Stressed as a nurse. Experience needed to be a Nurse Educator?

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I’m currently a telemetry (ICU-step down) nurse and have been on the floor for almost 5 months. In all honesty, our floor is great, my coworkers are awesome, and our patient-nurse ratio is pretty good (4-5 max). However, I can’t help but feel like direct patient care isn’t for me. My patients tend to appreciate my care and most thank me at the end of my shift, and I can handle the work, but when I go home I can’t relax just knowing how all those people are hurting. I’m supposed to separate work from my personal life but it sucks the life out of my soul knowing all the ways my patients are chronically sick. I don’t have strength of mind to continue being a nurse long term (or even short term). Can’t even imagine how I’ll deal with the floors once I start floating to the more understaffed areas.

However, after some thought, I’ve always had an affinity for education. I can envision myself helping others learn to handle this career, and I’m good at communicating my knowledge to others patiently. Most importantly, it would make use of my nursing degree while keeping me away from the bedside and direct patient care. Could anyone offer advice on the least amount of time I could stay as a nurse while having a good shot at becoming a good nurse educator? Would two years be enough? (I live in NY if that’s relevant).

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

2 years is not enough time. At 2 years, one is just becoming competent at being a nurse. Almost every position I have seen required a minimum of 5 years. In the meantime, look into becoming a preceptor. It will allow you to teach while also continuing to firm up your nursing experience.

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Specializes in oncology.
On 6/2/2022 at 9:55 PM, Jennifer George said:

However, after some thought, I’ve always had an affinity for education. I can envision myself helping others learn to handle this career, and I’m good at communicating my knowledge to others patiently.

This is a real plus. 

On 6/2/2022 at 9:55 PM, Jennifer George said:

Most importantly, it would make use of my nursing degree while keeping me away from the bedside and direct patient care.

This is a concern as wouldn't you be teaching students to provide direct patient care? You will need to be in the trenches with them. The nursing educator role is not limited to the classroom or online. I don't wish to dissuade you; rather to help you clarify what the job/career entails.

 

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Ah, I had meant an educator in the form of a university professor. I talked to one of my professors and she stated she no longer worked at the bedside and focused more on research.

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Specializes in oncology.
35 minutes ago, Jennifer George said:

focused more on research.

You would need a PhD (or may be a DNP). 

 

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Are you only interested in being a professor? Is there a nurse educator at your hospital? Ask her/him about how one becomes an educator in the hospital,  if that would interest you.

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I would be happy to transition from an RN to a hospital educator! I think I would eventually want to work in a university but getting a PHD does take time. The educator I talked to said that it would be possible to get a position after 3-5 years of experience, and that I should try to start getting my MSN after one year and maybe leave by 3 years if I can find a position. I’ve also heard that an BSN/MSN nurse can teach at community colleges for LPN’s or phlebotomists, although I don’t know much about it yet. I’m just looking for more opinions while I consider this.

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Specializes in ER RN/House Supervisor.

If you want to be an educator, I would go ahead and start ASAP.  My understanding is it takes a MSN in education to be a nurse educator at a good paying gig.  If you start your grad program soon you would have that 3 yrs experience by the time you graduate.  

On your immediate issue, you may be identifying too much with your patients' suffering.  Everyone deals with this in their own way, but if you are worried about your patients when you are off shift, you are taking too much of their situation on yourself.  As an ICU and ICU step down nurse you will see a disproportionate amount of human suffering, and if it is overwhelming, that is something to pay attention to.  You may want to consider a specialty where patients are more likely get resolution to their issue and go home healed without too much drama.   If you only need "3-5 years experience" I would think you could get that on any unit.  There are always options out there, and you have chosen a particularly grueling specialty.  

Keep in mind that according to the WHO, about 75% of acute and chronic illness is due to preventable factors.  I am not saying that all your patients necessarily deserve their lot, but in our country, as nurses, we are seeing an aging population that has gone decades without adequate sleep, little to no exercise, questionable food choices, etc, or a combination of lifestyle factors.  Again, not judging anyone, but this is a very unhealthy culture; as caregivers its important to have some distance from work, however you can manage that.  

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Specializes in Community health.
On 6/4/2022 at 4:49 PM, Jennifer George said:

Ah, I had meant an educator in the form of a university professor. I talked to one of my professors and she stated she no longer worked at the bedside and focused more on research.

I have a BSN.  My first career was as an elementary school teacher, so I do have a background in education.  I recently looked into teaching at one of the community colleges (and local small job-training schools that offer LPN courses).  In my state, Connecticut, the state dictates that you must have 3 years experience as an RN to teach.  I'm sure different states have different requirements.

