MSN......education vs leadership

Nursing Students Western Governors

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Specializes in critical care.

Hello all,

I recently completed my BSN through , and will be starting my MSN there soon. I have not exactly decided yet on a route.....education vs leadership. After extensive soul-searching, I have decided that I may not have the stomach for management (that is, working in management in the real world). However, I have always loved precepting new nurses, participating in their training, and acting as a mentor. So, I've been looking a little at the possibility of getting into teaching. I am wondering if anyone has any insight into the education program, specifically the field experience and capstone. I currently work in an ICU in a hospital, and so I'm wondering about how those things work for the regular nurse. Do you design some sort of education program for your unit/hospital and work with your unit educator? Or do you have to go out and link up with an actual nursing school or something for any part of this?

To be honest, I have no idea what I want to do when I "grow up" and so my current plan is to just keep furthering my education in nursing until I figure it out. I like the idea of advanced practice (i.e. nurse practitioner), but doing those clinicals is out of the question for me, due to my current family situation (you will understand if you have read some of my other posts).

Anyway, I invite any thoughts or ideas from those in the WGU MSN program,or from those who have the MSN and have approached the job market with it. ....or any other thoughts on masters-level education and what opportunities it opens.....etc.

thanks so much.

Same boat as you! Would love to hear any info anyone has. I have been considering talking to an admissions person there but I am still at least a year and a half away from wanting to start another degree. This program was recommended to me by my manager, who completed the MSN in leadership (our hospital's tuition reimbursement covers almost the entire cost of this program) :)

Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.

My opinion is that you should go for the leadership track, as it may be more versatile. Overall, it probably doesn't matter -- the MSN is going to make you more qualified than most of your peers unless you're at Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, or the like. The only situation where the education track would make more sense would be if you were looking for a faculty position in a BSN program.

Specializes in critical care.
My opinion is that you should go for the leadership track, as it may be more versatile. Overall, it probably doesn't matter -- the MSN is going to make you more qualified than most of your peers unless you're at Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, or the like. The only situation where the education track would make more sense would be if you were looking for a faculty position in a BSN program.

This post actually reminded me that I had started a thread elsewhere in AN asking about having and MSN in education vs leadership in order to become a nurse educator. There was a lot of good info shared. The overall answer seemed to be that if you wish to be competitive in getting into a teaching in a more major college system, the education MSN is more necessary, but if you are going to teach at a community college or something (like ADN's and/or LVN's) the leadership MSN is probably sufficient. However, Murse901 makes a good point that the leadership route is probably more versatile in the non-teaching world.

here is the link to that thread I mentioned in case anyone is interested in further reading on this subject.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-educators-faculty/order-teach-will-955571.html

Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.

If you are going to teach then get an MSN in education. Especially if you have no plans of working in leadership.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Although I want to earn a MSN degree, I'm just not that interested in the nursing leadership or nursing education specialization tracks.

So even though I'm enjoying my time in the BSN completion program, I'll probably seek out another school to earn my masters. The more uncommon MSN degree specializations, such as utilization review or clinical nurse leader, appeal to me greatly. I'm also trying to avoid the academic incest trap.

I simply wish WGU offered more MSN degree specialty areas than just the garden variety leadership and education specializations.

What is the big deal about people getting two degrees from the same place? I know MANY people in multiple fields that have received more than one degree from the same place. Is it really that looked down upon?

Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.
I simply wish WGU offered more MSN degree specialty areas than just the garden variety leadership and education specializations.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

Same here. I'm getting an MBA (at - the academic incest thing doesn't really bother me as this is more for 'me'), but I skipped the MSN because I don't want education or leadership. I'd do informatics (again, for me) if they had it, but the MSN/Informatics degrees at the various other schools aren't price competitive enough for me to bother, especially out here in a rural area where my MSN/Informatics is probably worthless.

Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.
What is the big deal about people getting two degrees from the same place? I know MANY people in multiple fields that have received more than one degree from the same place. Is it really that looked down upon?

Yes and no. Depends on what your goals are. I hear the academic incest statement among those trying to get into the upper echelons of the corporate world, where it apparently is frowned upon. Possibly it's also a consideration in the upper realm of the nursing world when trying to get into highly competitive schools or positions. For me, I'm just a 40-something trying to make a living and not planning on DNP or applying to an Ivy so I'm not overly concerned about it.

I do know that some (even in the non nursing world) figure that going to a brick and mortar graduate program will legitimize any possible stigma of an 'online' bachelor's degree.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
What is the big deal about people getting two degrees from the same place? I know MANY people in multiple fields that have received more than one degree from the same place. Is it really that looked down upon?

Google the term "academic incest" - there are a lot of thoughts and opinions on the subject, but most of them are of the opinion that it's a negative. I first heard the term when I was in school in KY at Frontier University, when I was initially enrolled in an MSN program for nurse midwifery. One of the professors used that term, in the context of dissuading us from continuing on with a DNP through Frontier, but rather going elsewhere if we were interested in getting a doctorate.

I agree with Featherz, that it's going to come into play more if you're planning on getting into academia or high level nursing administration. But the idea is that if you have multiple degrees from different institutions, you will have been exposed to a much broader school of thought and different ideas. All your degrees from the same place could mean that you're stagnant, academically lazy (because we all know it's MUCH easier to just continue on at the same school, rather than go through the whole application process all over again), and have only been exposed to one school's teaching and learning styles.

Good point BUT, Or it could just simply mean you like the school you was at prior so why waste time going to another not knowing what to expect and hate it! college isn't free u kno. But if you don't like where u were prior, yes I can understand switching schools.

Also if you already familiar with how your current school operates etc. is less hassle, we're adults, don't have time for that mess. lol

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