Nursing continues to be among the fastest-growing jobs in the health care industry. Even though nursing jobs are in such high demand, the supply of teachers, colleges, and internships has not kept pace with the demand. Staffing doctor's offices, clinics, hospitals, and health care facilities has lead to innovative approaches to nursing training.
If you're an experienced nursing professional, you can help fill this educational void, while also helping to advance your career with a doctor of nursing degree.
Train While You Train
A doctor of nursing certificate attests to both your experience in the industry and your ability to mentor future nursing professionals. To earn your certificate, you need to take classes designed to help you deliver the mentorship and instruction your nursing students will need to succeed.
- Working professional: balancing a full-time nursing job with a full-time doctor of nursing training can be difficult. You can help manage this balance by looking for a program that offers paid training. These programs essentially pay you to learn the doctor of nursing curriculum. The catch for many of these programs is that you will need to coordinate internship programs upon your completion of the course. Many health systems have started offering nursing programs and doctor of nursing programs, which allows them to employ their nursing students directly when they graduate and source their experienced health care professional help teach the courses.
Teach Your Passion
One of the biggest trends in the nursing profession is specialization. Not only can this allow you to serve demographics you connect with, but also to build valuable professional expertise. Doctor of nursing programs can teach future nurses that might be passionate about the patients you're passionate about.
- Clinical environments: programs offering specialized nursing training require unique clinical situations. When choosing a doctor of nursing program you should ask about the specialized nursing training the nursing program offers. Additionally, asking questions about the clinical elements of their curriculum can be telling about the school's priorities. For instance, if the school offers extensive lab courses in clinical environments, you will know that the school is devoted to providing hands-on training. If you work in these intensive lab environments you can sometimes earn additional professional credentials that can increase your employment opportunities and earning potential. You can flip this experience when you teach nurses in training learning specific skill sets that mesh with your additional professional credentials.
For more information, contact a school that offers a doctor of nursing program.
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