[Elvish]

Originally Posted by BabyRN2Be

I believe that state was South Dakota. Did they abolish the BSN requirement or is it still in place?

I believe they abolished it, since it cut WAAAAY back on the available nurses in a state already hurting for them.

[lindarn]

And before they abolished the BSN as the entry into practice because "now they did not have enough nurses", how much effort did they put into encouraging nurses who have left nursing to come back to work. My guess, is none. It was easier to cave in to the hospitals and go back to the old entry into practice, than to tell the hospitals to (heavans to betsy!), SUBSTANTIONALLY INCREASE PAY, improve benefits, improve staffng ratios, and offer whatever it would take to entice nurses to come back to work.

But that would have cost the hospitals money. And they would have to concede that they actually NEEDED THE NURSES THAT THEY GAVE NOT AN IOTA OF CONCERN TO WHEN THEY LEFT IN DISGUST!!

When hospitals have to fight to RETAIN nurses (and wait four years for the next class to graduate), instead of discarding them like yesterdays newspaper, then nurses will have the upper hand. As it stands now, nursing will continue to be a revolving door career, with no respect and no control over its profession.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington

[queenjean]

Originally Posted by lindarn

And before they abolished the BSN as the entry into practice because "now they did not have enough nurses", how much effort did they put into encouraging nurses who have left nursing to come back to work.

Are all the retired and nonpracticing nurses BSNs then?

In my state there are more ASN/ADN programs than BSNs. If they abolished the ASN, they wouldn't have nearly enough nurses, and they are already struggling to fill positions, particularly in rural areas.

So no, it's not true, no one is even getting rid of LPNs (the lowest on the proverbial totem pole), much less ASNs. Don't fret.

[allaboutthefamily]

In my opinion I do not think it will ever happen, and it would be a shame if it did. There have been several states that have tried to initialize such legislation, but it usually does not pass. Even in the states that have passed such measures it does not work out.
1) The logistics of implementing is a beast.
2) Travelling nurses from other states with ADNs are not regulated by this legislation for the most part.
3) (most importantly) With the emergance of "telephone triage" and the like it is impossible to ensure that people from said state are not recieving care from ADN educated nurses.
4) ADN provide competent healthcare just like BSN nurses, so why change?

The reasons for requiring all nurses to have BSN degrees are decent, they want a national standard to bring us in line with other health care professionals, among other reasons. And, ill probably get slaughtered for this, I personally dont think a staff nurse needs more education than a ADN to function properly. I would not be opposed to requiring a BSN or MSN to practice as a nurse but given the current nursing shortage it wouldnt make much sense.