MSN

[Ashtimus Prime]

Is it best to get a MSN in nursing several years after working as a RN or is it a good idea to get it after 2 or 3 years of experience? The MSN is not a practitioner role, but a administrative leadership degree. When would be the best time to grab one of those types of degrees?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Well, first of all- one does not 'grab one of those degrees'.

And there's really no point in getting an advanced degree without some exposure to the role. So, for administration, some progressive leadership experience would be in order.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Moved to the Post-Graduate Nursing Student forum.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

PP is correct. An MSN is "necessary but not sufficient" to nursing leadership jobs. It's never too early to start moving along in your career progression. Start by taking advantage of peer leadership opportunities as they present themselves... things like precepting, chairing task forces and shared governance committees, etc. Then move into a charge nurse role. Honestly, that is one of the toughest transitions because you'll be "supervising" your peers. If you do it right, you'll end up on the radar screen of the decision-makers when promotion opportunities arise.

OTOH, You may end up realizing that nursing administration is not where you want to be after all. Best of luck to you on your career path.

[BirkieGirl]

I agree. I was actually pursuing a NP plan when I took a supervision role that I absolutely LOVE and decided to go after MSN in Administration and Education after all. Sometimes you have to try out the various roles before having a really clear idea what it's about.

Also, in many hospitals a degree doesn't trump experience, and all the degrees in the world won't qualify you for the job if you don't have real world experience. Thus the reason you might ADN nurses (with 18-25 years experience) doing certain roles that are typically MSN trained type roles (Manager).