Advice on path to follow

[ap05]

I am a nurse with 2 years experience. I was a career changer and before nursing I taught college level science for about 7 years. I truly love teaching, and I do feel I am good at it. My motivation to become a nurse was my love for education and I always really found community nursing interesting. During nursing school I thought I'd end up in psych, public health or hospice. My first job was acute rehab which was great experience but I didn't love the job. I ended in hospice, which I do enjoy, but due to a move, and the desire to expand my knowledge base, I went down to resource which is a good fit right now. After my move I took a part time med surg job, with the goal of expanding my experience. While in hospice I learned a ton but I always felt I missed that general med surg experience so here I am. My goal is to stick with med surg for about 2 years, while doing more of my passion of community nursing part time. I intend on teaching and I'd love to use my science background to teach pathophysiology and pharmacology. Clinically I enjoy assessment and community nursing. Do you think I should have just stuck with my interest in community nursing and focused at excelling at that, or is med surg for 2 years a good idea, then returning to a community setting? I am unsure if having a variety of experience is better or choosing one specialty and sticking to it.

[pro-student]

I think it's wonderful that you have a passion for teaching and lots of varied interests. I think one important consideration is to consider you end goals. If, for instance, you want to teach in an ADN program, a focus on med-surg is probably your best bet. Many ADN programs don't have explicit courses in pathophyiology or pharmacology but rather incorporate this content into other courses. They also don't have community health courses. If your goal is to teach in a BSN program, all of these areas are important, however, faculty are more likely to have advanced degrees including PhDs in nursing. I don't know what your academic background is but most schools will also want at least a master's in nursing. It doesn't necessarily have to be in nursing education but that could also be a good choice if you would like to get more involved with teaching nursing.

[anabrn]

I agree with the comments and suggestions from pro-student in terms of looking at your end game. If I may also suggest that you look for the possibility of teaching as an adjunct clinical instructor. Many colleges of nursing use adjunct faculty as a pool form which to choose full time faculty. I also suggest that you look into who is teaching those courses you are interested in and look at their credentials.