Welcome to the Nurse Educator Forum. It is my desire that you find this a warm, inviting place and will come here often for friendly, collegial discussions.
Let me introduce myself: I have been an ADN nurse educator in a small community college in North Carolina for the past two years. My areas of specialty are medical-surgical, OBGYN and immediate newborn, and cardiac nursing. In addition to teaching, I conduct clinicals on general medical-surgical, PEDS, postpartum, and cardiac step-down units. Along with being a full time nursing instructor, I am working on my Masters in Nursing Education. I am enrolled in a fully online curricula and have been very satisfied with this so far.
I have learned much these past two years but, I have so much more to learn! I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello everyone, so nice to read all the awesome nurse comments. I have my Masters in Nursing, with a Clinical Nurse specialist focus in Med/Surg. I will be teaching at the BSN level this Fall in Adult Health: Gero. and Holistic Nursing. My work history includes a Licensed School Nurse while my kids were little....the schedule was perfect. I also had two years med/surg before that. I then did clinic work and management/CNS in residential chemical dependency/detox with adults and adolescents. I am excited about teaching and would appreciate any ideas and support from experienced instructors. Thanks ahead of time.Dianne
That's what I'm afraid of...lectures!! :uhoh21: My only hope is that I will know more than them. And yes they do keep you on your toes (I see that when I'm working on the floor and the students come to me with so many questions (I really don't mind though).
You mentioned your "day off". I was wondering too, what kind of schedule does a full time professor/instructor have? 4 days, 5 days, does it include evening classes (if the school offers them)? I have so many schedule conflicts right now with childcare, but by the time I start teaching, my daughter will start 1st grade. I'm just hoping it will be a better alternative to 12hr hosp shifts, having maybe a more normal lifestyle.
I actually am a full time instructor - this year I will apply for promotion to Assistant (or maybe associate I can never keep it straight!) professor. I do not teach in the BSN program, just the ADN so my day is done by 3 at the latest. I usually start at 9 am, we take an hour lunch and we leave by 3. Gravy job! I luv it!
I actually am a full time instructor - this year I will apply for promotion to Assistant (or maybe associate I can never keep it straight!) professor. I do not teach in the BSN program, just the ADN so my day is done by 3 at the latest. I usually start at 9 am, we take an hour lunch and we leave by 3. Gravy job! I luv it!
So, you are considered 'full time', and work 4 days a week (or I should say teach 4 days a week)? It is basically a 6hr day? How much time do you need to devote to work while you're not there (ie, tests and those dreaeded CARE PLANS)?
What is the difference between 'instructor' and 'professor' at your school? Where I live, I don't know of any colleges off hand that actually have both ADN and BSN programs. So I will have to choose one or the other when I start looking.
So, you are considered 'full time', and work 4 days a week (or I should say teach 4 days a week)? It is basically a 6hr day? How much time do you need to devote to work while you're not there (ie, tests and those dreaeded CARE PLANS)?
What is the difference between 'instructor' and 'professor' at your school? Where I live, I don't know of any colleges off hand that actually have both ADN and BSN programs. So I will have to choose one or the other when I start looking.
The difference where I am comes down to years of service for me. I am starting my 3rd year and was hired as an instructor. This year I will be promoted (hopefully - will get a raise if WV has any monies for it) to assistant professor then in the 6th yr associate professor and then 10 yrs professor. It is advantageous to hire in at the lowest rank so then you are eligible for more raises via promotions. I DO spend an hour or 2 a day sometimes with computer stuff for the course and always spend a couple of hours grading papers on w/e. I actually probably do put in 40 hrs a week when you add up work at home and time spent in hospital making assignments. Our BSN is a 2+2 program thru WVU in Morgantown. It is mostly online.
Specializes in critical care, management, med surg, edu.
Originally Posted by ksfrn66
I actually am a full time instructor - this year I will apply for promotion to Assistant (or maybe associate I can never keep it straight!) professor. I do not teach in the BSN program, just the ADN so my day is done by 3 at the latest. I usually start at 9 am, we take an hour lunch and we leave by 3. Gravy job! I luv it!
I've been in nursing ed for 21 years and have never had a job like that. In fact, I'm lucky to give any attention to my own family during the first couple months of each semester. Furthermore, I am at the clinical sites no later than 6am to assign pts and usually have a one hour commute each way. There a few 6 hr classroom days here and there. Then, when students are on their preceptorships, I'm on call 24/7 for about a month. It is not a cush job, although it is wonderful to have summer and Christmas at home with my family.
