In the context of the nursing and faculty shortages, recommendations have been made to increase the number of highly educated nurses who are qualified to teach. A lack of nursing faculty has been reported at all levels of education. Because the majority of nurses enter into practice with an associate degree, the professoriate at the associate level of education becomes indispensable for expanding nursing workforce capacity. Initiatives aimed at easing the nurse educator shortage should include those that facilitate the transition into the faculty role. The problem addressed in the study was the need to understand role transition of full-time faculty at the associate degree level of education. The purpose of the basic qualitative research study was to examine the challenges, adaptive strategies, and organizational structures related to the experience of the transition. A convenience sample of nurse educators who taught full-time in accredited associate degree nursing programs that were situated in the northeast was chosen. Fourteen participants were interviewed and shared their experiences of transition. Data analysis revealed five common themes that included (a) difficulties, (b) learning the role, (c) embracing the role, (d) the need for support, and (e) personal experience of confidence and love of teaching. The theme of "Difficulties" addressed the issue of challenges during transition. "Learning the Role" and "Embracing the Role" were themes that emerged related to adaptive strategies while "The Need for Support" surfaced as a theme pertaining to organizational structures. An additional theme that arose included "Personal Experience of Confidence and Love of Teaching." The findings have implications for the development of innovative strategies designed to ease the transition of associate degree nurse educators. The need for professional development for novice nurse educators that targets student evaluation, specifically test development, was one key finding. With support from others revealed as essential to the transition, the study may provide the impetus for administrators to develop orientation programs that have a strong mentoring component and are specific to full-time faculty who teach in associate degree programs. Recommendations for future research include the need to more clearly define factors that contribute to a positive mentoring relationship. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]