Interview for Educator position

[tgb1966]

Hello, all--

I have an interview for a teaching position for a practical nurse program. I have interviewed before, but I have since found this forum and thought I would send out some feelers to see if anyone out there might be able to give me a heads up on some of the questions that I might encounter during the interview.

My background is med/surg, primary care, physician office and currently, case management. I worked for several years with internists and have also worked with a large group of endocrinologists. I have been a certified diabetes educator in the past as well. Ever since nursing school, I have had a desire to teach, and satisfied that with patient education. Now, I am interested in teaching nursing students. I have not yet completed my MSN, although I will finish my program in June 2008. At that point I would like to move into teaching at the baccalaureate level. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

[proRN]

Congratulations on the decision to pursue a career in nursing education, we all know how needed you are. I have served on many search committees for nursing faculty, and have been through many interviews myself. In a techinical program, they may be interested in how well you can teach technical skills. Hopefully if a demonstration is required they let you know ahead of time. It is not uncommon to demonstrate something simple like teaching a skill such as BP taking or NG insertion. The committee will look at your ability to develop a lesson plan with specific measurable goals as well as your presentation. I have designed interview questions, and they are often very specific to the mission of the nursing program. Do your research about the school ahead of time to know their mission and philosophy so you can focus your answers. If the position is for clinical teaching, you may get questions such as how would you be fair when students present exceptions (like missing more than the allowed clinicals due to personal reasons, or concerns about safety in the patient care setting). Giving students feedback and fair evaluation is an important aspect of clinical teaching. If it is a lecture postion in a college, you may be asked about your experience as well as your education and nursing philosophy. I have additional resources if you are interested, it would help to know more about the position requirements.

:welcome:

[tgb1966]

Thanks, ProRN! The interview went really well! I am hoping that they will offer the position, even though it is an adjunct position and I really need to work full time. The other drawback is that this particular position is located about an hour's drive from where I live. I have also been talking with someone at another school who needs instructors for a med asst program. The thought process I have is that it would be nice to get some teaching experience under my belt to make me more hireable for associate programs. Sound reasonable? That med asst position is also an hour from my home. I really don't mind the driving, but I know that it will get old pretty quickly in the wintertime. In your experience, how difficult is it to find full time faculty positions?

[proRN]

Nursing faculty positions will start to be posted in March for the next academic year. In MN a Masters degree in nursing is needed for a FT position at most colleges, some non-accredited technical schools only require a BSN. Check the websites of the colleges near you, they should start to post openings soon. Nationwide there is a nurse faculty shortage, although like the nursing shortage it is not evenly distributed. I am not sure what things are like in Iowa. Good luck!