Graduating MSN Education....now what?

[SunSandSurf, ADN, MSN]

I'm getting ready to graduate with my MSN in education. I did an RN to MSN program. I worked at a nurse in the ED for several years. Then I worked in training and development as an instructional designer for a few years. I'm hoping to blend together the two things I love, nursing and educating. I'm just very lost about what jobs to even apply for. Everyone says working as an educator at a hospital pays better, but it will require commuting to the hospital Monday-Friday. Working in academia would allow me to keep the same schedule as my young daughter, but the pay sounds like it's pretty lousy. Can I even apply for any of these jobs or do I have to wait until I take the CNE exam? I live in the Cleveland Ohio area. So if anyone has specific recommendations that would be appreciated. I would love to work online but I can't figure out which institutions are worth my time, they all have different pay/work structures.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[llg, PhD, RN]

From your post, it sounds like you have been away from clinical practice for a few years. That fact may make it difficult for you to get a job doing any kind of clinical teaching for a school -- what types of clinicals would you be qualified to teach?

What was your MSN in and what types of experiences did you get while in school? What type of job did that degree prepare you for?

It sounds like you know the basic facts -- the pros and cons to the various types of nursing education jobs. You just have to start looking at the specific jobs in your area and decide which ones appeal to you the most. No job is perfect. Which set of pros and cons makes the most sense for you?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

llg gives good info above.

As far as certifications. CNE is generally for academia. For Professional Development (Nurse Educator in an acute care setting), you would look for RN-BC, a certification in professional development. Look up ANPD for more info. You won't be able to apply and test for that until you have worked in the field for about two years full time.

Only you can know what schedule is best for you. Working as an online instructor is a tough gig to land and often requires a doctorate or higher. Not always. But often.

You are probably going to have a better chance of landing in acute care as an ED educator than in academia, but you never know until you start applying.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

A good 'foot in the door' for academia is clinical instructor. There are ALWAYS jobs for that- look esp. in the community colleges.

[Golden_RN, MSN]

I worked as a clinical educator in a hospital, clinical educator in a SNF and as a clinical instructor at a community college. None required certification.

The hospital job paid MUCH better than the job at the CC.

I'm not sure that a job in a college will allow you to keep your child's schedule if clinicals are involved - that's either going to be early mornings for AM shift or late evenings for PMs.