Anticipating to become a nurse educator

[bearsnurse]

Hi all,

I am as of the moment going through my masters in nursing with the track on nursing education. I have a couple more semesters to go and I will be graduating. I am getting anxious in anticipation of completing my masters because I really don't have any actual teaching experience except for acting as mentor and preceptor at some point in my nursing career but I have no formal teaching experience. I have 15 years of Operating room nursing experience and have been licensed in 3 continents i think i have plenty to share to my future students but I am anxious that when i do finish with my masters and try and apply for a teaching job i will not be hired because of my lack of teaching experience. I have tried to apply for an adjunct instructor position in a local community college just to gain some experience but i have not heard anything since. Now I am questioning myself whether it was right to continue with my masters and now in debt and not being able to get a job teaching...any thoughts on this...

Anxiously,

bearsnurse:crying2:

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

Didn't you get any teaching experience during your nursing education focus? Wow. Your school did you no favors!

As far as those adjunct postions go, don't let an application be your last step. Write followup letters. Call people. Stop by. Make your desire to teach known so your application doesn't sit at the bottom of the pile.

Adjunct doesn't pay much, by the way. You'll still need a "day job" to live.

[bearsnurse]

I did get to do some fieldwork experience but I don't think it's enough though in theory I am prepared but it's the practical side of things I am worried about. I do know adjunct doesn't pay a lot and shifting to academia I would be getting a substantial pay cut but I am really interested in teaching.

bearsnurse

[llg, PhD, RN]

Is your heart set on teaching for a school or nursing ... or would you also be interested in Staff Development?

Part of your problem is that undergraduate nursing programs rarely need OR specialists on their staff. They are usually not trying to teach people to be OR nurses ... they are teaching them to be staff nurses on general care units, pediatics, maternity, psych, community health, etc. Your clinical expertise does not match the courses they teach. Most schools are looking to hire faculty members with clinical experience in the areas that they will teach in.

As a NICU specialist, that was my problem as well. I have found a home in Nursing Professional Development. You might want to consider that as an option and widen your search to include OR staff development careers. Another possibility is to transfer out of the OR and get some current experience in another specialty, such as adult med/surg, where there is a continual need for qualified instructors.

[bearsnurse]

Thank you for the input I did think about staff development and being an OR educator that would be another venue I could do but I really would like to teach in a nursing school setting...hmmm I may look into spending time in an ICU and medsurg floor setting or geriatrics ... :) bearsnurse