Question for Instructors that have "been there"

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I have been currently planning on going to NP school. One of my goals was to eventually teach, even if part-time...my desire to teach (even though I am a newer nurse), is that there seem to be so many (at least in this area), of instructors that don't seem to care...I would like to bring something different to the table... however, I have found a university near me that combines some of it's classes where you can graduate the same day with both your BSN and MSN. I would like to get my MSN in Education.

My question to the experienced faculty...is that I would like to later to go NP school post-Masters and I had always been counting on the fact that I could find a job rather quickly as an NP.

However, if I decide to go the MSN-Education route first..how hard it is going to be for me to find a job as an educator?

By the time I graduate, I will have had 4 years experience as a NICU RN.

Advice?

[dfurbee]

You should have no problems finding a job as a nursing educator, since there is a shortage of nursing educators. To get tenured, you will need to have a docotrate degree. Also, NP's will be required to have a doctorate degree in the very near future. Hope this helps.

[llg, PhD, RN]

You migh have major problems getting a college-level teaching job if your clinical experience is limited to NICU. Nursing schools don't teach NICU: they teach peds and they teach OB. As a new instructor with only an MSN, you would probably be expected to teach clinical rotations -- and unless you have recent clinical experience in a clinical area the school teachers, you won't be a very attractive candidate to them.

You might be able to teach nursing assistants, LPN's, etc. where you would just teach fundamentals.

Another option for you would be to seek NICU educator positions. Most hospitals hire staff development instructors and a hospital with a nursery (even if it's not a NICU) might be interested in someone like you. That's what I have done with my career. My only clinical experience is in NICU. So, it's been virtually impossible for me to "cross over" into an academic career. But I have found jobs in NICU's as an educator, orientation coordinator, etc. Such jobs usually pay better than nursing school faculty and have good schedules and working conditions. Check into the field of Nursing Professional Development (staff development), and you might be pleasantly surprised.