My observation was-- the LPN programs were churning through instructors at a ridiculous pace.  I encountered some students who were fed up with poor quality education and a lot of turnover, so they would absolutely love someone who was committed and passionate about the field.  I'm sure it doesn't speak well of the working conditions, but they were ready to hire me the very second I hit the 3-year mark.  I ended up going a different route but it's definitely in the back of my mind for the future.

Also-- the coursework for LPNs includes some basic framework classes like biology, nutrition, and medication math.  So when I interviewed, I explained that I wouldn't be a good choice for teaching the med-surge class (for example) because I've never worked med-surge.  They said that was fine, they also need people to teach foundation courses.

 

Edited to add: Someone mentioned the pay and yes, I am sure that's a huge issue.  My husband is the main breadwinner, so I was going to be fine with teaching a few classes a week in the evenings.  No doubt it's much harder to get a full-time well paying teaching position.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
On 6/4/2022 at 3:49 PM, Jennifer George said:

Ah, I had meant an educator in the form of a university professor. I talked to one of my professors and she stated she no longer worked at the bedside and focused more on research.

I got a recruitment letter recently from a local community college, which I found a little odd as I don't meet the education requirements to be an instructor but here is the minimum qualifications for the job according the their job posting:  By the way, pay attention to the salary, gee whiz that's not great! Heck, I make more than that with an ADN. 

Minimum Qualifications

Master’s degree with a major in nursing (MS or MSN); or master’s degree in nursing-public health or nursing education. Candidates who are currently enrolled and have made substantial progress towards a master’s degree with a major in nursing (MS or MSN) or master’s degree in public health-nursing or nursing education may be considered if they have obtained a BSN

Minimum of two years (4,000 hours) occupational nursing experience

Direct care experience as a practicing nurse within the past five years required

Current active unencumbered license as a Registered Nurse 

Ability to obtain driver’s license and insurance coverage in accordance with College policy

Preferred Qualifications

Teaching experience in an associate degree nursing program

Certification as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE)

Salary

FY22 Salary - $63,203 / year

Benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision

Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account

Long Term/Short Term Disability

Life Insurance

Wisconsin Retirement System

403(b)/457(b) Retirement Savings

Paid Holidays

Paid Leave

*note, I did edit to remove the schools identifying information but if anybody is actually interested shoot me a message and I'll send you the link

 

 

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Several Things...

-Honestly nurse educators at my institution are more paper pushers than anything else. Figure out the role at your place of work. 

-At least an MSN in education is what you will likely need

-Think about getting a therapist to help deal with the weight you are holding on to related to your patients suffering. You have to find a way to leave it at the door if you want to survive. 

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On 6/7/2022 at 2:15 PM, Bigwave108 said:

If you want to be an educator, I would go ahead and start ASAP.  My understanding is it takes a MSN in education to be a nurse educator at a good paying gig.  If you start your grad program soon you would have that 3 yrs experience by the time you graduate.  

On your immediate issue, you may be identifying too much with your patients' suffering.  Everyone deals with this in their own way, but if you are worried about your patients when you are off shift, you are taking too much of their situation on yourself.  As an ICU and ICU step down nurse you will see a disproportionate amount of human suffering, and if it is overwhelming, that is something to pay attention to.  You may want to consider a specialty where patients are more likely get resolution to their issue and go home healed without too much drama.   If you only need "3-5 years experience" I would think you could get that on any unit.  There are always options out there, and you have chosen a particularly grueling specialty.  

Keep in mind that according to the WHO, about 75% of acute and chronic illness is due to preventable factors.  I am not saying that all your patients necessarily deserve their lot, but in our country, as nurses, we are seeing an aging population that has gone decades without adequate sleep, little to no exercise, questionable food choices, etc, or a combination of lifestyle factors.  Again, not judging anyone, but this is a very unhealthy culture; as caregivers its important to have some distance from work, however you can manage that.  

I wanted to say thank you so much for this comment. It’s been 2 months since and I still come back to reference it. The biggest thing for me is that I want experience, because I want to be a good teacher! But in order for that, I need to be able to cope with my job better. I’ve gotten a lot better at separating my work and home attitudes and I can rest easier knowing how I’ve helped my patients. It made things easier thinking that their current health conditions were in part due to their own actions (especially with the number of patients I see reject their plan of care). Thank you so much for helping me ❤️. I feel like I can work more years as a nurse and maybe even advance to an ICU (…maybe) to get the fullest range of experience I can, if I feel comfortable enough to do it. I know that I’m doing well at my current job; as intense as some days get, I always come out having  managed it well.

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