[CHATSDALE]

if you are going to continue to work at bedside an ad would probably due you well..my dtr has an ad and so does her husband they earn a good living and are not interested in going back to school
if you want to progress it would be better to have a bsn. if there is a good job in teaching, recruitment, etc with an raise in pay, better hours then the
ptb will probably chooses a bsn over an ad makes it look better on paper
and they still have an ad on the floor
most frequently more is better

[SNKerri]

I just have a quick comment...
It seems as though alot of times we dicuss the ADN who has "been around the block" and therefore is more mature and has life experience. The issue that I wonder about and have experienced is the ADN that was 17 right out of HS and got thier ADN and now are working on the floor as a 19 yo RN. This SCARES me...at 19 there is NO WAY i was ready to take on the responsibility to be an RN. I think there may be a few exceptions to the rule but i dont know many 19 yo's that are ready for that. I would not trust my health or that of my child in the hands of a 19 yo whether they were educated or not.
I experienced a group of 19 and 20 yo New Grads that came to ME when I was still a student and were asking me questions about med calculations and other things. It made me really nervous.
What do you all thing of the BSN in this capacity?(just out of curiosity)

[llg]

Good point, SNKerri ... comparing the new grad BSN to the experienced ADN is like comparing apples and oranges. Any comparisons need to take experience into consideration.

[time4meRN]

We are all RN's. Why not evaluate pay, promotion etc. on job preformance I've been a nurse for almost 30 years. I went to a Diploma program. (I don't want to get into that argument) Within the last 10 years, I have been a CQI, education, infection control manager,as well as case manager (along with a few others). I did well at all of these. However, I went back to the dreaded "bed side nursing", because I didn't want to baby sit staff, take work home with me , worry about regulatory agencies etc. I went back to the ER and ICU, the thing is I make more money and have more flexability with "bed side nursing", than I ever did in management. The salary for the manager position was impressive when I started but by the time I was done , I worked more hours than I do as a "bed side nurse". Now if I work over it's my choice, I get payed more and I enjoy it because I know I'm helping my co-workers rather than kissing the A#% of some admin. . About a month ago I was offered a job as a education, company rep. for a company that certifies hospitals to be chest pain facilities. It sounded wounderful, lots of travel, wearing nice outfits, flyer miles would be all mine, hob nob with admin and Dr's etc.. But, the pay sucked ! (compaired to "bed side nursing) I was getting payed the same as all the other RN's that worked there. So, back to the ER I went. And happy to say so.

[multicollinearity]

One thing I am tired of is hearing some ADN nurses' belittling BSN programs. It seems this is more accepted than BSNs criticizing ADNs. Not that anyone should be displaying disrespect towards different educational paths - all leading to the same RN.

I'm also tired of hearing that BSN programs fall short in clinical education and experience. Here's a report from my state BON:

http://www.azbn.gov/Documents/educat...20Programs.pdf

Page two states "These data refute a commonly repeated belief that associate degree nursing programs provide more patient care experiences than baccalaureate nursing programs."

According to this report, in Arizona, BSN programs average 968 clinical hours and ADN programs average 743 clinical hours.

It is also disrespectful to refer to BSN programs as 'a couple of management and art classes' as I have repeatedly seen on this site.

Now all of this said - I'll gratefully go where ever I'm admitted! I'm on one ADN wait list, applying to two more ADN programs, plus applying to two BSN programs. I think we can acknowledge differences without the belittling and disrespect.

[multicollinearity]

Originally Posted by lovegoddess1977

In general..I have met good nurses and bad nurses. That includes LPN's, BSN's and ADN's. Just because you have more education does not mean that you are better and should be paid more. Honestly, BSN is a choice. It is a choice that I want to make. Why would an employer pay a BSN all this money when they could pay an ADN or a Diploma RN less money for the same job? Therefore...around the same pay for both. I just get sick and tired of people saying...I am better than you because I went to school for one year longer or two years or whatever. Education is VERY important .....but its not everything when it comes to this debate. I met this Master's degree nurse and she was sooooo stupid. I couldn't believe that she managed to get her degree. I knew this LPN who was smarter than ANY nurse I have ever met....RN's included. And vice versa.

My point: What makes a good nurse is personality, common sense and what you do with the knowledge that you possess.

Bold emphasis my own. Has anyone honestly ever said to you, "I am better than you because I went to school for one year longer or two years..."

Really?

And if you have met good and bad nurses, both ADN and BSN, why are the lacking BSNs an issue over the lacking ADN nurses? Sounds like a bit of confirmation bias to me.

[Tweety]

I wonder if I live with my head in the sand because I've never heard anyone say they were a better nurse because they had a BSN or that they deserved more pay. Once, and only once did a coworker tell me he heard a nurse that float to our unit say "Anyone can put potassium in an IV, but it takes a BSN to know why". That is the only time I've ever heard of someone who heard someone put down ADNs.

[Spidey's mom]

Originally Posted by NYDreamer

I do not believe that working as an aid is necessary...I have two friends who are RNs and have never had an healthcare experience....they both have no problem doing an "aid's job"...when I ask them about poo, pee,etc they talk about it like it is not a big deal...if these RNs think they ae do good to wipe up poo, it's due too their personality, not because they never worked as an aid

Bless you.

steph

[Suesquatch]

Originally Posted by Tweety

I wonder if I live with my head in the sand because I've never heard anyone say they were a better nurse because they had a BSN or that they deserved more pay. Once, and only once did a coworker tell me he heard a nurse that float to our unit say "Anyone can put potassium in an IV, but it takes a BSN to know why". That is the only time I've ever heard of someone who heard someone put down ADNs.

I'm just a lowly LPN and I know that.

I don't think one can ever be "too educated." One can, however, be too stuck up.

[Suesquatch]

Oh, and I'm going for my RN. Once I have that there are couple of courses I want to take to better my understanding of biology and biochemistry. Then, if I decide to go for the BSN, I will go for the online one I found with more emphasis on science and medicine and none on management. THEN I can go for my APRN.

Just keep learning. And keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.