Are you seriously considering investigating RN to MSN programs online? It seems like something worthwhile, but you are not sure whether or not you will really benefit from getting this degree. Would it be better just to get a nursing degree? It depends on where you see yourself in the not-too-distant future. If you are comfortable doing regular nursing duties – which are vitally important for the smooth running of the day-to-day life of ANY medical facility, then the nursing degree is best.
But if you want to have more say in the overall arc of your career or if you want to run things or try other things, then you might be better off having that Master’s degree in hand. Let’s take a look at some of the positions you can take:
Pages of Contents
Pediatric, Geriatric or Family Nurse Practitioner
Do you have a specific age range that you click with? Do you delight at the thought of seeing children all day? Do you prefer the wit and wisdom of those who have lived multiple decades? Or would you prefer to see a range in ages? In any event, there is a practice for you. That MSN degree can help you get that particular job and specialization.
Nursing Informatics Specialist
How would you like to work with technology and combine it with nursing? This is what this particular job entails. It merges computer science, information technology, and nursing. When you are getting your MSN degree, you can learn more about Informatics, which will give you a leg up on getting a job like this. a
Clinical Nurse Researcher
Research is incredibly important when it comes to nursing, pharmaceutics, and medicine. You can write grant proposals, look over and evaluate data, and be able to digest a large amount of information. It can be stressful, but you will likely have a regular schedule. These jobs want you to have great communication skills, mostly verbal, but you need to be able to write well, too.
Nurse Ethicist
It is important for nurses to follow a strict code of ethics. This ensures that everyone gets treated the same. You can ensure that the place that you work at is compliant with any ethical standards … and you can teach about certain ethics that might be seen as being in a gray area. This will help both the nurses and the patients. You can always go into work knowing that you are doing the right thing.
Nurse Educator
Nurses have to learn from someone, right? If you have an MSN degree, you are showing yourself as an authority in the field of nursing. The upcoming generations of nursing can learn from you …. and they will remember what you taught them. That can have an enormous impact on the state of medicine as a whole.
Other Reasons
You could network with other people in your RN to MSN program. They could be on the lookout for a position that would suit you perfectly. The same goes for the faculty that you learn from. If they like what you showed when you were in class, they could possibly open some doors for you that you might not have had available to you otherwise.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways that you can use this degree to find positions that will give you career satisfaction and be interesting. You can shape future nurses or you can help patients or you can watch over nurses in a hospital. Ultimately, it could be the best decision you ever made.
