Questions, questions....

[Good Morning, Gil]

Okay, so I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm very goal-oriented, and type A lol. So, I have been a nurse for 1.5 years, and an ICU nurse for the past several months, new to ICU nursing. I love it, and this is where I will stay :).

I discovered during nursing school that I love to teach. My original plan was to become an FNP one day, and I still may do that, but I hope to teach one day.

Questions:

Is there a shortage of nursing faculty as it says all over articles?

(I've read there's a shortage of nursing faculty d/t low pay and making what a bedside RN makes)

Shortage of educators in any particular nursing area? Or is this all just regional and random? Like CA may need peds nurses in LA, but Seattle may need OB nurses, etc.

Possibility of teaching online courses, as well, with just MSN? (may pursue DNP later, but this all takes time :)).

How about the online programs? Is it best to choose an online program that has an actual school with it? I know Gonzaga has an online program, RN-MSN, and a few others do, as well, Drexel has online MSN programs for RN's with previous degrees, so that works well for me. Looks like those 2 are really solid programs, both with clinical component. Any input from people who have attended there?

Anyway, I love my job, and love who I work with, but I am excited about the possibility of educating future nurses down the road! I love writing test questions, and all of that jazz, too :), I'd love researching new lesson plans, PPT's, etc. Oh, and how many positions are there for nurse educators in the hospital or staff dev? I love to learn, but I don't want to invest money/time into education if I will be jobless after graduating. Guess I'll just have to ask this 8 years from now :)...or is nursing education expected to have too few faculty long-term? I know I read that, too, but just like to hear it from those actually working in the field.

Thank you!

[mommy2boysaz]

In my area (NE Indiana), it seems that many of the for-profit type schools, such as MedTech College, ITT Tech, Brown Mackie, etc are often hiring instructors. The state colleges or universities in the area appear to have fewer openings. I think you can teach online courses at many schools with just a MSN, but they usually want teaching experience in addition to the MSN. Of course, if you would want to teach MSN students, you'd have to have your DNP...

As you said, I'm sure it all depends on where you live. Nursing jobs in general are not as abundant here as in many areas of the country.

Good Luck to you!

[Good Morning, Gil]

Thank you for the info! I really had no idea if there was a shortage in most areas of the country or just certain areas, and what they expected that to look like in the next 5-10 years.

Do you enjoy your job? I have read a few nightmares on here where people have gotten thrown into not the best situations. I don't think I'd want to teach peds or any other area where I have no nursing experience.....that just doesn't make sense. How could I possibly know what I'm talking about? lol. All of my professors that taught me had experience in that specialty area. Psych nurse taught psych, OB nurse taught OB, etc. I didn't even know that happened until I read it on here.