Best Entry Point for Graduate Teaching

[Darth Practicus]

Hello everyone -

I am in the midst of a DNP program in Health Systems Leadership (will be done next summer) and practice as a full-time FNP in the rural primary care setting. I would very much like to be an online professor for either a MSN or DNP program in a part-time capacity upon completion of my degree. I have previous experience working as a clinical adjunct nursing instructor at the ADN level but have not really served as a full-time educator in an academic setting.

In looking at some job listings around the country for positions consistent with what I'm looking at in the future, I have some concern with most requiring some kind of previous experience teaching. It should come to no one's surprise that online teaching with an MSN is quite difficult as there just aren't hardly any jobs for undergrad that are available online.

I'm interested in hearing from others who have had similar teaching interests and situations and were successful in getting in the door, or those who might be in the same situation and what you have done. Also would like to hear from those in the education community about entry into the field and how one might overcome the experience deficit given the present market forces.

All the best,

Darth Practicus, FNP :)

[Darth Practicus]

Jen - I appreciate the response. You have hit the nail on the head. It's kind of ridiculous. I will check out WGU. Definitely looking to get started with teaching this fall.

I agree that if you're a full time educator, it might not seem like the investment is worth it. Will you even see much of a return on that investment? This is a barrier to a lot of people, I think.

Darth Practicus, NP

[delawaremalenurse]

If I had obtained my Doctorate when I was teaching I would have received a raise of $774/year. The lowest cost program I looked at would have been $30,000 minimum to complete. It would have taken 38.75 years to just recoup just the cost of the program before I would have seen a return on my investment.

Teaching requires an immense personal and professional commitment in exchange for extremely poor compensation but high personal satisfaction. Just depends on what you're looking for personally and professionally...

My 2 cents...you definitely need to be seeking a doctoral degree for personal satisfaction or to meet a personal goal. If you're doing it for money or prestige you are wasting your time.

[llg, PhD, RN]

My 2 cents...you definitely need to be seeking a doctoral degree for personal satisfaction or to meet a personal goal. If you're doing it for money or prestige you are wasting your time.

I definitely agree with this. Doctoral education is different from the Bachelor's and Master's levels. It requires internal motivation -- at least it does if you are going to do it right.

[Darth Practicus]

The same could be said of obtaining a BSN over an ADN. A lot of people will not go that extra distance because of the cost ratio. I think the vast number of people seeking a BSN do so because of it being required for entry into advanced nursing practice. That's my experience in talking with a number of people at least.

It's a profession-wide problem.

And it's not about compensation, although we all consider it at one point or another. It's about just being able to get into the academic setting for me, which is the point of the opening question.

Darth Practicus, NP

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

I agree with Darth about the DNP from Walden, too. I'm getting it for a personal goal of having a terminal degree. I may teach at some point, but I see myself more of a practicum preceptor teaching than a class room. But you never know.

I reviewed a friend's paper for her BSN and I enjoyed giving her pointers on writing a stronger paper, but her content was good. There's a time when editing papers and teaching passive vs. active writing and APA issues would be dull for me. You would think at a master's and doctoral level there would be less need to reinforce these precepts, but sadly, no.

My "peers" in my doctoral classes do not all possess the same grasp of writing that I do.(native speakers, I'll say, not the foreign students because that's a different kettle of fish). Granted, I am not the shiniest star in that, but I'm getting there. Let's say I'm perhaps 1.5 to 2 sigma above the mean.

At any rate, I'm finding (through my husband's doctoral proposal process) that it doesn't matter anyway because crafting that monstrosity puts you at the whim of your chair and committee so if they want some things a certain way, you do it just so you can get approved, defended, and graduated.