall.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | In person 70%, documents 30% | 28%Desk part half by now |
| Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.Reading and attending; the knowing is the teacher's own.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | In person 60%, documents 40% | 38%Desk part half by now |
| Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.Writing the proposal.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.3 work weeks | Documents 100% | 2%Half by Jan 2028 |
| Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.Advice given in meetings and in writing.Done yearly or less by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | Documents 50%, conversation 50% | 7%Desk part half by Oct 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 20% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (28% to 44% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Write, give and grade exams (56% of the task's time now, 70% by the end of 2028); Prepare course materials (99% of the task's time now); and Serve as department head (34% of the task's time now, 40% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Supervise lab and clinical work; Keep a clinical practice; and Hold office hours. Together such tasks are about 32% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are briefing a model and checking its drafts; the conversations; and reviewing work you did not do yourself. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 53% of the working time stays with people, 34% becomes checking a model's work and 3% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.0056% went to this job's tasks, the 440th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 4 of its 29 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 19%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 22% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 0% of the working time. Its index is 0.00 of 3. A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 29 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on October 1, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
The full personal report is $19, to print or save as a PDF: every task with when it comes within reach, which ones your description names, the parts of your description the task list does not cover, what stays with you, what becomes checking the machine and what to learn.