Experienced Nurse Seeking Advice

[akc_RN]

I have been in patient care for 4 years now and I want out!! I have worked in OBGYN, Nursery, & Telemetry. I am working on my Masters in Nursing Education right now. I was wondering should I look into teaching now or wait until I am finished with my degree early next year? If I should wait, what other avenues could I take with my experience level? Thanks!

[akc_RN]

You don't need the MSN for ADN clinicals in most places. Some schools will hire you if you are enrolled in an MSN course and plan to graduate within 5 years. The general rule of thumb is having one degree higher than you are teaching, or so it seems to me. BSN can teach ADN clinicals, MSN can teach BSN clinicals. They get stickier about classroom lectures.

Best bet would be to find a local school and just go introduce yourself. I know we are often desperate for clinical instructors.

Ok thank you! I figured that, but I was unsure. You have any other suggestions if I'm not able to find a clinical job? No bedside nursing though. Whatever job I find, I want to be able to teach as well.

[akc_RN]

Does anyone in your masters program already teach adjunct? When I was in my MS program, there were people who did. Do you have any clinical groups that come to your unit? If so, talk to the instructors. See if the schools consider grad students. You could also speak to your professors, or any of your hospital educators, since they likely deal with the clinical facilities. I was able to get my foot in the door through a classmate in my masters program. She did her student teaching at the school I went to for ms ADN. She told me they were looking for adjuncts and said they were desperate! So I jumped on it. I still had less than a year to go, but they took me as an adjunct, then by the time I had the MS, a full time position opened up.

The four years experience is better than nothing. Ideally, they are looking for more, the fact that you have ob experience is a plus, but don't count on landing a clinical in that specialty right away. It took me a few years to teach my specialty, because of seniority, and proving myself.

I will check to see. I go to Walden online, so I can email some classmates to see. Yes I do, I plan to ask the instructor the next time I see her. Yes I can accept not teaching a speciality right now, I just want to get my foot in the door! Thank you for your advice!