Contemplating Job Offer

[Q.]

Hi there! I just thought I'd post a couple questions for anyone who is willing to answer them.

I am a 2nd year graduate student working on my MSN in Nursing Education. So far I love the program and all that I'm learning. I decided to go the teaching route in nursing about 3 years ago and am now making good on that plan!

My clinical background has been labor and delivery, post-partum and nursery. Currently I am working in research at a birth defects center, and am doing that for a paycheck, basically.

I have been offered a job in an Educational Resources dept as a Education Coordinator. My job would be mainly orientation of new nurses and clinical staff. Some of the classes include med/surg concepts, such as chest tubes, respiratory issues, etc. I would love to teach things related to Labor and Delivery however, there already is a Coordinator in place doing just that.

I am worried about being "qualified" to teach such classes when my expertise is so limited to a specialty area.

Thoughts? Guidance? Help?

[spineCNOR]

Suzy,

does your MSN program require a practicum--that would be a good time to work with a staff development person who has experience in the areas you feel weak in.

Congrats on your new position and new challenge! I look forward to hearing how things are going for you.

[naddy]

What exactly do staff development nurses do and what is their starting salary?

[llg, PhD, RN]

Staff Development is the nursing specialty that focuses on the learning needs of nurses (and often, support staff) within a hospital or other health care organization.

We are the folks responsible for orientation, on-going inservices, etc. as well as a whole bunch of other miscellaneous tasks.

If you go to a nursing library, you will probably find several books specifically devoted to this specialty -- as well as a couple of journals, most notably, the Journal for Nurses in Staff Development. Skimming through some of them will give you a good idea of that specialty.

llg