random_nurse12

I have an MSN and I teach in a community college. I am also a Department Chair. We do not require a doctorate. I will however obtain a doctorate at some point. It will be either an EdD or DNP, it will not be a PhD. I would encourage you to look at teaching in a college with less of a research focus or a community college. I have also taught at private 4-year colleges and they did not have near the emphasis on research and publishing that the large, state university does. I personally love community college and have no desire to ever move into a position that requires research as a major portion of the role. I have published. But it is not required for me to do so. We are student focused. It is much more about teaching and student outcomes than research and publishing. And as cliche as it sounds, we truly make a difference in students' lives. Every year I see the student struggling, living in poverty, and this degree will literally change their lives. I would also suggest adjuncting as a clinical instructor after you complete your MSN. This is the best way to start. I think teaching truly has to be something you are passionate about and your personality has to be suited for it. You will never get rich doing this, but there are advantages and disadvantages just like every thing else. I have an incredible work-life balance and a retirement plan that I would never find working in the health care system. But no, I do not make as much money as an NP.

I feel like I am very lucky when I read things here. I have taught the same two classes for 4 years. The faculty I work with do the same. However I have friends at other colleges who constantly get moved around. I would not be happy that way at all. I will teach any med surg clinical, but that is all relatively similar. It is better for the students to have an instructor who teaches the same course consistently because you get better at it over time. Constantly reinventing the wheel does not help anyone.

I think you have to consider many factors. Your personality, your age, who is funding the education, the job market where you live, etc. A PhD has a vastly different role than an NP. I make 85K as an educator, but I work 12 months a year. I have excellent retirement. I, after much soul searching, know I would not be happy as an NP. My personality is suited towards teaching. Money wise, CRNA is the way to go. NP is honestly a crap shoot depending on where you live, the market, and your specialty. I have friends that are NPs and love it and friends that are miserable. The same goes with education. I agree with another poster that I would prefer an EdD to a PhD or DNP. BUT, and it is a huge but for me, the DNP will be so much quicker and therefore cheaper for me. I have significant student loan debt that I don't want to add to and I am phobic of signing commitments for my employer to pay the tuition. I truly am not interested in nursing research as my career and I would prefer to teach in community colleges or small universities. I would not be a good fit in a large research university.

The first time you teach a class is the worst. My school tries to keep instructors in their same courses. Each instructor has 1-2 main courses they teach and they repeat this each semester or year (some of our courses only run once a year). Clinicals vary, but med surg is med surg, and clinicals do not require the amount of prep and organization that lecture courses do. My life was hell the first year I taught. It has gotten progressively better each year.

I would not recommend a for-profit for anyone. Don't think of only the short-term. Think long-term. If you want to teach you may not be able to in certain institutions. If you pursue a doctorate you may be locking yourself into attending another for-profit. Do you receive tuition reimbursement? Why not a state university? Capella is expensive that even with a discount it is difficult for me to picture it as the most affordable option.

Academia has its own stress, it's different stress, but really there are no stress free jobs. It's about what you are willing to deal with it and what fits your personality. Some people go into teaching thinking it will be one thing and it is quite another, I think that may be one reason you see people wanting to make the switch. It was never for them. And the other is money. Even those that love it, can not always make it work financially. In my perfect fantasy world, ever nurse would get the opportunity to spend a year as FT faculty. Seeing it from the other side is eye-opening.

I have been a nurse for 16 years. I have an MSN, I am not an NP, and I teach FT. I still work in acute care. I would not say it in a group of nurse friends, but I am extremely cautious with seeing an NP. I know far too many that were barely competent as nurses and I don't trust them. I have some friend NPs I would trust because I know their background as nurses. At a Minute Clinic or the like, really there is no choice, but let's be honest a lot of experienced nurses could do that job without a graduate education. I think salaries will decrease over time because there are just too many schools pumping out NPs. I have former students that are in NP programs now and it is frightening. They were poor students, mediocre nurses, and the idea they would be prescribing in three years scares me to death. I have often tossed around the idea of going back for a post-master's certificate. For now, I am not doing it. I am not convinced I would be happier as an NP. While my NP friends make more money than me (but not by a lot) they also work twice the hours. It is a shame what we have done to graduate education in nursing. I feel like, for the most part, undergraduate education is good. Or at least in my experience it is. I am not saying it is perfect, but I feel like for the most part we produce safe graduates that are ready for entry level practice. Why do we lose that at the graduate level? Open book tests? Finding your own clinical? Would medicine ever do that to itself? No, absolutely not. Graduate nursing programs are raking in the money for universities because they are costing very little to run. Everything is online with professors taking huge numbers of students, no cost for clinical sites or clinical instruction.... So much focus on theory and research and so little on patho, pharm, and actual disease process. At least at one time it required nursing experience, but now that is gone too. How you can be an advanced practice nurse if you didn't have any practice to ADVANCE? Nurses are exhausted from the bedside and the treatment of nurses. They want a way out. And the majority of nurses are not on a forum such as this and have no idea that the education is sub-par or are in denial of it. I have a high schooler that is interested in NP and I am trying to push him towards PA.

