faculty not practicing as staff nurse

[JaxJax5423]

I stopped bedside nursing to put all my focus on my new faculty position. It's been 9 months away from the bedside and I have applied to multiple prn positions with not even a call back. Even the agency nursing job didn't pan out. I am busy enough with the faculty position I just thought it would make me a better educator if I stayed current and active in a hospital setting. Any thoughts or opinions? Do most faculty maintain a prn role? Is it difficult to teach something you haven't done in years?

[organichombre, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

There is a major difference between teaching clinical and lab vs. the didactic portion of nursing school when it comes to keeping current. At clinical I see new things everyday and can help integrate that into student learning. The didactic educator does not need to work at the bedside to stay current per se because his/her job is to teach nursing theory and all the absolutes involved. Whether an educator has worked at the bedside or not is moot. I once thought that in order to teach one must first practice the work that you have learned. But a I became older and yes an educator I have realized that now I am helping someone learn how to be a nurse whether I'm at the bedside or not. At the bedside I have 28+ years of experience which translates into how best to get the job done. The same person with multiple years of teaching is helping the student see what needs to be done. It's like apples and oranges...we need to eat both of them.