If you have something you are truly interested in, consider a short guest editorial. Try writing it down and see if your thinking is logical and persuasive. If you think it is, consider submitting it for publication. You can also write something for your AORN chapter newsletter. Advanced educational preparation is essential if you are working on career development.
Most institutions have some form of tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit.
Use it to benefit yourself instead of looking at it as something negative that someone else is making you do. It may be stimulating and motivating, and you may find that the educational ambience often positively affects other aspects of your life. If the course if viewed as one course at a time instead of a degree no one ever told you would have to have, it becomes emotionally more manageable. When it is perceived as a career enhancer, it becomes even more palatable. Other career development strategies include research, community service and consulting.