Every school is different. There are three ways I have seen clinicals handled. 1. Traditional. One instructor to 7-10 students. Students only do meds and skills with instructor. 2. Same as above, except students are allowed to be under RN supervision as well. 3. Preceptor model. A student is assigned to an RN preceptor and does all skills and meds under RN supervision. There may or may not be an instructor in the building. This preceptor is generally not paid. I work in model #1 and I wish we had model #2. If the nurses are willing for example, to watch a student put in a foley catheter, while I am giving meds with another student, the students get a much better experience. My state allows 10 students per instructor and that is just too much. I cannot give them everything they need at that ratio. We are told that our "insurance" will not allow this model.

I have absolutely considered being a hospital educator. I think both of the two previous posters repsonded when I asked about it in the summer. Full disclosure I make 85K as a professor in a LCOL area. From my research I would initially take about a 10K cut in pay in order to make the transition. Not to mention the significant difference in retirement benefits (15% is contributed for me, no matter what my contribution). And free tuition for my kids. But I think I am an outlier in that regard. I also think summers off draws in a percentage of professors (not me, but those that I work with). The flexibility. I do not work a 9-5 shift, nor do I work M-F. For the most part, I come and go as I please. That would be tough to give up. I think from that perspective, if you have been teaching for a while, it can be difficult to make the move. Also, for some professors they are receiving student loan payback they can't receive in the hospital positions. I have friends that are hospital educators and when we discuss the similarities and differences it seems that in hospital education you can force more compliance where now students are treated like victims and it can be difficult to really enforce anything with them. There is so much whining from students. They are difficult to please. On the flip side, most staff nurses dread to see the educator coming and many don't respect the position at all. Like most jobs, I think it comes down to which set of problems you want to deal with and how your personality matches up to the position. But for me, I feel stuck because I am the primary wage earner with teenage children.

I teach FT and have for about 4 years. I adjuncted for several years before that. Number one: do not go into teaching to make money. You will be very disappointed. Where I am at faculty start at about 55K for 9 months of work. Summers are optional. A summer contract would add 33% to the base salary. We do not have set hours, what I mean by that is: this is not a 9-5 job. There is a lot of flexibility and a lot of built in time off. There is also a lot of work to take home. The first year is the toughest. I do work PRN because I like to punish myself and I do not want to lose my skills. And honestly I think back to all the instructors I had or have worked with that have no clue what is going on because they haven't actually worked as a nurse in 20 years. I always recommend that you adjunct as a clinical instructor to start. This will give you an idea if it is a good fit for you. No more than we can tell someone what it is really like to be a nurse, can I tell you what it is really like to be faculty. It is much different than most people realize. In my fantasy world every nurse would be faculty for a year. I enjoy my job. 90% of the students are great. 10% make me lose my will to live. It is always that 10% that have you questioning if you have made the right choice.

I teach and hire in a community college. I have also taught in BSN programs. The schools I have taught at prefer the FT faculty in lecture and the adjuncts in clinical. It is rare to see an adjunct in lecture. This is obviously very location dependent. We have a serious shortage of MSN faculty here, let alone discussing doctoral prepared nurses. There is no provision in my state that the faculty member must have a degree in nursing education. Any MSN will do and many NPs teach. The most obvious places for you to teach would be in mental health nursing and I would think pharmacology. However most faculty do start out as an adjunct clinical instructor before moving to the classroom. I think you may want to consider adjunct in a BSN program, or a RN-BSN completion program. It sounds like you are more interested in the business/policy side or health promotion. ASN programs and the first 2-3 years of BSN programs are heavily focused on medical-surgical nursing and the knowledge needed to pass NCLEX.

I have no desire to ever be a FT bedside nurse ever again. I do not dislike clinical with students though. They are different in my mind. It is difficult for me to explain....I like the relationship between instructor and student at the bedside.

Exams need to be reviewed. If you allow students to write things down I hope you are writing completely unique exams every semester. Which is very tough to do because you are not able to validate your questions. I personally review every exam. There is no recording, no writing anything down. Correct answers are given. I will do a brief explanation of high missed questions. There is no arguing with me or I will immediately end the review. Students can meet with me individually if they would like to take more time. Still, no writing anything down.

I have found it very difficult to find an online position. I would be happy with adjunct/part-time. There are so many people that want to teach online. WGU would be the number one place for a position that is entirely online. My understanding is that for me, it would be a significant pay cut that I don't know I could handle. I do wish they hired PT as I think it would be a great supplemental income. I have considered interviewing for FT just to find out for myself what the pay really is. I have said before, I work at a community college and I get applications all the time from professors that want to teach online, and we don't have an online program. At one time I was a "success coach" online, which is not quite an instructor, but I did all of the grading, none of the course design. It paid--wait for it--$400 for one course. On a 1099, so it is heavily taxed at the end of the year. It was a lot of work, and when I calculated it, I was making less than minimum wage for the time I put in. I would be very interested to hear from anyone successfully teaching 100% online for someone other than WGU. How did you get started? Do you have a PhD?

