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Discussion

Advice: Faculty vs Unit Educator

Just needing some advice and information on Unit Educator positions.

Currently I am Faculty for a new program that is doing great. I have worked extremely hard to be successful at this job and so far I have done well. I finally am at a point where I enjoy the job and I am confident. It is flexible so the schedule works great with family. The cons are that it is about 1 hr away and THE SALARY. Also, it feels far removed from healthcare and I often miss working around patients.

I received a call from a director at a wonderful hospital offering me a job as a unit educator. I used to work on the unit, I enjoyed it, leadership is good, and it's working for children (my passion). The pay is WAY more than what I make and it's 10 mins from my home.The cons: higher stress, leaving an established position I am fairly happy with, more hours at work (hourly position working 40 hrs).

I am pretty familiar with educator roles but I'd like to hear more about your daily roles , challenges...etc. Are you happy? Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.

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    • Moderator

    Is there a way to do both? Keep your toes in the academic pool on a part-time basis while taking the unit educator position? It sounds like the unit educator position is really calling you. I am a trauma educator, and I love it. It's a lot of work and I do a ton of other things besides education, but for now it's a half-step from the bedside, which is as far as I want to be.

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    • Author

    Thanks for responding. Yes, I could pick up adjunct work while working as a full time educator. I guess I always feel guilty for leaving places, and I've definitely learned from past experiences that the grass isn't always greener.....

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    • Experts

    I work full time for a hospital in their centralized professional development department -- and teach an occasional online class at a local college. I've done that for years. The hospital pay is much better and the extra income from adjuncting has been nice. Now that I am nearing retirement ... I am cutting back on my hospital hours and I can increase my adjunct teaching if and when I want to. Not a bad way to ease into retirement.

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    Before you leave the faculty job, what are the prospects of moving up into leadership or tenure? If good, it might be worth staying. But, I find clinical education more challenging and keeps you up on all the rapid changes going on. As a clinical educator you can always come back into the bedside if you wish. After too many years in academia that becomes less and less of a realistic option. Oh and the pay....!!

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    • Author

    I only have an MSN, so tenure is not an option around here. You have to have a PHD for any tenure or university jobs other than adjunct. In my current job, I've been "promoted" to lead instructor, from assistant to associate professor and even into a coordinator role. I think my total raise was $1000 for the year :'(

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