Adn's Who Don't Care

kadokin, ASN, RN · Oct 7, 2006

Great thread and great responses. I got my ADN in 1976 and have never had the desire to get the BSN. The only way I have ever been able to tell who, among my co-workers, had BSN's or even MSN's) is when them feel they must make sure it is known. That is, to remind us on a frequent basis.
Currently we have a BSN student doing a 3 month internship on our unit. She attends a private school in the area. She's sharp. I overheard her say to another student (this student was from a local community college and working for her ADN) that the Community College wouldn't accept her but the private school did and I found that to be most interesting. I suppose you could interpret that a million different ways.
Lately, we were admonished by our working-on-a-BSN manager that in slow times we should be reading the journals and such, along with a lot of other things on the list. I find journal articles almost impossible to read and understand. They are so wordy, I've often wondered if they get paid by the word rather than content. To actually get to the meat of the topic, you must wade through piles and piles of rhetoric to the point that I get bored or frustrated before ever getting TO the point. I gave up my subscriptions to AJN, oh, maybe, 25 years ago. If getting a BSN would entail reading more of those, and I'm sure it would, or even worse, writing more of the same, no thank you.

AMEN to that!

From a BSN.

anniem54 · Oct 7, 2006

I have had my ADN since 1992 and have never had any desire to go back for my BSN. I enjoy hands on bedside nursing and wouldn't touch a manager's position with a 30 foot pole. When I went to nursing school I lived in an area with both a 4 year BSN and a community college LVN to ADN RN program. I would have loved to go through the BSN program simply because I value education, but circumstances (young children, finances, time constraints) made ADN the best choice for me. I also already had a 4 year degree (Art, totally impractical but wonderful), and didn't feel the need to have a BSN for the sake of having a 4 year degree. I think everyone has to make the best choice for their circumstances, values, and needs. In an ideal world, I think all nurses would have a BSN, but in the REAL world, we have and will continue to have nurses from different educational backgrounds. What counts is that we respect each other's education and experience. I try to look at each nurse I work with as someone I can learn something from. We have LVN students in our facility and I find I learn things from them occasionally, or at least am reminded of things I've forgotten! Good luck to all the nursing students out there, whether you're in an ADN or BSN program. You've chosen a career that is consistently challenging, never ever boring, frequently frustrating, over the top stressful, and very satisfying!

noc4senuf · Oct 7, 2006

I am an ADN RN. When I finished school, I always thought i would go back. Raising kids and paying the bills didn't allow for that. Over the years I have climbed the ladder from a floor nurse, supervisor, manager, and now a DON all with an ADN. The people i have talked to over the years recognize my accomplishments as a nurse regardless of the degree. My salary is based on my abilities and not on a degree. I oversee 8 managers beneath me and 80 staff in the total nursing department. I keep up-to-date on state and federal regulations, confer with colleges on how to train future nurses, and can consult with the NP's and MD's while being treated with respect. Will i go back to school? Probably not, I am able to attain my status and careers with experience and not the degree.

By the way, one of my best friends just completed a Masters degree in th last year and he is still being paid the same amount. The job offers he has had (even after being a nurse for many years) is less than what I am making.

Dakkon76 · Oct 7, 2006

You've got to have a reason to get it, otherwise there's no point. Either you want to consider a management position later down the road, or you want to get into advanced practice... if you don't, then I don't see a reason to go.

Although, I know a woman in her 50's who just went back to get her BSN because she injured her back on the job and she wants to get off the floor and into something she can handle... She's told me she wished she would have gotten it when she were younger, just because now she'd have it instead of having to continue to work on her unit until she finishes it and can finally move up.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 7, 2006

hello all,
i would like to know if there are any adn's out there who have no desire to get there bsn's. not because of laziness or not wanting knowledge or anything else negative, but just don't want to or feel its necessary because they don't want to be an admin or charge anything. or maybe you have other reasons. i feel there is so much pressure...rn to bsn..rn to bsn. geez adn's are just as effective or maybe sometimes more than a bsn. sure they get paid a little more but over 12 months the extra dollars don't seem worth it.
so...am i alone in thinking this.
i don't mean to offend the bsn's or anyone else. just curious.

well, i am an lpn that has no intention of becoming an rn, so, i guess that i can understand their thoughts. i have wanted to be a nurse for many years, but put it on the back burner because life takes it's own turns. i work in a hospital that offered to pay our salaries while we were on full time leave to become lpns and rns. immediately, i opted for lpn and administration looked at me like i grew two heads in front of their very eyes. i had been on many committees at my job and knew that i would get a seat in this program, and people felt that since i would not be working at all, why not 'go all the way' and get the rn?

