Interview!!

I interviewed with Michigan State on Tuesday night!! It was a very informal phone interview, so it was done from the comfort of the guest room in my pajamas while Molly snoozed on the floor. I had received an email on Tuesday morning saying to call and schedule an interview, and the secretary originally asked if I could do it later that afternoon. As it turned out, the profs who would be interviewing me were still teaching at that time, so they asked if they could call in the evening to reschedule. One did call me later in the evening, and launched into the interview right there. It was very fun and conversational and not-intimidating.

The program is changing as of next fall, with the addition of a piece to the MSN in Education called the Clinical Nurse Specialist. A CNS is an advanced practice nurse who works in the acute care setting of the hospital (rather than in the primary care setting of, say, a clinic or doctor's office, like a nurse practitioner would) integrating the processes of patient care practices, nursing-related issues, management concerns, nurse and patient education, etc. It's a very broad role. The requirements for Master's-prepared nursing educators are ever-changing, and it is essential that those who teach have an advanced-practice background. So it will require more classes (but fun ones that the nurse practitioner students take, that I was drooling over), like Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, and Advanced Pharmacology, and wraps up with an intensive clinical internship with a CNS. It will be more adult-focused, so a bit out of the comfort zone I've had with little people for a while, but that's all part of the challenge. I'm very excited.

So evidently the decisions will be made tomorrow and acceptance letters will be mailed in the next couple of weeks. So I may wrap up stats AND find out if I am accepted by Christmas! FUN!