I will be honest and say money is my primary concern because I am the main income for my family. I also should add I work 4 days a week as a professor. Flexible hours. Im having a difficult time nailing down what hospital educators make. I'm seeing 60-70K. Of course it's year round, so 60K won't cut it. How horrible is it to interview primarily to figure out salary? Because that's what I'm considering. How is your flexibility?

I have been teaching FT for 3 years. I make a decent wage. My base (9 month salary) is 60K. Summer is an additional 20K, so I make 80K/year. Like most teachers, I am questioning whether the job is "worth it" or not. Pros: Flexible schedule. I do not have to be at a desk for 8 hours a day. As long as you are teaching your classes/clinical and doing your office hours, you can come and go as you please. Lots of time off. Summers off if you want it (I can't afford it). Teaching is a good fit for my personality. Great retirement benefits. Tons of sick time. Cons: Lots of red tape, constant turn over of faculty, constant new rules and new forms, audits, re-accreditation, old staff that can't work technology, take work home with you, recruitment and retention takes precedent over quality. No control of time off (meaning there is no vacation time, you are off when the students are). _____ I would like to compare teaching to what an educator in the hospital would make salary wise and what a day would be like. I would love to hear from anyone who has done both. Sometimes I think I really should have gone for that NP and the higher salary.

While I agree it is inappropriate, if there is not a policy against it, then there's nothing you can do. I will not friend students on FB until after they graduate.

Always research your local job market too. I make significantly more at a community college than I would at WGU. My benefits are also better. But that can be very regional. Also the work from home may be worth the cut for some, just not for me. When I talk to people both online and in person there seems to be an abundance of people wanting to teach only online. It won't work for everyone. I'm in a position where I hire instructors and get many requests for online only. I find the same is true of my colleagues in 4 year programs. Yes eventually you will need a doctorate. I would still want to test the waters in the classroom and clinical settings before starting the path.

I work in a 5 semester ASN program (so 2.5 years) in a community college. We do not have recruitment issues at all. More applicants than spots every time. The biggest draw is the affordability. Also, we have many agreements with BSN programs, with some even allowing a dual enrollment. Is this an affordable program?

I recognize that DNP is just jumping through another hoop, quite honestly. I am looking at a state university in my state. My question now is timing. With a middle schooler and high schooler and I am just not sure if there ever will be a good time. I do have to sign a commitment with my employer in order for them to pay. That is one thing I am very iffy about.

My first clinical teaching job, I literally got a tour of the unit and that was it. I had to hit the ground running. Where I am currently working, we have two different methods depending on the timing of hiring. Sometimes we are able to hire in the summer and we will send the new instructor with an experienced instructor who has a clinical group. This is a hard-sell to the college because they don't want to pay someone who isn't loaded (meaning they aren't teaching any credits). The other method is we hire them and an experienced instructor goes to the first 2-3 weeks of clinical with them. So, yes it is normal. It is very hard to convince college administration to pay people who do not have a credit load. Everything is about credit load (or contact hours).

I am a nursing professor and I am in a position in which I hire instructors and professors. I would recommend a respected university in your state. I will warn you that at least one large university system in my state will not hire any instructor or professor with a degree from a for-profit or WGU. I was shocked about the WGU part. I work in a community college and we will hire from any accredited MSN. But I would not want to limit myself by having a degree from a for-profit or from WGU.

It is really difficult to find a FT online position that pays well. WGU comes to mind, and please someone correct me if I am wrong, they do not pay well and they do not hire PT. They also require you not have another job during the first year (I am not sure how that would be enforced). I would not recommend anyone get an MSN in Nursing Education if your intention is ONLY to teach online. I think you will be disappointed and find it a fierce job market.

I am a nursing professor. I have an MSN. I will eventually need a doctorate if I want to have mobility. I am not particularly interested in research and quite honestly do not know that I can commit to a PhD program until my kids are adults (they are 12 and 15 currently). I am considering a DNP with a leadership/education focus. In my area, the DNP seems to be an acceptable alternative to PhD, with universities accepting professors with DNPs into tenure track positions. I have also considered an EdD, however that will take me more time than a DNP. My current employer will pay 100% for a doctorate, however I will have to sign a commitment. Any advice or thoughts on DNP vs PhD, vs EdD?

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but if you have an MSN in Education, it may be difficult to find a program to complete a DNP as a practitioner. The DNP should expand on your original Master's degree. There are DNP programs that are education and administration focused for non-NPs wanting to complete a DNP. I think it is most important to decide what you want to do. Where do you see yourself? Do you want to be an NP? There are many clinical hours involved in an NP program, plus you must maintain practice hours in order to keep the certification. This can be difficult to do if you are trying to teach simultaneously. It can also be difficult to gain per diem employment as a brand new NP if you plan on teaching being your primary job. These are just issues I have witnessed as an educator. If your desire is to be an NP, you can certainly teach as an NP. I would only suggest that you have at least 2 years of NP experience before you take a FT teaching job. I think nurses often discount the important of the nursing education focus. There are many topics we are not experienced in as nurses or NPs: curriculum development, testing and assessment, systemic evaluation, accreditation, etc. Those are topics that you will not be educated on in an NP program, but you will need to understand in order to be a successful faculty member.