MSN in Edu or Adm, online vs on-campus programs, graduate scholarships

[Bookworm22]

Hello,

I am a recent graduate from a BSN program in May of 08. After a long delay in finding a job, 6 months approximately, I finally was hired at my current facility. To say the least, it has been a very stressful and upsetting year. Not only did it take so long to find a job, but my facility isn't exactly the most receptive to teaching new graduates. I work at a facility where most attended the hospitals school of nursing. I have had nasty comments made and nurses who are unwilling to spend 2 minutes helping you. I have had many a days since beginning work in April that i have come home completely discouraged an havent wanted to even go back. I dont understand how some nurses can act like this to someone who they know is new. I feel like saying half the time...dont u remember when you were in my shoes????????? However, even know I have alot of things said to me and alot not gone my way..I just grin and bear it. Also, I have found prayer and a closer relationship with my family and boyfriend beneficial. At this point, moving to another facility isn't an option since I have less than a year of experience.

Since my experience has not been the greatest as a floor nurse, I am looking into other avenues. At my facility, nurses do EVERYTHING. We are so short staffed. No aids, secetaries, respiratory therapists etc. We pretty much do everything and i dont spend nearly as much time as I would like with patients and have the time to do all the paperwork required.:banghead:I am deciding between an MSN in nursing adminstration and nursing education. I was set on being a teacher for a long time. I had so many awful nursing professors that didnt care about how you were doing or if you needed help and that was a huge reason why I was drawn in this direction. However, jobs are hard to come by and now many facilities want an MSN and PhD..which is expensive and very time consuming. I may want to go on to get my phD, but I want to be able to find a job upon my degree completion and MSN in adminstration I have read is a more marketable degree. Therefore, I have started to become interesed in MSN in health adminstration. However, I am unsure if I would want to be a nurse manager. I was wondering what other types of areas could you get into with a degree in health adminstration?

Also, I was wondering if when attaining a degree it would be a good idea to do a fully online school or a more on campus based program? Do employers rather an on campus program, especially for an MSN in education?

For an MSN program, due to financial reasons, I would like to be done in 2 years. I have been researching programs and I find RN-MSN and accelerated BSN etc. Are there part time accelerated MSN programs for BSN degree students? I haven't been able to find anything in PA or NJ.

If you are able to offer any advice at all I would appreciate it. I havent been able to find anyone that knows too much on this subject. I would appreciate any insight from any experience you may have.

thank you!

Also..if you are aware or graduate scholarships available if you could pass this information along I would appreciate it. I am unable to find any scholarships that are merit based with criteria that I fit.

[UVA Grad Nursing]

Public colleges and universities will be cheaper than private, online schools. I would encourage you to contact Penn State and Pitt first, and see what types of programs they offer. More and more public institutions are using distance learning methodologies for their graduate programs -- especially in non-clinical areas.

If you are thinking of becoming a nursing instructor, ask yourself who you would want to teach. In many states, State BON regulations require that those teaching BSN students and above have MSNs in the clinical areas that they are teaching (pediatrics, critical care, psych, etc). For example, in my state of Virginia, those with MSNs in Education can only work as patient educators in hospitals, or teach ADN/diploma students. Many graduates from online nurse education programs I have met wish they knew about these BON restrictions before they borrowed $30,000 for their degree.

Financial aid at the graduate programs now are experiencing the same cuts that everyone is facing. I have $400,000 less to award this year than I did last year.

Any MSN program will likely be 35-45 credits. This generally takes most people 1.5-2 years fulltime and over two years parttime. This will vary from school to school and from program to program.

Good luck with your hunt. One think you might want to consider to to attend SNAP this November. All of the graduate programs in Pennsylvania should be there.