MSN at the bedside

I am not one, but I applaud your decision to do what is best for you. Why do people feel they have to have a reason for everything? Well, if you answer that question you will be giving me a reason too.:)

If you enjoy the education and you enjoy your job...who cares? Tell 'em leave you alone!

Why fix what isn't broken? Your love of the bedside will only enrich your other activities, not to mention your patients!

To me, a degree is just a piece of paper. How can anyone teach what they don't know? Experience is needed first and not just a few years. If you are happy where you are, don't let anyone's talking bother you.

My clinical instructor has her MSN and is still a floor nurse (does clinical teaching 1 day a week) and she has no desire to leave anytime soon. She loves floor nursing.

I had an instructor that graduated 3 years before me. Only worked part time while getting her masters. You could really tell that she didn't have much "real life" experience in nursing.

Work at the bedside as long as you want to, it will only make you a better teacher.

Good luck.............

I know a nurse with a PhD. who works bedside. She does also teach sometimes.

I'm a nursing student, and many of my nursing instructors still work as floor nurses, or in community practice. I personally appreciate their perspectives--they've seen how things change, what stays the same, and they seem to really like still being active in practice. As a student, I've noticed one particular instructor, who is not a current practitioner, sometimes provides information that seems "old"--like she's been giving the same lecture for 15 years and hasn't even read the revised version of our textbook! :uhoh21:

I think it's great that you want to remain active in practice! I hope to do the same!

I think the perception that your path is "odd" will only continue to fall by the wayside.

We are gearing up for thousands of direct entry MSN 'generalist' new grads who will be at the bedside getting their feet wet for quite a while after graduation.

It won't be at all unusual. You should do whatever makes you feel comfortable. In fact, think of yourself as a trailblazer!

I had to check to make sure that I hadn't written this post! Except for the years of experience (have a few more on ya there), you could be describing me. I taught for a few years, and enjoyed it. Yet I missed bedside nursing. It has taken years for my family, even the nurses in the family, to stop asking if I ever plan to go back to teaching. They just don't seem to get that I love bedside nursing. I still love to teach as well, and get the opportunity to with students doing externships or management clinicals or with orientees.

Nursing provides so many opportunities. I always say, "If you don't like what you are doing, do something else." That is what you have done. Why apologize for this?

I can't speak for all nursing schools but, the ones that I know of it is a requirement for the teaching staff to continue with at least a part-time job nursing in their field that they teach about.