school nurse or clinical instructor?

ladyapj, ADN, EMT-I, EMT-P · Mar 12, 2021

I know an ADN that got a job teaching in a private nursing school. I was horrified! My understanding is an MSN is required, at least at reputable schools.

itsdarrow · Mar 13, 2021

Why were you horrified? An ADN with 15+ years of experience might be able to teach circles around MSN teacher?

The letters after your name don’t make you good at your job.

ladyapj, ADN, EMT-I, EMT-P · Mar 14, 2021

Because that person had very little experience and it was only in an out-patient dialysis unit. If clinical experience is all that's required to teach, why would schools require MSN's to teach RN's? The school was a for-profit one that charged 3 times what any other college in the area did. There is a difference between a clinical instructor and a theory instructor. Personally, I think any nurse with a lot of experience can teach clinicals, but a theory instructor needs to be able explain all concepts in depth and an ADN doesn't have that knowledge.

londonflo · Mar 14, 2021

2 hours ago, ladyapj said:

The school was a for-profit one that charged 3 times what any other college in the area did. There is a difference between a clinical instructor and a theory instructor. Personally, I think any nurse with a lot of experience can teach clinicals, but a theory instructor needs to be able explain all concepts in depth and an ADN doesn't have that knowledge.

Operative word is for-profit and it probably isn't accredited. Wonder what the pay is? There are aspects to the instructor position/job that should be fostered in higher education. Otherwise the ADN instructor is just teaching as they were taught with little insight into the teaching/learning process. Putting a fair test together takes skill/knowledge that has to be learned academically. Writing a meaningful evaluation is an art.

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An ADN with 15+ years of experience might be able to teach circles around MSN teacher?

The letters after your name don’t make you good at your job.

The letters after you name verify your achievements and you have a specific body of knowledge that has been tested. I don't doubt an ADN with 15+ years of experience can and will teach clinical skills expertly. If it were only that simple --- take an apprenticeship and learn with on the job training (read your Florence Nightingale) --- We have been there and our profession has grown to be an academic discipline and involves a lot more than starting an IV. For example, would you pay for a prereq English Course in writing if the teacher only had a two year degree? What about anatomy and physiology? Remember you may need to excell in these to achieve a great score for a nursing program admission.

itsdarrow · Mar 14, 2021

Again you can have all that and be a terrible teacher. I’m not discounting education, it’s important but you can have all the education in the world and be a terrible teacher.

Nursing is actually one of the professions where there is HUGE variability. All MSNs aren’t equal. All BSNs aren’t equal. I personally know nurses who have graduated from accredited online (not for profit) MSN programs who I would not trust with my own family members.

ladyapj, ADN, EMT-I, EMT-P · Mar 15, 2021

That's very true. I think there's a lot of room for improvement in some aspects of nursing educarion.

RatherBHiking, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2021

You can be a clinical instructor with a BSN. However you usually don't get benefits with that type of job and it's usually part time. If you don't need benefits then try it esp since you're wanting to get your master's degree anyway. However, the pay for a master's degree nursing instructor in my area is dismal. I make more as a school nurse. You could try subbing as a school nurse in your district to see if you'd like it. I sometimes will teach a puberty class, hand washing class, or maybe another wellness class but as a "guest", not as a teacher. I don't have time to teach much. My day is spent doing first aide, med passes, and a bunch of other stuff. If the pay were better I'd get my master's degree and teach but it's not worth it to me because I'd never get my student loans paid back before I retire. I don't understand why nursing instructors get so much less than any other type of college teacher. Just another way nurses aren't given due respect.

2bnurse_it · Apr 6, 2021

21 hours ago, Blue_Moon said:

You can be a clinical instructor with a BSN. However you usually don't get benefits with that type of job and it's usually part time. If you don't need benefits then try it esp since you're wanting to get your master's degree anyway. However, the pay for a master's degree nursing instructor in my area is dismal. I make more as a school nurse. You could try subbing as a school nurse in your district to see if you'd like it. I sometimes will teach a puberty class, hand washing class, or maybe another wellness class but as a "guest", not as a teacher. I don't have time to teach much. My day is spent doing first aide, med passes, and a bunch of other stuff. If the pay were better I'd get my master's degree and teach but it's not worth it to me because I'd never get my student loans paid back before I retire. I don't understand why nursing instructors get so much less than any other type of college teacher. Just another way nurses aren't given due respect.

thank you so much for your response. it was very insightful.

I never thought about subbing, but that's a great idea.

thank you