Thoughts after teaching this morning

Just a few thoughts after teaching the nursing students this morning...

As in the U.S., these undergrad nursing students have little to no intention of ever working as a staff nurse in a hospital. Out of 49 students, only 4 said that they wish to ever be employed in hospital or clinical setting. Of the 4, one wanted to go into psych nursing, one in pediatrics, and two in oncology. When i asked what the others had in mind for nursing careers, they stated that they intended to go to graduate schools, so they could do something besides nursing. Since the concept of Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) is unknown in India, I asked what they would do with a Master's degree. The overwhelming response was "teach nursing". They did not seem to understand that it is difficult to teach nursing when you have little or no experience being a nurse. Since I have had this exact conversation with US nursing students, I guess that I should not be surprised at the identical thoughts coming from the Indian students.

The pay scale for hospital staff nurses in Pune is about 3000 RS ($60 US) per month. However, the clinical instructors with a master's degree in nursing make about 18,000 RS ($360 US) per month. I can't blame them for thinking that grad school is the most lucrative way to go, even if you skip over the experience portion of the resume. I have asked about the clinical instructors' experience here in the College of Nursing and I was told that most have about 12-18 months of clinical nursing experience. I guess, it is an example of teaching what you most need to learn.