Newbie Nurse Faculty Advice Needed

[JM.MSN_BSN_RN]

Hello all, 

I have recently finished my master's and will be transitioning into a FT nurse faculty role in a CCNE accdredited BSN program in the coming weeks. The teaching expereince I have to date comes from extensive preceptorships in the nursing profession (I've been an OR nurse for 6.5 years) and from doing guest lectures during my MSN program to BSN students. 

I am very excited to start this role as I started my nursing career with a dream of one day going back to teach at my alma mater. I want to be successful and cultivate a learning environment that instills realism, passion, and confidence in my nursing students. 

Any advice I could get from this community would be very much appreciated. I am intimidated to jump into lecturing and creating content for the first time and I know there are plenty of you guys out there who had experience transitioning into education and I would love to pick you brains. 

Thanks! 

[RN0599, BSN, MSN]

I graduated in June with my MSN in Nursing Education. I completed my last preceptorship at the nursing school where I was hired. I teach the Fundamentals Skills Lab class and 2 days a week, I  take a clinical group of 8 students to a Rehab facility that also has long-term care. I was assisting with the lecture of the Fundamentals course during my preceptorship. I am happy doing the skills lab and clinicals. Just that is a lot! Good luck starting your new career! And don't forget to have fun!

[beachgirl17]

I am interested to read the responses here. It sounds like we are similar in our backgrounds. I, too, am an OR nurse and will be finishing my MSN in nursing education in the Spring. I am interested in teaching in a nursing school, but I have so many questions about what the job is like in the beginning. Will you have someone mentoring you? Do you have to come up with syllabi and coursework by yourself or is there some guidance from other instructors or old syllabi? I'm just curious. Thank you.

[organichombre, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I have worked as a clinical instructor for 16 years and have never taught theory. Then why are you responding you might ask! First off, nursing students need to know how they learn and until they do, they will struggle and you will be frustrated with their performance, thinking it's your fault. I've had a number of kids over the years who study all night, read the book, do questions, complete reviews, all to no avail. And based on what I see nowadays, if they have an anxiety problem nursing school will only exacerbate the issue. That's all I got! Good luck and thank you for making the decision to teach!

[organichombre, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Nursing schools now have a much better orientation for new faculty. They are often matched with a mentor who is available as a resource person, you may shadow someone for a couple days, there is a paper trail for the competencies and requirements of the job and suggestions on how best to lead huddles, post conferences and supervision on the floor. The biggest hurdle I had to remember when I started was that although I was an expert in critical care, I was not an expert in teaching clinical. And I think that most of us begin to channel an updated version of our own most influential instructor! As for the syllabus, just follow the specific rubrics because you will need to pay attention to what the student outcomes are when it comes to evaluations. As one of my old bosses told me, "Be firm but air, and hold them to a higher standard". Good luck!