Is it worth it to get your Master's in nursing education?

Angela11 · Jan 15, 2010

I teach clinicals at a college for an ADN program with my BSN. It's a great introduction to teaching and they are willing to help pay for me to get my MSN. It's really fun and the pay is great- $50/hr. Hope that helps!

iteachob, MSN, RN · Jan 15, 2010

If you want to teach, a master's with a focus on nursing education is a huge help. You will get classes in curriculum development, education theory, etc. along with your other classes in your master's program (research, statistics, patho.....). Also, you can sit for the certified nurse educator exam sooner (2 years teaching experience) than you can without the nursing education emphasis (5 years teaching experience).

Since you already know about the cut in pay you are likely to experience, I'd say it is definitely worth it. I don't regret it.

caitiecait · Jan 16, 2010

Angela11 what state/school do you work?! $50 an hour is awesome! Sign me up haha:lol2:

To answer your question, I first want to say that if teaching is your passion then it will be worth it to you. I see our nursing instructors come to the floor and they are so happy, and they ALL say they love their jobs and that nurse education is a great field to get into.

Im really sorry that your hospital does not have tuition reinbursment. However there are nurse education scholarships and grants. I live in Virginia and I will be attending Liberty University and there are $20,000 scholarships available. I remeber one of my instructors telling me that nurse education has the most money in it when it comes to going back to school to receive your MSN in nurse education, because we are in dire needs for educators. So do a little research Im sure you could find a scholarship. Also Western Govenor's University is fairly cheap. You can receive your MSN in nurse education online and it costs $9000, or in that ball park. Walden University is $18,000 including all your books. Liberty University is $14,000, Old Dominion University is $12,000. All of these programs are online. So I guess if you can find a relatively inexpensive program that fits you, and a scholarship you'll be set:)

And remeber if nursing education is ment for you the doors will open for you:nurse: If it is your passion and what you want it will work out for you:)

kubivern · Jan 19, 2010

I am currently working on my MSN in Education (3 more courses to go). Although I agree completely with the other posters that if you absolutely want to teach, it is the way to go, I also feel somewhat limited. The university I attend provides 5 different MSNs - CNL, CNS, FNP, Management, and Education.

The MSN curricula includes 5-6 courses specific to Education, and the rest are shared. Unfortunately, to be brutally honest, those courses that are shared between MSNs ONLY focus on the Advanced Practice Nurse (FNP), and spend no time on nurses going into Advanced Practice (i.e. educators). For example, in the EBP course, I felt forced to do a project on working as a FNP in a rural hospital. We could have performed a more education-related project, but the lessons and focus was strictly FNP, so I admit I simply followed the flow. Certainly mainly my fault, but still..........

As a FNP seems to be just as acceptable as an individual with a MSN in Education to be an instructor, personally, I would lean more towards the FNP option if I had to do it all over again. As a matter of fact, I intend to get a Post MS certificate in FNP following my MSN in Education.

As an aside, I also believe that a FNP would probably have more ability to consult/work on the side for some extra cash, if money is an issue. Perhaps other posters/readers would have a better appreciation for this however - I may be wrong.