MSN

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I have my BSN and work on a TAVR unit. Been a nurse for 6 years. Not sure what direction to take my nursing career. I believe its important to keep educating and getting the highest degree possible to give myself the most options for the future. I want to get a MSN but I dont know what interest I will have and dont want to waste time going to school if its going to be a waste down the line. But I want to get an advanced degree while im still single and have the time to dedicate. I just dont know if its worth it to waste my time now if im really unsure of my path. I figured I would have gained clarity since ive been in the field for quite some time. I was thinking maybe education and become a clinical instructor or work in a facility with nursing students and work as an RN per diem or vice versa. I dont think I have a desire to be an NP because of the struggle people have even finding someone to precept them has me terrified and that I wont find a position since its so overloaded with NPs these days. Also, dont you need to maintain a certain amount of clinical hours as an NP to practice? So say I wanted to teach with my NP, id have to maintain my NP license by my clinical hours (please correct me to clarify). Any advice on either situations? Also, if I get my MSN in education, what are usually the requirements to keep my MSN in education active? Does it become inactive if I dont teach? Need some clarification.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

If you don't know what you want to do, I would not recommend starting a program.

2 Votes
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
11 minutes ago, klone said:

If you don't know what you want to do, I would not recommend starting a program.

100% this. You may be young and single now, but that doesn't mean when your situation changes that you can't go back to school in the future. An MSN with no goal in mind makes no sense. Figure out what you want to do in the future, then get the education to go with it. I went back for my MSN after 7 years of experience, but I had enough experience to know that I wanted to be in education in the future (which the future came sooner than I expected). I sat on that degree for 2 years before I started using it, but I at least had a career path in mind. And no, an MSN in education doesn't become "inactive". It is a degree, not a licensure status.

1 Votes
Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I agree with previous posters - figure out what you want to do with your career/ life goals first - and then figure out what training or education you need to to reach those goals. It doesn't make any sense to go to get a graduate degree if you don't have a good rational (at least for yourself) of why you are doing it.

If you are interested in being an educator, you could talk to your unit educator or nsg education dept and see if you could shadow them when they teach or orient. When I did MSN in education I had to put in hours at a clinical site, so if you choose that path it will be nice to already have made connections with them.

+ Add a Comment