[ddewitt]

Hi! I am one of those nurses who have 40 years of experience and decided to finish my career as a practical nursing instructor. When I applied for the position, I was asked if I would work on my Masters. At this time, that is what I am doing. Right now, I am researching for a paper about the need for a masters in the practical nursing program. If there is a shortage of instructors, would it not be better to have bachelor prepared instructors with a coordinator with a masters. Then the more prepared instructors could be utilized in the RN programs and then they would be able to increase the enrollment. Looking forward to your opinions.

Darlene

[purplemania]

Ok, I'll bite. I am in favor of education, but I believe there are several reasons NOT to require a MSN for instructors of a vocational program. The first would be that it is a vocational program, not a professional nurse program. Sorry, but that is how the state BON delineates the two. Also, there is a need for instructors, so putting up barriers does not fill the need. Third, the pay scale does not attract MSN prepared nurses. I do think it would be appropriate to have the BSN prepared instructors take educational courses (maybe while working) because they are not trained to be instructors in nursing school. There are some real advantages to having educational courses.Hope this helps your research.

[llg]

I am pretty much in agreement with purplemania on this issue. I don't feel that an MSN is necessary to teach all courses ... but I feel that some additional education on the processes of being an instructor should be required. I have seen too many new clinical instructors (for both LPN programs and RN programs) simply "thrown into" their teaching roles with virtually no orientation to their new role and very little direct supervision or support from their teaching institutions. So ... I do believe that some additional education should be required, but I don't think it has to necessarily be an entire Master's Degree.

Also, I believe that the leaders of the LPN program (coordiantors, administrators, curriculum developers, etc.) should be Master's-prepared. BSN programs do not prepare nurses for those types of leadership responsibilities. But the basic clinical instructor? .... no, I think we could scale back the requirements there to a BSN plus some additional training/education in how to be a teacher.

llg

[nursebedlam]

Hullo hullo,, hope you have a great time at this excellent site, welcome to allnurses....

[Ari RN]

Welcome to the All Nurses Family Darlene!
Hope you enjoy yourself here with us!

[CASEYK]

Darlene,
I have to agree with you on this one. There is a shortage in Ohio also. I am presently in a RN to BSN program and they are very short of instructors. Our instructor has a BSN and also is a Nurse Practioner and has a couple of other degrees too. She is presently trying to get her Masters degree and is writing her thesis. She was actually hired two weeks before our classes started. Kathy

[arkansas_girl]

All of our instructors here at Arkansas Northeastern College have to have their Masters... I plan to teach eventually, but I am thinking about getting my doctorate.

[nurse educate]

I just started my 2nd and 3rd education specific graduate classes! These classes are unbelievably interesting (sorry if I sound like a dork!) Looking at the syllabi, I can't imagine going into Nursing Ed without this knowledge. While I am so anxious to finish (in May 2006), and angry that I can't teach because I don't have the MSN yet, I can see why all the schools in my area require it. But what I can't understand are 2 things: -How a masters in something else (NP, Admin, etc) qualifies you to teach (they don't teach you about teaching), and how these horrible salaries are justified

[llg]

Originally Posted by bonemarrowrn

I just started my 2nd and 3rd education specific graduate classes! -How a masters in something else (NP, Admin, etc) qualifies you to teach (they don't teach you about teaching), and how these horrible salaries are justified

That's why I said above that taking a few classes on teaching was more imporatant than having a Master's Degree for teaching some courses -- thought I think a Master's ought to be required for some teaching positions and a PhD required for others.

Another thing to remember is that, at the highest levels of education ... it is assumed that the teacher will seek out those resources on their own and aquire the teaching expertise even though they do not have academic degrees that included "how to teach" as part of the curriculum. For example, all of the chemistry professors, biology professors, math professors, anthropology professors, etc. have PhD's in their chosen fields -- not in education. Nursing professors are expected to have the same academic background in order to teach at the same level. The educational expertise can come through conferences, workshops, individual classes, etc. It's interesting that some nurses expect nursing teachers to take educational courses -- but that other disciplines do not. I'm not sure which system is ultimately better.

Some programs ... and some individuals ... do a better job than others at ensuring that teachers have educational skills as well as knowledge of their own discipline.

llg

[proRN]

I agree that BSN prepared nurses can be great clinical instructors, in RN programs as well as technical. I think that nurse educators are realizing that this is a role that requires some additional training. The NLN offers some course work in the teaching role of clinical faculty (a continuing ed. program, not a grad. course). RNs who have had some experience in teaching and some coursework are more confident in their abilities and the students benefit.

Originally Posted by llg

I am pretty much in agreement with purplemania on this issue. I don't feel that an MSN is necessary to teach all courses ... but I feel that some additional education on the processes of being an instructor should be required. I have seen too many new clinical instructors (for both LPN programs and RN programs) simply "thrown into" their teaching roles with virtually no orientation to their new role and very little direct supervision or support from their teaching institutions. So ... I do believe that some additional education should be required, but I don't think it has to necessarily be an entire Master's Degree.

Also, I believe that the leaders of the LPN program (coordiantors, administrators, curriculum developers, etc.) should be Master's-prepared. BSN programs do not prepare nurses for those types of leadership responsibilities. But the basic clinical instructor? .... no, I think we could scale back the requirements there to a BSN plus some additional training/education in how to be a teacher.

llg