Glutton for Punishment?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Preface: Sorry this is so long, summary at the bottom.

So I got into an argument with these two women about the fact that there is absolutely no law on the books about BSNs being required by 2020 (also including LVNs being phased out of hospitals). I told them I've been an nurse for 7 years & have heard that since I started. The first woman told me that she was told this by an advisor at her daughter's school, who is a nurse with advanced degrees. I told the first woman that the advisor shouldn't be spreading such lies without documentation to back up what she is saying. I was also shocked that someone with an advanced degree would say something like that with no proof.

Needless to say the second woman got pissed off too & jumped in on the bandwagon. I asked both women several times for proof of the 2020 rule/law but never received anything. I did get shown an op/ed piece from the second woman but now law stating LVNs would be allowed to work in hospitals & all RNs would be forced to get their BSNs.

Both woman continued to bash LVNs & talk about how this nurse new more about this "law" than me. How LVNs kill more people in acute care & how unsafe they are. Did I mention that neither women are nurses! LOL!

I provided them with proof that LVNs are still being hired into hospital positions in the state of Texas as well as ADN grads. I tried to explain to both of the women that it isn't a law but up to the hospital if they want to hire LVNs, ADNs or BSNs. But according to those to, in 2.5 years all the LVNs & ADNs working in hospitals will be SOL & out of jobs.

Do they know something we all don't? I asked for proof over & over. Where is this magical law that states LVNs can't work in hospitals & RNs *must* be BSN prepared to work in hospitals by 2020? I figured you guys could lead me to the law since those two couldn't.

i guess I just like beating my head against a wall for funsies. Because that's what it was like. No matter how I tried explaining to them, it could've been in any language, they didn't believe me. Probably because I'm "just an LVN". But because an RN with a BSN & MSN told them, it *has* to be true.

It just blows my mind that 2 "educated" people can't realize that after a simple Google search what that nurse said wasn't true. Just because someone says something, doesn't make it a fact.

TL;DR: Two women said the BSN by 2020 was a law (also LVNs being phased out of hospitals), I tried to show them otherwise. They didn't believe me because they were told so by an RN & I'm "just an LVN". Neither women are nurses nor could they show me any proof of said law while I showed them proof of LVNs & ADNs being hired in TX hospitals.

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Claiming "most will not" is a HUGE overstatement. Yes, many facilities are encouraging nurses to have higher education including a BSN. That doesn't mean that "most will not" hire ASN or ADN nurses. I am currently an ASN prepared nurse and receive recruiting information for hospital systems in my area REGULARLY. I also work for a hospital system that has some magnet status hospitals. One in particular phased out all LPNs approximately 5 years ago. Shockingly (not) enough they have now found that they can't keep all their units staffed and have again started hiring LPNs to work in a patient care role. Oh and I work on a Med-Surg unit and am a relief charge nurse. All with just the ASN.

Categorizing nurses that don't want to get a BSN as possibly committing "career suicide" is far overreaching.

This is exactly what I had to deal with from those two women. But to have it come from an educated nurse is ignorant & even more frustrating.

To paint nursing with one large brush is wrong. It is not a one size fits all issue. There are hospitals that *have* phased LVNs out & refuse to hire any ASN/ADN RNs. But, then there *are* hospitals that *do* hire LVNs & ADN/ASN RNs, as I showed with my pictures.

It's not a good idea to use CA or DFW as examples since CA is such a huge state & innudated with new grads & so is DFW. The employers can pick & choose who to hire. But that is not the case *everywhere*

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Specializes in Emergency.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a social class angle to this.

Nursing seems to becoming a gentrified neighborhood. Think of a lot of the original residents of the nursing neighborhood as the LVNs and the ADNs who went to community college and a lot of them are from working class backgrounds.

The new people moving in come from a few rungs higher on the social scale, and 4 year college educations come standard. Higher education, advanced practice become commonplace, and there is a culture clash of what nursing is and who belongs.

I think you hit a very good point that I hadn't considered and I like the gentrification metaphor.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ER, Cath lab.

If it becomes a "law" to have a BSN to work at a hospital, I'll be expecting a check for the full amount of tuition, books, and fees plus allotted PTO for class work and studying.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ER, Cath lab.
Education is nothing to scoff at.

While there are many hospitals that will hire an ADN or LVN, the reality is most will not

The competition is quite high, why would you not align yourself with the competition to increase your odds at a better job or position? If you are content where you are, kudos to you, the reality is if you want to advance you are going to have to go back to school.

I worked at one of the Baylor facilities in Dallas with 4 LVNs, and guess what? The hospital was trying to achieve magnet status, and gave them 2 years to get an RN, they did not, and their positions were phased out. No more LVNs at Baylor, which happens to be one of the largest systems in the DFW area.

There ARE ADN nurses that work there, and they are stuck, unable to move up , or laterally to any other system in the area. Is it because they are not skilled? Absolutely not. The reality is that most hospitals that are MAGNET or attempting to get it will not hire without a BSN.

Its an argument as old as time. The only nurses that knock the BSN are the ones that don't have one. In a field with so much competition, it is career suicide to limit yourself.Are BSN nurses better? NO !Are they more marketable? YES! If you don't want to be stuck in the same job forever, you are doing yourself a favor when you improve yourself.

I'm 4 classes away from finishing my RN-BSN program and I'll knock it until the day I die. About half the papers I've written in this program were while I was either tipsy or flat out drunk (only way I could maintain sanity while writing on such topics). If I weren't planning on grad school, I would have been just fine with my ADN.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
If it becomes a "law" to have a BSN to work at a hospital, I'll be expecting a check for the full amount of tuition, books, and fees plus allotted PTO for class work and studying.

Right! If my work wants me to get my BSN they better pay for the school (& everything that goes with it) & then pay me for my time of going to school. Time = money!

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I'm 4 classes away from finishing my RN-BSN program and I'll knock it until the day I die. About half the papers I've written in this program were while I was either tipsy or flat out drunk (only way I could maintain sanity while writing on such topics). If I weren't planning on grad school, I would have been just fine with my ADN.

Lol! Yeah, I don't plan on getting my BSN for awhile or until I'm forced to. I just don't see how writing a bunch of papers will make me an even better nurse than I already will be.

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When I started nursing school in 1979 (diploma program) it was supposed to come to pass that BSN would be the entry level for RN. Still not the case in 2017! And LPNs are supposed to be "phased out" - do you know any nursing home that could afford and all RN staff??? Or PCP office???? Not going to happen.

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Specializes in LTC.
...stupid is a choice...

Can I get that on a T-shirt, please?

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
When I started nursing school in 1979 (diploma program) it was supposed to come to pass that BSN would be the entry level for RN. Still not the case in 2017! And LPNs are supposed to be "phased out" - do you know any nursing home that could afford and all RN staff??? Or PCP office???? Not going to happen.

I feel like in big cities I could see BSN being the minimum education for RNs but not everywhere. Yeah, I've never been worried about getting a job. I wasn't as an LVN & I'm not as an RN-ADN.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Can I get that on a T-shirt, please?

Lol yes!

Although, I think some people don't choose it. It's in their DNA.

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Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.
Both woman continued to... talk about how... LVNs kill more people in acute care

Not much to say after they drop foolish comments like this. It's exceptionally rare for nurses to kill people in their care.

Don't mud wrestle with a pig... the pig enjoys it and you just get dirty.

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Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.
stupid is a choice

Stupid isn't a choice but ignorance most certainly is.

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