Anyone do a non-nursing masters?

Dharmamom · Feb 14, 2013

Hey everyone! I am curious about something. Has anyone done a non-nursing masters (with the obvious exclusion of an MBA which is completely focused on admin) degree? If so, in what field and what is your experience with having it? Did you find it helpful or burdensome in your employment endeavors? I ask this because I am torn between the decision to do an MSc in a multidisciplinary discipline or an MScN. Currently, I have a thesis director and complete funding from a pharma company to do an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience with my specality being Neuropharmacology. This is an intense area of interest to me, I am really passionate about pharmacology and drug development and would not be opposed to working for a pharmaceutical company in the future. So this seems like a reasonable choice right? Well, it get's complicated; I do also like nursing and would like to work in nursing education either at a college or university level (I live in Canada which our education is a bit different). Thus, my plan was to do an MSc in Neuroscience and then do a DNSc or DNP (I think these terms of interchangeable? Personally, I like the look of DNSc better, but that's just me ) to give me the graduate level nursing education I would need to be an expert in the nursing field; but also I feel like a DNSc would also contribute to my knowledge of pharmaco because, from what I see in the course outline, it is very heavy into research AND advanced practice stuff in the area of pharmacology and diseases diagnosis (which I think is extremely important for pharmaceutical development). And a DNSc you can get to directly from a BSN, so they wouldn't discriminate for a non-nursing masters. And also, if I did teach nursing I would want to teach pharmaco, A&P and pathophysiology. So this is my thinking, but I could have totally missed the boat which is why I am asking for everyone's feedback. In reality, if you look at the great nursing scholars, FEW OF THEM did their doctoral studies in nursing? Why? Because nursing graduate studies is a relatively new invention and nurses with a BSN have traditionally perused higher-level education in multidisciplinary areas. I am a strong supporter of multidisciplinary education and think that most nurses who want to do higher education should step outside of nursing for a bit. I am really pleased that I am able to do such things, it shows that nursing education prepares people for basically anything health related.Anyway your feedback is appreciated!

Congratulations on securing funding & a thesis advisor for your masters degree in neuroscience! I agree that multidisciplinary education is useful in any healthcare profession. If the neuroscience program fits your academic and research interests, I say go for it!Here is a synopsis of my reasoning (I'll give you my background later)1. I think that following your interests is the most important factor in selecting a post graduate level education program. If you hive a high degree of interested in neuroscience and pharmacology that is a great reason to pursue more education in these areas.2. Both neuroscience and pharmacology are highly relevant to a career in nursing. You mentioned that you are open to a career in pharmacology as well, so all the better.3. You have full funding for this academic pursuit. That would be very unusual at the masters level of nursing education (as far as I know from my own research). 4. I recently spoke with a faculty member at UCSF School of Nursing about applying to their nursing doctoral study program. She was very excited about interdisciplinary education and encouraged me to apply. She is in the Physiological Nursing Dept at UCSF and shared that one of her degrees is out side of nursing in the field of physiology. My background:I am a RN with 20 years of work experience in a variety of clinical settings. My educational back ground includes an A.A. Degree in nursing, a BSN and most recently a masters degree in occupational therapy. My intention in pursuing a masters in OT was to augment my nursing skills and experience, not to change careers. OT education includes preparation in Neuro A&P & Neuro rehab (I love these subjects!), as well as in depth study in functional performance, motivation, client education methods and ways to facilitate lifestyle change. Most of my nursing experience was in community health and I was interested in the development & implementation of wellness programs for older adults. Because of this interest, OT education seemed more relevant to my goals than the nursing MS education programs I researched. I'm also very interested in research & building the evidence base for healthcare clinical practice. The OT school I attended had a faculty member who is interested in mindfulness applications in healthcare. Mindfulness was another interest of mine so the opportunity to do research in this area factored heavily in my decision.I entered the OT program in Fall 2010 and just graduated a couple of weeks ago. My thesis work in the areas of mindfulness & chronic pain cultivated an interest in continued pain research. The faculty member at UCSF that I mentioned earlier is doing some very interesting work in pain and symptom cluster research, so I applied to the UCSF doctoral studies program for Fall 2013. Still waiting to hear from them, so I can't tell you how that turned out. I'm currently studying for OT boards and haven't started looking for work, so I'm still unsure of how adding the OT degree & License will impact my career path. Should be interesting in any case. If you have any suggestions for me, please share.Hope this is useful. Best of luck to you on your path whereever it may lead.

steven007, BSN, MSN · Feb 14, 2013

Firstly, I want to say thank you very much for your kind and very supportive words! It really hears a lot to hear these things and also is really nice to see that there are really like-minded people out there.

In reality, nursing isn’t its own entity, it’s a mélange of a ton of different professions mixed together to form one, really vital profession. It’s physiotherapy, psychology, medicine, OT, pharmacology, etc. all mixed together. Thus, it is logical to branch outside nursing as a whole and specialize in one of these areas. Because really, if you do a masters of nursing, you are just mastering in an obscurity, nursing is so broad that to do an MN seems almost pointless unless you’re doing an MN to become an NP in which case your MN is technically a Masters of Medicine. Or an MN to be a clinical nurse specialist in a particular field, which would be a masters of said field (wound care, nephrology, neurology, cardiology, etc.).

Your academic background seems very diverse and well rounded, thus I feel like you would be a really good candidate for a teaching position. The research you have been involved in is very significant to the profession of nursing and medicine as a whole and to share this knowledge is key. I think you would do well in contributing to textbooks and other forms of nursing and medical knowledge.

But please keep me posted with your acceptance into your doctorate and your job prospects! I would love to hear about your exciting journey into the world of higher education!

Thank you again for your response and I hope to keep informed!

Dharmamom · Feb 14, 2013

Thanks Seven007 for your kind words and encouragement. I will keep you posted.

Dharmamom · Mar 5, 2013

Firstly, I want to say thank you very much for your kind and very supportive words! It really hears a lot to hear these things and also is really nice to see that there are really like-minded people out there.
In reality, nursing isn't its own entity, it's a mélange of a ton of different professions mixed together to form one, really vital profession. It's physiotherapy, psychology, medicine, OT, pharmacology, etc. all mixed together. Thus, it is logical to branch outside nursing as a whole and specialize in one of these areas. Because really, if you do a masters of nursing, you are just mastering in an obscurity, nursing is so broad that to do an MN seems almost pointless unless you're doing an MN to become an NP in which case your MN is technically a Masters of Medicine. Or an MN to be a clinical nurse specialist in a particular field, which would be a masters of said field (wound care, nephrology, neurology, cardiology, etc.).
Your academic background seems very diverse and well rounded, thus I feel like you would be a really good candidate for a teaching position. The research you have been involved in is very significant to the profession of nursing and medicine as a whole and to share this knowledge is key. I think you would do well in contributing to textbooks and other forms of nursing and medical knowledge.
But please keep me posted with your acceptance into your doctorate and your job prospects! I would love to hear about your exciting journey into the world of higher education!
Thank you again for your response and I hope to keep informed!

Hi Steven007,

Got the acceptance letter from UCSF last week. So score one for multidisciplinary education in nursing!

But, I noticed that SJSUs new doctorate in Nursing Practice reqires a masters in nursing.