In The Scope of Practice for Academic Nurse Educators, 4th Edition, the NLN defines the roles of 

• the Academic nurse educator
• the Academic clinical nurse educator
• the Academic nurse educator, novice
• the Academic practical/vocational nurse educator.  

The NLN is the only entity that has formally delineated these roles, and this book formalizes that information. It does not focus on the evidence-based literature support for the derivation of the competencies; it states what the competencies and task statements are and the general historical background on how and why the roles were identified.

The competencies and task statements are used throughout nursing education programs not only to provide a framework for nursing education programs and courses, but to guide the position expectations (position descriptions, employment evaluations, continuing education programs, etc.) for nurse educators.