CONFUSED! About degrees in general in nursing.

PurrRN · Dec 4, 2006

Registered nurses from ADN/ASN programs have an associates degree (usually 2year).

Registered nurses from BSN programs have a bachelors degree (usually 4 year).

Registered nurses from MSN programs have a masters degree (usually.....um more than BSN, LOL sorry I can't remember how many years).

They are all RN's but have completed different levels of formal education.

I hope this helps in some small way to clarify what you have been wondering about. :)

Freedom42 · Dec 4, 2006

The BSN and the ADN are academic credentials. People who earn them are eligible to take the exam for an RN's license. You do not graduate with an RN degree, only the right to sit for the licensing exam.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Dec 4, 2006

https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/have-questions-about-adn-bsn-read-180528.html

Here you go. Check out this on the General Nursing Forum

whitneyLOL · Dec 4, 2006

ohhhhhh. I get it. Sort of! I understand about the levels of education in order to sit for the RN exam. I guess my question is, 4 year or 2 year, which is better in order to be a nurse? My long term goal is to be a CRNA, so Im guessing BSN?

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Dec 4, 2006

Check out our Glossary of Nursing and Medical degrees and certifications for good info!

BSN is required to get into most CRNA programs. See our PreCRNA forum for more info.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2006

you need to understand that there is a difference between school preparation and licensure. colleges and universities offer degrees for completing requirements at each of their individual organizations. to be a nurse, you must be licensed. licensure is only given to you by the state in which you live after fulfilling requirements prescribed by their laws. there are two types of nursing licenses that are standard throughout the u.s.

colleges and universities offer associate, bachelor, master, doctorate and philosopher degrees. each school determines what course of studies a student must successfully complete to earn one of the degrees which they confer. a school may offer a course of nursing, but they must first meet the basic requirements of the state board of nursing for the state in which their school exists. after doing that, the school may also add other required coursework to their nursing programs making their nursing school unique. therefore, it is very important that you investigate collegiate schools of nursing before deciding which ones you want to apply to.

every state of the u.s. offers nursing licensure on two levels: lpn (licensed practical nurse) and rn (registered nurse). in california and texas, lpns have been designated, by their laws as lvn (licensed vocational nurses). in order to get licensure as a nurse, you must do two things. (1) complete a course in nursing that has been approved by the state board of nursing. these schools are often connected with colleges and universities, although not always. there are still rn schools of nursing that are still part of hospitals, but they are becoming fewer and fewer. and, (2) pass a state board exam called the nclex-pn to become an lpn and nclex to become an rn.

i graduated from a nursing school that was in a community college. i took and passed a state board exam in california and became licensed as an rn. at the time i was an rn with an aa degree because an aa degree is what i earned from the community college. i later went back to a university and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing (bsn). the university i attended specifically was training bsns to be managers with emphasis on communication skills. not all bsn programs do this. i can now officially write "rn bsn" after my name. i also have national certification in two areas which entitles me to write some more initials after those! however, it's too cumbersome and time consuming to write all those initials after my name when i am working on the job, so "rn" will do. i save all the initials for when i want to impress someone when i write a letter!

i'm providing you with a links to a list of nursing schools in florida that i obtained from the florida state board of nursing website for you:

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/nursing/lst_trainingprograms.pdf - this is an 8-page pdf document from your florida board of nursing that lists all the approved nursing programs in your state. they are broken down by adn and bsn programs along with their addresses and phone numbers so you can contact these schools. after that, the lpn programs are listed. although they are not listed, most schools should have websites where you can also get information about their programs.

here, too, are some other links for you to check out to learn more about nursing, nursing school and the different careers that are available to you in nursing. happy reading!

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://www.nursingsociety.org/career/cmap.html

http://www.nurse.com/nursecontent/ - this is a very nice site that has a career showcase that explains what some of the various specialties in nursing are as well as having information about the various licensing levels in nursing and how to prepare and get your education to become a nurse.

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/careers/nursing.aspx - about nursing from webfeet.com

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/42226.html - "thinking about nursing school? consider your many options" from the college board.

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/bb/beforenurse.htm - "before you decide to become a nurse". things to consider about being a nurse. lots of links to information about what skills you need to become a nurse. and, what if you're really bad at math and science is discussed.

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/a/notforeveryone.htm - "nursing is not for everyone". this is a very down to earth and honest article that broadly discusses what a nurse does and what you can expect on the job as a nurse.

http://nursing.about.com/od/nursingshortage/a/transferskills.htm - "nurses skills transfer to other professions". a list of 8 basic job skills that nurses are able to perform making them desirable for hire in many other professions.

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm - about registered nursing from the u.s. department of labor

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm - about lpn nursing from the u.s. department of labor

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm - information on nursing assistants (cna) from the u.s. department of labor

Epona · Dec 4, 2006

wow!! that was awesome daytonite! i will be a new nursing student beginning this jan. in a bsn program.

thank you very much for sharing all this great info. i am going to check out some of the links now!

wonderful! thank you!!!

:icon_cheesygrin:

happy holidays!!! epona

cherokeesummer · Dec 4, 2006

Which program you choose is also dependent upon what your needs are. I needed night and weekend classes and I did not have time or patience to sit through another four years b/c I already have a BA degree in psych and a lot of credits toward an MS in Psych so I chose the degree program that has night/weekend full time study. Once I'm done I will sit for the RN licensure, then I will go to a crossover program b/c my ultimate career goal is to become an OBGYN NP.

cherokeesummer · Dec 4, 2006

PS thanks for those great links!