MSN 670 – Nursing Education Field Experience

Hello All, 

A little background:

I’m a second career nurse in my very late 40’s (I’ll be 50 in three months LOL).  I have been an RN for three years.  But my experience over that time is varied.

Covid and an immune-compromised husband kept me hopping around trying to find the “safest” job.  (that was impossible but I didn’t know it at the time!).   I started in Psych and left after a year when covid started because it was a communal living environment and didn’t feel safe.  I went to outpatient dialysis which was a freaking nightmare because of toxic staff – transferred to inpatient dialysis which was all fine and good until they started floating us to the covid units. That was emotionally heartbreaking and also dangerous for my husband so I left that after about a total year in dialysis.  I then took some time off because I was completely disillusioned with nursing and finding the “perfect job” and wanted to wait Covid out a bit (HAHAHA!).  Fast forward and now I’m working in a job I truly love at a pediatric specialty hospital.  Our patients are mainly under 3 and have varied illnesses and issues.  Lots of trach/vent babies (with minimal RT support), micro premies that can be out of the NICU but not ready for home, post surgical transplants, new Gtubes, etc.  They usually come to us for stabilization, treatment and observation… and a whole lot of parent teaching. I’m only working part time two days a week and feel like I’ve found a place.  

In my previous life I had extensive experience working in psych with psych families and state education and advocacy.  I taught mental health first aid all over the state and really loved teaching.  Going into nursing, I always knew that my end goal was to be an educator of some kind.  

Now that I am working part time and have the time, I am looking into MSN programs.  I have zero interest in being an NP and at my age, a Ph.D. seems like a ton of time and money for not a lot of benefit on the back end.  I did my RN at a hospital-based RN program (one of the few left!) and my BSN online at Capella. I had no issues with online learning. 

I am looking into a program at a local university that is an online MSN in education with a focus in simulation.  Is simulation a needed specialty in nursing education or would I be better off just getting a general MSN in Education?  Also on the table are programs such as WGU or Capella which allow me to work at my own pace.  That worked beautifully with my BSN and because I had other college degrees, Capella only took me 5 months to complete.  Capella is for profit.  WGU is not.  I love the flexibility in these programs but am very concerned that they won’t be looked at as highly as a B&M local university.  Also concerned with finding preceptors with WGU or Capella. Significantly cheaper at WGU/Capella vs B&M school. 

I am not going to be looking for full-time work.  I like working part-time, so I am not concerned about the adjunct nature of clinical instructor work or community college instructor.  

My questions summarized are this: 

1) Simulation a good focus for education MSN? 

2) WGU, Capella, vs traditional B&M?  I’d rather go cheaper and faster especially since I will likely only be working part time in the field, but concerned about academic reputations affecting job prospects. 

3) Being a clinical instructor with only one year each of Psych, Dialysis and Pediatric nursing each? (Well, by the time I finish I guess I’d have 2-3 years of pediatric experience – but at a part-time status)

Thoughts?  Advice? 

Online Masters in Nursing Education (MSN-Ed) Online

I also did my BSN with Capella, then my MSN ED with Capella, finished in 7 months. The preceptor wasn’t hard to find, I emailed my nursing education dept at work and they set me up with someone. I know some do have trouble finding a preceptor. I feel most employers don’t care where you got your MSN, just that you have it. I’m currently interviewing for two positions, one as a clinical educator and one as a clinic manager and I’ve been approached by my current manager regarding another position that he thought of me for. I am not considering teaching at the academic level since my background is OR and they usually want med/surg, psych or L&D, but since you have that background it’s def a possibility. I wasn’t aware of specific Sim MSN, sounds interesting and def will be growing field.