Nurse Educators, Introduce Yourselves!

[VickyRN]

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.

[Sarah, RNBScN]

Hi:

I will complete my Masters in Nursing Education this coming December. For 5 years my specialty area was E.R. nursing, but I have also worked in Med-Surg, in a Family Practice clinic, and most recently as a charge nurse in a drug and alcohol recovery program. I taught clinical part-time for several semesters in an LVN program and really enjoyed the interaction and experience of teaching students.

At this point in time, I really am uncertain as to whether or not I want to pursue full-time teaching due to the low paying salaries for faculty members. I enjoy teaching, but I'm not sure that I can afford to take the significant cut in pay because of my financial obligations. I would like to know if any of the nurse educators in California are finding positions that offer salaries comparable to what many nurses with master's degress are making in other areas.

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What facility will you have graduated from? Is that an American school? I am finding it difficult to find a Master of Nursing Education program in Canada, Ontario specifically. Please advise.

Thanks

[pabrid]

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What facility will you have graduated from? Is that an American school? I am finding it difficult to find a Master of Nursing Education program in Canada, Ontario specifically. Please advise.

Thanks

Yes, this school is in Los Angeles, California.(Mount Saint Mary's College) This is a school that is well very well known for their nursing education. I will be graduating from the first Master's in Nursing Education Program in December.

[kacrn]

Hi Sarah! I just graduated in June with my masters in education and nursing administration. I too, wanted to teach but was worried about the drastic cut in pay. As an ER Nurse Manager working nights, going to teaching cut my pay in half! I have been teaching since December 2003 before I completed my masters. Just some things that I have found to work for me. I have my pay strung out over 26 paychecks (one year) instead of only 9 months. I also look for opportunities within the college to pick up extra, such as teaching elective courses, on-line courses, and summer classes (which really pay quite well.) I also remain contingent in the ER to keep my skills up and to pick up extra money.

Good luck with everything!

Kandyb

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What facility will you have graduated from? Is that an American school? I am finding it difficult to find a Master of Nursing Education program in Canada, Ontario specifically. Please advise.

Thanks

[gerinurse10]

To those who opt to teach even with the low pay: Is it worth the pay cut? You must really like your jobs. What are the perks of an educators job? I haven't heard one person say they hate their job. Sounds like its worth the pay cut. Any info appreciated. Thanks.

[kacrn]

Personally, I think it is well worth the cut! Since being in nursing school ran by army nurses, I vowed to teach new nurses in a less stressful environment. Now I am getting that chance! I really love working with the students and watching them grow in their knowledge. Even though I have only worked as an instructor since last December, I have seen a lot of good, encouraging things from the students! Money isn't everything :) however, I do take every opportunity to make extra! Perks are....summers off unless, you choose to work to make extra money. Pay given in the summer is almost doubled. You have a great deal more autonomy than in bedside nursing. And you still get patient contact when you have students in the clinical setting. I love my job! Hope this helps. Kandy

[renerian, BSN, RN]

I previously did QI and SDC work. MY QM job recently was eliminated for the most part and given to a corporate staff person. I like education but get very tired of teaching orientation classes over and over.

I do look at the way the group learns first and revise the presentation but the material is still the same. Everyone tells me I am a good instructor but it is not as variable as QI so I am getting rather bored.

renerian

[kacrn]

One suggestion to end the boredom is to teach in higher education. Teaching the sophomore and junior levels students have been far from boring! However, you must have a master's degree. If you don't have one, that would make a good goal. I know what you mean about QI. I used to do the same thing. I think you would like teaching students.

I previously did QI and SDC work. MY QM job recently was eliminated for the most part and given to a corporate staff person. I like education but get very tired of teaching orientation classes over and over.

I do look at the way the group learns first and revise the presentation but the material is still the same. Everyone tells me I am a good instructor but it is not as variable as QI so I am getting rather bored.

renerian

[missmercy]

I LOVE the teaching aspect!! It is such a great feeling when you see your students actualy grasp on to a concept!!! My question for ya'all is this: what advantage is there to getting a CNS in addition to my MSN w/ dual emphasis in education and administration? Would it be more prudent to move directly into a doctorate/Phd. I currently work as a nursing staff development educator/coordinator, but my long term goal is to end up teaching at a local university. The two CNSs here are telling me that I should get my CNS, but I am not sure if that fits best with what their professional goals for me are or what MY professional goals for me are -- know what I mean?!

[kacrn]

I don't know that the CNS would actually be to your benefit. The ones at our college that have a CNS just use it to make a little extra money. However, the MSN in Nursing Administration and Education has benefitted me a great deal in my teaching position.

I LOVE the teaching aspect!! It is such a great feeling when you see your students actualy grasp on to a concept!!! My question for ya'all is this: what advantage is there to getting a CNS in addition to my MSN w/ dual emphasis in education and administration? Would it be more prudent to move directly into a doctorate/Phd. I currently work as a nursing staff development educator/coordinator, but my long term goal is to end up teaching at a local university. The two CNSs here are telling me that I should get my CNS, but I am not sure if that fits best with what their professional goals for me are or what MY professional goals for me are -- know what I mean?!

[missmercy]

That is kind of what I thought. I am under the impression that they are sort of trying to make my professional dreams similar to theirs. I am not planning to stay here forever and am thinking that a hd/ Nursing Doctorate would actually be more beneficial than the CNS for what I really want to end up doing.

[kacrn]

I agree!

That is kind of what I thought. I am under the impression that they are sort of trying to make my professional dreams similar to theirs. I am not planning to stay here forever and am thinking that a hd/ Nursing Doctorate would actually be more beneficial than the CNS for what I really want to end up doing.

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Thanks for your reply. Basically I am teaching the whole interdiscipliary team. My Masters is a science with a nutrition major so I cannot teach nursing students. I thought about the STNA course though.

renerian