[manna1qd]

I am thinking about working toward a position in higher education. I have 25 years experience including inservice education and management. I have my MSN. My most recent clinical experience is in occupational health/urgent care so I would have to bone up in med/surg or psych (my two areas of interest). If I do the work, what can I expect in terms of schedule, pay, future opportunities in the field? The most appealing parts of the job right now is the academic schedule and the opportunity to teach/mentor future nurses. What do you experienced faculty think?

[llg]

I am in the process of making a similar transition -- from staff development to school faculty. So, I hope you get some good responses to your question.

In my region, full time faculty positions are hard to come by at the best schools. Only the school who treat their faculty poorly are desparate enough to be looking for full time employees. However, most schools are on the look-out for good part-time clinical instructors for their undergraduate students. Unfortunately, that's not what I am prepared to teach as I have been away from the bedside for many years and my clinical expertise is not in an area taught at the undergraduate level (NICU). So, that leaves me with few options.

On the positive side, I have a PhD, which qualifies me to teach some of the classroom courses usually reserved for faculty members with more experience.

So ... right now, I am still working full time at my hospital staff development (with a little management thrown in) job. But I am also teaching one course per semester as an adjunct faculty member at a local school. The time committment of having 2 jobs is too much for me to handle, but I am hoping that situation is only temporary. I am hoping that one of two things will happen. Either the school will eventually offer me a full time position ... or I will be allowed to switch to part time employment here at the hospital.

While I can afford to take an overall drop in my income at this point of my life, I still need to get health insurance through an employer. That means I have to keep my old job until I can get something full time at a good school.

[nurse educate]

I assume wherever it is you live, you can find a job in a school or university setting. Many schools like to start you off as adjunct first, which I think is a great idea. because you get an idea of whether or not it is something you really want to do, and they get an idea of whether or not they want you. I work in a place where people have come on as part time (which I think few schools do) or full time and did not last. I think the were either overwhelmed, or did not realize what they were getting into. I made a gradual transition from adjunct to PT to FT.

If you do take an adjunct, you can see what the culture is like at the school, how they work together (or don't). I worked adjunct in a place that was very disorganized, and the majority of clinicals were taught by adjuncts, with little or no communication between theory and clinical instructors.

The only real downfall, IMO, to transitioning from adjunct to FT is the pay cut. Yes, cut. As adjunct, they pay you more... a lot more (like per-diem, vs FT in the hospital). But to be completely honest, the lifestyle I live now as a FT instructor is worth the pay cut. es. I do make less than my students after they graduate , and yeah, I wish I made more, but I love what I do, and I love not working 12 hours, nights, weekends and holidays. And the pay, for me, is not that bad (I was never anything beyond a staff nurse in the hospital). I work for a private school (where I live the state and city colleges start out with a measly salary).

And of course the last thing you mentioned is one of the best rewards, mentoring and teaching our future nurses. it is rewarding, and sometimes even fun. To watch them grow and discover, and seeing the light bulb go on, is really amazing.