Bonnie J. Ross: Brookdale Community College

Last spring, a student pulled Bonnie J Ross, R.N., B.S.N., M.A., aside and broke down in tears. The student had had a bad dream the night before about her brother, whom she had watched die from leukemia, and feared she would lose control in front of the patients she was caring for during one of her clinical experiences as a nursing student.
 
Ross spent much of the day comforting her with stories about how she had coped with the emotional challenges of nursing in her own life and encouraging her to believe in herself. The student graduated in December, passed her nurse licensing examinations and took a job in pediatrics. A few months later, she sent a long email to Ross and her colleagues to thank them for their support that day and throughout her transition to nursing.  It reaffirmed Ross’ choice to leave bedside care and become a teacher. "She just made me feel so good," Ross recalls, adding: "It's worth your while to go into teaching."
 
Ross earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing in the 1980s ­and worked as a clinical nurse at Overlook Hospital and at Monmouth Medical Center, both in New Jersey, until 2002, when she learned of an open teaching position at Brookdale Community College, also in New Jersey. She took the job and never looked back; she now has a full-time position there. "From the moment that I started it always felt right to me," she said. "It was the right place to be."
 
Nursing educators tend to make less money than clinical nurses, but the benefits of teaching more than offset the salary differences, she says. As a mother of two children, Ross prefers the steady pace of college life over the hectic schedule of a hospital job. She no longer endures 12-hour shifts, can spend some of the workweek at home, and enjoys the classroom's more flexible hours, which allow her to better meet her caregiving responsibilities. She also appreciates her job's lighter summer schedules.
 
At the same time, she hasn't lost out on the rewards of clinical nursing. Two days a week, as a full time faculty member, she oversees 10 students in a hospital setting who are accountable for 10 patients. And she enjoys the intellectual stimulation she gets from teaching students and working with fellow faculty. She is currently assisting in the development of an online nursing curriculum to appeal to a more diverse population of students. "I know I could make more money, but the satisfaction I have makes up for that," she says.
 
To be sure, teaching does not come without its challenges. One of Ross' toughest jobs is teaching a student body with diverse learning styles, many of whom face language and other barriers. But the rewards outweigh the difficulties. "I'm very fortunate," she says. "I really do love my job."