The education of nurses impacts patient outcomes. Highly qualified nurses can garner better patient outcomes and improved satisfaction. During their higher education degrees, nurses learn how to provide better patient care, employ evidence-based practices, promote patient safety, and educate patients about disease prevention and control and the perks of keeping healthy.
These are all the benefits of hiring highly skilled nurses, but some prepare these nurses for these roles—they are nurse educators. They mentor the nurses new to this field or those going back to school with a few years of experience. In addition, nurse educators have an important role in safeguarding healthcare in the face of an impending acute nursing shortage.
Roles of nurse educators
The job of nursing educators is gaining attention in recent times as more nurses want to diversify their careers and try other domains in the nursing career. More nurses are ready to impact outside the direct bedside care domain. Hence, RNs choose nursing education in their MSN specialization. With an MSN in education, nurses learn to develop and design, analyze, evaluate, and execute a nursing curriculum to see if it efficiently fulfills the educational requirements of MSN nurses.
Often nurses opt for a blended career. They work as nurses educators, teach workshops, participate in the health advocacy effort. But at the same, they work alongside patients in clinical settings too. A blended career reduces career-induced monotony in their life. These perks attract many RNs to explore more about MSN in Nursing Education online. So below are the most common FAQs about an online MSN in Nursing Education. It is always better to gather all the facts before making a life-changing decision, such as getting an advanced degree.
- What is an MSN in nursing education?
MSN in nursing education is an advanced degree program in nursing that focuses on preparing RNs with skills to teach and train RNs. Once you have a degree in nursing education, you can assume roles at various institutional and non-institutional settings.
It is common to find nursing educators in nursing schools, colleges, universities, schools. Still, they are also present in the hospitals and clinical settings, teaching patients and their families about wellness and good health.
Apart from that, they can also manage wellness programs for big corporate employees. Nurse educators are also involved in writing funding proposals for educational programs. They may also be present with institutes telling them how to improve treatment protocols.
- What do students learn in MSN in the nursing education program?
MSN students learn advanced skills through a variety of courses. These programs cover a broad range of topics, including nursing informatics, community care, research, communication and writing skills, health and wellness, evidence-based practice, to name a few.
As a student, you also learn to develop new strategies for the specific student audience, build clinical, dyadic, and online modes of education, and get expertise in curriculum design and student assessment.
Other areas that you may focus on in the MSN in nursing education program include population health, Informatics and Technology, Teaching and learning theory, and creating community health workshops.
- What do students learn in pedagogy?
In teaching pedagogy, students learn about the role of the instructor and consider the efficacy and purpose of traditional teaching methods. In addition, they learn about innovative ways of teaching that are currently available.
For nursing educators, learning pedagogy is essential to develop the appropriate instructional strategies contingent on the work setting, teaching goals, and the audience’s abilities. As part of your practicum, you might also learn to conduct student assessments, tests, and grading systems.
The teaching strategies considerably vary depending on the background of your audience. For instance, if you are developing and conducting corporate wellness programs based on the educational characteristics of your audience, your teaching strategies will vary considerably. Similarly, you cannot slap the corporate wellness program teaching strategy when working with hospitals or educating the masses in community programs. The purpose of teaching pedagogy in MSN is to prepare you for all settings.
- Is it possible to get a job with an MSN program that is not accredited?
The possibility to get employment depends on the position you seek and your prospective employers. Some employers have very strict rules about hiring nurses with accredited degree programs. Your chances to get a role in a good hospital and government job are particularly meager; the same is the case for a teaching position in highly esteemed colleges and universities.
Unfortunately, due to many institutions charged with degree frauds, lack of accreditation is often considered a red flag and a lack of surety about the legality of your institution. Many hospitals are carefully checking the background of the institutions that award MSN degrees because counterfeit and illegal academic credentials are a risk for patient health. Individuals with fake degrees may not be prepared to take up complex patient care roles. So, it is always better to be sure of your institution’s accreditation and degree before enrolling in an MSN in the nursing education program.
Conclusion
MSN in nursing education is becoming one of the famous degrees among the RNs aspiring to develop their career. The biggest benefit of an MSN in nursing education is that you are neither limited to a clinical setting nor an educational institution; you can trespass the boundaries and switch between roles. With better education comes the chance to perform high responsibility roles, earn a better salary and have more career opportunities. In addition, more hospitals and academic institutions prefer MSN graduate nurses from clinical and pedagogical roles simultaneously.
