Should I take a summer TA position?

[Nesher, BSN, RN]

I have been offered a summer session (8 weeks) TA position in the BSN program of my alma mater. I would be working with a newly graduated PhD professor teaching her first class - I of course have no experience in this realm. I would have the opportunity to teach as well as grading etc. I am intrigued as I have always had teaching on my list of possible employment avenues, but I am married to a teacher so I have seen first hand what a grueling sacrifice it is to teach...not to mention the pay which isn't great.

On the other hand as I venture away from bedside nursing and into the big bad world of advanced practice I find I am asked about speaking ability, and experience giving presentations - so this would look great on my CV as well as give me a boost of confidence.

This class with have about 50 students - huge group and this is their first class of the BSN program so there will be nerves to deal with, a tall learning curve as they figure out study habits, library resources, etc.

Here is a course description:

What this course is really about:

- Thinking about clinical nursing practice beyond tasks-the conceptual basis of nursing.

- Identifying a concept in clinical practice from the point of view of the discipline of nursing and thinking about it as a scholar.

- Starting with human responses and experiences and getting beyond the medical model.

- Identifying some common nursing concepts that cross nursing specialties, age and population groups, and settings of practice

- This means we will have to read, think, write and talk about questions like:

- What is nursing practice?

- What is the discipline of nursing and its' phenomena of concern?

- What is the difference between a concept and a phenomenon?

- What is a nursing concept and what is not?

- How will I know one when I see one?

- What is a nursing concept that is particularly relevant to my practice interests?

- How do we research, define and describe nursing concepts?

- How do nursing concepts relate to interventions and outcomes?

- How do nursing concepts/interventions/outcomes "play out" across different populations, age groups and specialties?

Anyone have any thoughts?

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

This sounds like an absolutely wonderful teaching and learning experience, Nesher.