msnblack

The issue of compensation for instructors--clinical or theory is truly a major issue in getting the qualified instructors into academia. I taught for 8 years but then moved. When I interviewed for a teaching position in the south (AL) I would have had to take a $20,000+ annual cut in pay over my present position as a hospital educator. It was not worth it to me even though my love is teaching student nurses.

I feel that the advanced degree is helpful in both "book knowledge" but the additional expansion of the mind in the liberal arts courses that one has to take. But just as important as the advanced degree is the amount of time and experience the person who goes into teaching has. If a person with little or no experience tries to teach, they are not able to related the material to life experiences which is extremely important for a student who has never been near a patient or hospital before. The worse instructors I have seen in 27 years are the ones that go straight through school and teach.