The career of nursing continues to grow in popularity and demand. Once a person begins a career in nursing, opportunities exist for that individual to progress in his or her career. Hospitals and medical clinics need nurses who have specialized skills. As such, many in this profession choose to continue their education in order to further their careers. When nurses want to teach others entering this profession, they sometimes choose to pursue an MSN – Nurse Educator degree.
Pursuing a Master’s Degree in any field can be a large undertaking. However, nursing professionals are often held to higher standards than students who are working on business degrees or a liberal studies degree. A graduate nursing student studies in a classroom setting, as well as within an actual medical setting.
Featured MSN Programs
[contentblock id=1]
When an individual strives to teach in this profession, however, they must combine their medical studies with those found within the teaching career. Some nurses may not have ever taught others. They do not know the basics of lesson planning, giving tests, and working with students to ensure their success. They must be taught these skills in order to pass their own degree program successfully.
As such, they may be paired with other nurse educators who can model the qualifications needed for this career path. A candidate knows how to administer care to a patient. However, this individual may not know how to convey the step-by-step processes required for this care to people who are new to these procedures. Educators must know how to verbalize and to demonstrate the skills needed to enter this career.
They also must know what information should be taught and in what order. Many new students have no prior nurse experience. They are completely unfamiliar with this field and have never worked closely with patients. They sometimes have no idea about the human body, how it works, or treatment options available. All they know is that they want to study to become a nurse. Educators have the task of leading them every step of the way until they complete this degree program.
As such, education candidates sometimes are trained to put themselves in a new student’s position and identify which information proves most valuable in those earliest of lessons. Recognizing the order in which the lessons must be taught helps those who want to be educators prepare better for their role as the leaders in the classroom.
This switch in roles might be confusing and uncomfortable at first for some people. They may be used to focusing solely on caring for patients rather than teaching others. While they still may study to some extent in a medical setting, their primary concern for their degree program is to accommodate them to teaching and leading others. They are taught to let other nurses do the work while they instruct.
The need for teachers in the nursing profession matches the demand for qualified nurses itself. Because many in this field want to improve their marketability and worth, they often choose to pursue an MSN – Master of Nursing Education degree. They strive to become the teachers who bring new nurses to the career.