Ever been a clinical instructor?

[Calbrunette]

Been considering looking into this for some side work. I'm talking about the type of clinical instructor that oversees the students at their clinical days for school. What are the pros and cons to this??

[JBudd, MSN]

Pros: extra cash, good refreshing of your own skills, not so much stress on your back (lots less lifting), get to meet new and eager "youngsters", and when hiring time comes along, you know which people to recommend to your manager, and which to avoid. Enriching experience if you like teaching. I enjoyed most of my clinical groups.

Cons: PAPERWORK, way too much paperwork, grading on your own time, care plans, never enough time for each student on any given day, spend a loooong time passing meds one on one with students (especially the 1st & 2nd semester ones). The patients you picked out for your students and they did all the prep work on either transferred to another unit or got discharged, so you and your student are scrambling for a similar patient/diagnosis. Dealing with floor nurses who don't want students around. Dealing with students who are unsafe, rude and disrespectful (not the whole group but one bad apple.....)

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I loved being a substitute clinical instructor! This was back in the day when an associate's degree nurse could work with first-quarter students in the LTC setting. They weren't passing meds yet, they were doing mostly CNA-level work and of course, care plans. Lots and lots of care plans. It was my side gig, and I didn't work all that much, but it was so much fun to see students make connections between what they learned in the classroom and what they saw in clinicals. It also paid better than my "day job", which was in a different facility. A couple of years later the school made the decision to hire only BSNs and up for clinical instructor jobs, so I was out, but I sure enjoyed it while it lasted.