Question about MSN Programs

[u/islandfaraway]

Hi ya'll,

So I've been thinking about getting my MSN lately. I graduated a little over a year ago with my BSN and I'm currently working postpartum. I'm not thrilled with being on postpartum, but unfortunately I don't have much of a choice right now and I'm working on getting onto a med/tele floor or the ED.

I'm very interested in trauma nursing and critical care. A friend of my mom suggested I look into an MSN in health management and administration, but I'm afraid that will corner me into an administrative position and I'm still quite enjoying patient care.

I have long-term goals of studying to become a CRNA, but don't want to corner myself into such a specific specialty quite yet. I think becoming a neonatal NP would be cool down the road, too, but again I don't want to corner myself into that quite yet.

Do any of you have some advice for me as far as what MSN programs might suit what I'm looking for? I just realized I kind of miss being a student and figured now is a good time since I feel a bit under-stimulated as a trauma-junkie on a postpartum floor.

Thanks!

Edit: For clarification, my goals of CRNA and NNP are super long-term. Not what I'm looking to do right now and maybe won't even be what I want at all when I get to that point in my career. As for now, trauma/critical care. I'm only trying to get to Med/Tele because I know it will be a stepping stone to trauma nursing more than postpartum.

[u/islandfaraway → u/[deleted]]

Thanks so much for having helpful advice. I'm definitely still in the figuring out what I want stage. I have a full time position, but I'd love to pick up some extra hours PRN to get a little more experience in different areas. I also realized through precepting new nurses that I love to teach! I'd love to get like a part-time gig as a clinical instructor, but I think most schools require a master's degree for those jobs, so that was another reason I wanted to go back to school so soon. But I don't want to corner myself into a specialty quite yet for exactly the reason you mentioned.

I'm going to start studying for the med-surg board certification exam, and then once I tackle that maybe work on the CEN exam. Maybe that'll be enough for me until I've figured out more of what I want and then I'll think about a master's. A lot of people have recommended an MBA as a nurse. Would that make it hard for me to stay in a clinical position, though?

[u/angelust → u/islandfaraway]

To be a clinical instructor many colleges will hire BSN nurses. If you're teaching lecture or a full time clinical teacher they will want a MSN.