[RN34TX]

If i were seeking any service (ie. nursing, medical,taxes, etc) I would want the most educated professional providing that service to help me. So, yes having a BSN does command more respect than an ADN...

Anyone that completed their A.A.S then B.S.N feels more empowered.

An increased level of education enables some RNs to function more confidently. Being confident and knowledgeable about what you are doing decreases your chances of getiing disrespected.I am not saying that the "BSN on a nametag " will prevent you from getting disrespected. Anyone including the CEO of the hospital can be disrespected by another professional, patient, or family member.

No, they are not going to get rid of them just grandfather the existing ADN and diploma RNs in. The new grads wil have up to 10 years to complete their BSN.

No, this will not affect LPNs only RNs.[/quote]



Grandfathering essentially is getting rid of future non-BSN nurses.
Confidence by having a BSN?
Right now I train new ICU BSN's who can't start an IV on the most healthy man with veins bulging out everywhere and when their blood pressure drops are looking at me as to what to do about it.
As far as having the most educated person, I once took a chemistry class (beginning 101 level) and had an education snob in my class who only wanted to be taught by a PhD level professor. My instructor had only a masters degree to offer. I turned to her and said "You are only taking a freshman level chemistry class so obviously you know little about the subject. A masters degree prepared teacher is not good enough for you and yet they could run circles around you in this area."
It reminded me of the family member of a patient that worked as a cashier all her life but only a BSN prerpared RN was good enough to take care of her mother.
That alone says it all.

[RN34TX]

Originally Posted by VizslaMom

Excuse me. I take offense to this statement as ADN's and BSN's are both Registered Nurses (RN's). BSN's are not superior to ADN's in the workforce - PERIOD. Please restrain yourself from referring to LPN's and ADN's in the same scenario next time. An LPN is an LPN, and ADN is an RN. A BSN is not "over" both types of nurses. ADN's and BSN's are collegues and equals in the field. You KNOW this - you're an ASN RN are you not (looked at your profile. )?
The 'BSN is higher than thou' attitude encouraged by many BSN Programs is just plain wrong IMO (and really irritates me to no end). The superiority complex perpetuated by many 4-year programs simply needs to stop. We are all in this together!

I think that you misread what I was writing. I believe that we are on the same side.
I did not include LPN's as to say that they are the same as ADN RN's. I included them because as a former LPN myself, I often felt that they were left out in these types of discussions and they are a very important entity in these discussions because they have been told over and over about how they are going to be phased out and become aides or technicians of some sort.
It's almost 2005 and still all of us are continuing to exist (LPN, ADN, BSN, etc)
I keep waiting for someone to be phased out and it still has not happened.

[mattsmom81]

I may be clinging to this desperately, but I hope to someday see a national BSN mandate with grandfathering (using Canada's model).

I wish to see this ONLY for reasons of unity. Once all RN's are 'on the same page' educationally I hope some solidarity will follow. Now, the feuding interferes with us having one clear voice and vision for our profession, IMHO.

I'm a diploma RN but I feel it will be necessary for nurses to adopt this to save our profession...right now everybody is defining us except US.

[Nurse212]

Quick question for those in the know...

When will this policy, making newly hired Diploma and ADN RN's go for a BSN during a 10 year time frame, begin?

The reason I ask is because if this policy hasn't been instated yet, then most of the ADN's of today who are about to take their NCLEX or even the ones for the next few years might not have to deal with this policy and have the option of getting grandfathered in. Does anyone know exactly when this will take place? Any more specific details? Even a link to where people are getting this from would be nice...

Thanks

[Thunderwolf]

Docs and nurses are like apples and oranges with regard to hospitals. Hospitals don't hire and pay a wage to docs, unless he/she is a house doc (employed by the hospital). Docs are seen as revenue...bringing in the business. The expense to woo them is minimal in that they don't pay them a wage or health care benefits. Nurses however don't function in that capacity. We are "hired" and "provided" benefits "by the hospital." The hospital's mind set, quite often, is that we have "already been wooed"...they employ us. We as nurses often forget about this aspect.
Regarding the BSN aspect, no state would ever NOT grandfather. It would be suicide. I think the point made regarding the field of physical therapy is something to keep in mind. Will we soon outprice ourselves with a change such as this? How will this change, for better or for worse, the use of aids, techs, lvns, lpns in hospitals, agencies, LTC, ASF, etc? Will it become more financially necessary to higher less education to care for sicker patients in this type of scenario? Think not like a nurse...think like an accountant, CEO or director in this case. How can the push for BSN totally upset the apple cart? Will the BSN push leave open a wide hole, used by others who are not nurses, to create loop holes in hiring and staffing that leaves the public more at risk? I don't know. It is something to think about.