Thank you for the replys. This is my first teaching position, should I choose to except it. It is a ADN program. I will do clinical instructing with 1st and 2nd year students. Even though I have had alot of experience with hospital nursing I must confess, I am a bit nervous. Always wondering when the question will come that I do not know the answer to. Being the honest smuck that I am, I will tell them that I will have a complete answer in detail the next time we meet. I do not know if this is the right response or not. It is just me. My goal is to encourage and inspire the nurses that pass through. We need so badly to have good nurses that truly enjoy and are proud of their profession and the contribution they make to society. I hope and pray that I will be able to fulfill this goal.
I am interested in pursueing my MSN and would like more information, if anyone would care to send it my way. Thank you. I have been informed that it is so much easier now then when I was in school 9 years ago. Much can be done via internet. WOW!
I am interested in pursueing my MSN and would like more information, if anyone would care to send it my way. Thank you. I have been informed that it is so much easier now then when I was in school 9 years ago. Much can be done via internet. WOW!
Yes it can be, but I found that distance learning was not for me. I guess it depends on the program, and the person. My school's program was hardly interactive, it was more of an independent study program. I am more of an auditory learner, and I love the classroom interaction and environment. I also could not do my work at home (no one would let me!) You should start a new thread (maybe on the general nursing topic area) and ask for some opinions. I certainly would not recommend my program (I've since transferred out). It was actually an NP program, and I switched to a specific Education track.
Specializes in critical care, management, med surg, edu.
Always wondering when the question will come that I do not know the answer to. Being the honest smuck that I am, I will tell them that I will have a complete answer in detail the next time we meet.
Sometimes this is a good answer, but they will learn more if they look it up themselves or spend a little time reflecting. Always giving the answer does not build critical thinking skills. However, no one likes to hear a gruff "look it up yourself", so I find that expressing faith in their abilities to figure things out helps to build self esteem.
Welcome to the Forum! Feel free to post here anytime. I am both a teacher (ADN students) and a student myself (MSN-Nurse Educator--due to graduate next summer!) :chuckle Our nursing school is very small-a total of about 100 in all of our different programs (ADN and LPN).
Congratulations on going back to school. I, too, will graduate next summer (God willing!) with my PhD in Clinical Health Sciences. Then I will be able to get back 100% to teaching / clinical practice. I love it all, but have felt VERY stretched these last 5 years trying to do all things.
Hi there. I wanted to chime in on this thread, I was contacted today by one of the instructors at our local community college about teaching some clinicals this coming fall semester. I have always wanted to teach clinicals, but always thought that I would have to have my BSN first. I have an ADN and am currently working on my BSN-MSN. The MSN program is a CNS in Nursing Ed. The comm college has LPN and ADN programs. Im nervous and excited all at the same time. Any words of advice????
I started off as adjunct faculty too and am now full-time faculty with classroom and clinicals. I absolutely love it! The students keep you honest and also teach YOU alot as well. Some of the questions they ask are, well, downright simple, but others are something that I hadn't thought about or had to look up the answer myself! I have learned from them as well as them learning from me. I have 14 yrs nursing experience behind me so the clinical component didn't worry me, but the 3 hr lecture with 30 sets of eyeballs on me took some time to get used to!
I guess it depends on the program, and the person. My school's program was hardly interactive, it was more of an independent study program. I am more of an auditory learner, and I love the classroom interaction and environment. I also could not do my work at home (no one would let me!) You should start a new thread (maybe on the general nursing topic area) and ask for some opinions. I certainly would not recommend my program (I've since transferred out). It was actually an NP program, and I switched to a specific Education track.
diannenurse
6 Posts
Hello everyone, so nice to read all the awesome nurse comments. I have my Masters in Nursing, with a Clinical Nurse specialist focus in Med/Surg. I will be teaching at the BSN level this Fall in Adult Health: Gero. and Holistic Nursing. My work history includes a Licensed School Nurse while my kids were little....the schedule was perfect. I also had two years med/surg before that. I then did clinic work and management/CNS in residential chemical dependency/detox with adults and adolescents. I am excited about teaching and would appreciate any ideas and support from experienced instructors. Thanks ahead of time.Dianne