MSPH useless if becoming a RN???

fergus51 · Sep 20, 2003

I may be stating the obvious, but aren't you interested in public health nursing? I am sure a masters in PH would be useful there, or in community health. As a bedside nurse in a regular unit, I can't see too much relevance.

uncgrad · Sep 20, 2003

What about an Infection Control Nurse??? A nurse who tracks nosocomial infections within the hospital setting???? I specialized in infectious disease epidemiology???

Liddle Noodnik · Sep 20, 2003

Originally posted by uncgrad
What I would like to know is if having an MSPH can be helpful as a nurse

Hey there

A friend of mine at work is pursuing the degree you have so ... (shrug) I guess there must be a use for both. Sounds like it is a very hard program.

Good luck!

sjoe · Sep 20, 2003

The suggestions above are the ones that come to my mind, as well.

A PH background would be of some use in nursing, as would a background in business admin, e.g., but it is very doubtful that it would raise your payscale--not in any of the dozen or so places I have worked except the VA.

"strongly desire to enter the nursing field due to minimal interest in research and minimal interaction with people."

Due to WHOSE minimal interest, etc.? Do you mean that you have little interest in research and you are interested only in minimal interaction with people, or that these are characteristics you have found in people with MSPH degrees?

That confusion aside, academic Public Health has two sides--research and admin. Both are important and both need good people to work in them. You might want to weigh nursing school vs. getting your PhD in PH. Nursing school would take longer and most likely not pay as well--particularly as contrasted to PH admin (since employment on the research side tends to be more episodic and "political").

-jt · Sep 22, 2003

Yes you would be compensated for your health-related Masters degree in NYC if you were an RN or NP working in a hospital or any other facility or agency (like home care) where the nurses were represented by the New York State Nurses Assoc union.

Our contracts command several thousand/yr more for health-related BA, BS, BSN, MA, MS, MSN, or PhD. The amount of the pay depends on level of degree. If you held more than one of those degrees, you'd get the pay for the highest degree.

I can see how MSPH would be useful in community nursing - school nursing, public health nursing, home care nursing. In those areas an RN with that degree might even be the one designing and running those programs. The infectious diseases RN at my hospital has her Masters in Public Health too, but she doesnt really have to do much with the pts - she interacts more with the hospital staff. The NP who runs our hospital employee health dept also holds a MSPH. Her job has her interacting with staff too.

glow_worm · Sep 22, 2003

Hi, there - I went to UNC for nursing school! Graduated in May, moved to Seattle for my first RN job.

I have a previous BS degree, and I've worked with a few nurses with MS or even PhD's. Unfortunately, this field does not compensate a nurse for prior degrees. They are irrelevant for bedside nursing. You can work as an infection control nurse, though -- but so can any RN. But that option may provide more job fulfillment for you than bedside nursing.

blkdawn · Sep 22, 2003

I also have an MSPH and am currently working on an ADN. In Florida, the Master's degree would increase your pay...you don't have to be an MSN.

But you might want to consider doing clinical trials as an RN, MSPH. Salary is easily STARTING around $75K. RN's with epi experience are good substitutions for MD's. If you live in a state with a pharmacetical company, call their HR department and verify what I'm telling you...

Hope this helps.

Dawn