i made that decision because i knew that while i wanted to be a nurse, that i did not want all of the responsibility that an rn would have. i can see doing it occasionally, if it were necessary, but i didn't want it on a regular basis. i am not interested in critical care, emergency care, unstable patients, etc.... and i am not interested in ever becoming a charge nurse, head nurse or administrator. while i do know that some institutions such as long term care may require this of their lpns, i knew that i don't want to do it, because (in my eye), no matter how strict or fair a person in charge can be, you cannot make anyone do anything they clearly don't want to do. my reasoning may be silly for others, but these reasons alone made me say that i would never even consider being an rn. i do feel that there is so much pressure in those titles and for me, it is not worth the money, so, i rejected it and am happy i didn't. now, i am back at work, as an lpn, and there are some managers that truly cannot comprehend why i am not interested. i get to go home on time, am not as frustrated (although any level of nursing is hard) and am not as tired as they are. i work like a demon while i am there, but, when i leave (on time, no less), i am gone like the wind.

ericalynn, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2006

You know at this point in my school career I am not sure if I want to get by BSN. I am 28 and I will graduate with my ADN in June 2007 and honestly I just want to go out there, get a job, and begin making a family at some point. I really have no interest in management or administration so I am not sure if I will ever go back. Please don't let anybody pressure you into anything, do what is right for you. There is no time limit on doing a RN to BSN program so if you change your mind in 10 years you can certainly go back. Best of luck!:monkeydance:

justmanda · Oct 8, 2006

I'm a student working on my ASN. I have no real desire to get a BSN. This is a second career for me. I've been the boss, checked that box. I'm over it. Right now I'm looking forward to a few shifts a week in an ER and the rest on the beach.
aloha
Jim

I think the nursing profession is the only field in which a promotion means less money. The director of our unit makes only about 60,000/year. The nursing supervisor doesn't make much more than that. I'm an ADN and made 90,000 last year. Granted, that is with some overtime mixed in, but the salaried administrative nurses get paid the same regardless of the overtime they put in. Less money....more headache. I'll stick with my little 2year degree.

mamason · Oct 8, 2006

I think the nursing profession is the only field in which a promotion means less money. The director of our unit makes only about 60,000/year. The nursing supervisor doesn't make much more than that. I'm an ADN and made 90,000 last year. Granted, that is with some overtime mixed in, but the salaried administrative nurses get paid the same regardless of the overtime they put in. Less money....more headache. I'll stick with my little 2year degree.

WOW!!!! $90,000.00 a year? Where do you work and do they have any openings? The average nurse around here makes $35,000.00 to $60,000.00 a year. I'm jealous!!!!! :nurse:

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 8, 2006

I think the nursing profession is the only field in which a promotion means less money. The director of our unit makes only about 60,000/year. The nursing supervisor doesn't make much more than that. I'm an ADN and made 90,000 last year. Granted, that is with some overtime mixed in, but the salaried administrative nurses get paid the same regardless of the overtime they put in. Less money....more headache. I'll stick with my little 2year degree.

I find that the higher you move up, the more political it becomes, and that turns my stomach. How can that be that a person with more responsibility make even less money?? I'd be pissed off!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2006

Most of the time administration/management have to work 5 8-hour shifts (which sometimes extends longer and they get a salary no matter how many hours they work), and they do make more per hour than the people they supervise.

However, the people they supervise have the option of working 12-hour shifts, which makes it easy to add some overtime in there and up their salary past their manager. Plus sometimes there's incentive bonuses. We used to get "critical staffing pay" which for night shift was time and a half plus $15/hr. So me working one extra 12 hour shift a week put me at a salary above what my boss was making.

For some of us, getting away from bedside nursing and advancing our degree isn't about the money. I'm maxed out salary wise at my employer. So unless they raise the max, when I get my BSN I won't make a penny more. But it's not about the money for me. I understand that I'm likely not to make much more money, or even a pay cut if eventually I take a "BSN preferred position", which for me will definately not be an administrative/supervision one.

Sorry to highjack the thread. I understand this thread is for those who choose to remain BSNs. For me the choice weather to stay or advance my degree wasn't about the money. And maybe for the manager who watches her/his staff make more money doing overtime, it isn't about the money either. Back to your regularly scheduled thread. :)

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 8, 2006

I find that the higher you move up, the more political it becomes, and that turns my stomach.

Have to agree with this. It may not be like that everywhere, but even the slimmest possibility of it is the reason why i have zero desire to be in administration, supervisory, etc. I like the fact that when i go home i am 100% HOME, and work isn't calling me at 3 am about anything.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2006

Have to agree with this. It may not be like that everywhere, but even the slimmest possibility of it is the reason why i have zero desire to be in administration, supervisory, etc. I like the fact that when i go home i am 100% HOME, and work isn't calling me at 3 am about anything.

Amen. There's not enough money or prestige that would make me carry a beeper and be oncall 24/7 like my manager and the directors. Nope!