[kjt2004]

I couldn't have said it better.......

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

I may be clinging to this desperately, but I hope to someday see a national BSN mandate with grandfathering (using Canada's model).

I wish to see this ONLY for reasons of unity. Once all RN's are 'on the same page' educationally I hope some solidarity will follow. Now, the feuding interferes with us having one clear voice and vision for our profession, IMHO.

I'm a diploma RN but I feel it will be necessary for nurses to adopt this to save our profession...right now everybody is defining us except US.

[RN34TX]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

I may be clinging to this desperately, but I hope to someday see a national BSN mandate with grandfathering (using Canada's model).

I wish to see this ONLY for reasons of unity. Once all RN's are 'on the same page' educationally I hope some solidarity will follow. Now, the feuding interferes with us having one clear voice and vision for our profession, IMHO.

I'm a diploma RN but I feel it will be necessary for nurses to adopt this to save our profession...right now everybody is defining us except US.

I agree that everyone is defining us except us and that a lot of the inside feuding is over the education issue because we are at different levels but I like to think that is one great unique quality about the nursing profession. The fact that you can be a part of it whether you go to a vocational training program or a university. Other professions can't say the same thing.
I worked in MN as an LPN and everyone was union and had their own contract protecting their best interests. The ADN, diploma, and BSN's were all under the same union and contract and the LPN's were left out and had their own union.
Talk about some feuding! I thought to myself, why couldn't all nurses be under the same contract and union if the ADN's and BSN's could be together.
Why do we all have to be BSN's to unify and strengthen?
By the way, I work with a lot of Canadian nurses in TX who have come down here to work because the future of nursing up there is not so bright.
Canada is a bad example. Do you work with any at your hospital? There is a reason why many of them are down here.

[nowplayingEDRN]

Originally Posted by caroladybelle

And NY is empowering themselves right out of having adequate staff.

THere is a serious shortage of RNs... any RNs...willing to work in NYC. Lets just limit it to those with a Bachelor's degree and watch them drown in a sea of understaffing.

Unfortunatelly this topic has been beat to death.....while I have nothing against furthering education and I feel that is should be encouraged, I agree with caroladybelle.

[Nurse212]

Does anyone know when this policy will go into effect? The reason I ask is because if it hasn't yet and still has a few more years before it becomes official, then the graduating ADN's of today shouldn't be effected by it, making it easier for some..

?????

[Blackbird]

I read an article about it. I believe that the powers that be are pushing for it. The plan is to grandfather in current RNs without their BSNs and new ADN grads will have 10 years to complete their BSN.

I think it is a wonderful idea. We need to empower ourselves.

I agree. It's an idea that has flowered for twenty years where I am and it's really given the nursing profession a boost in the right direction. Just quietly, I am floored as to where this discussion has gone and, since venturing into this forum, I have been privately flabbergasted that the US hasn't got a a system similar to that in most developed countries. To be a Registered Nurse in Australia, Europe and the Middle East you need your BSN degree, period. It's not about hospitals and other little hives of political activity, it's the level of education and expertise demanded in medical facilities today, end of story.

In Australia, below the level of RN lies the enrolled nurse (EN) and nursing assistant (NA). Their level belies only their level of education and level of expected expertise and responsibilities not their level as a person which some of the discussion appears to point to. Like society progresses in all manner of things (cars, technology, schooling, science) so, too, does the nursing profession and, in my view, it's up to you to keep up. If it's respect and prestige you're after, aim for the presidency. From where I stand, the US nursing system is lagging way behind the rest of the world and part of that problem rests with the very profession itself.