Educated nurses

WashYaHands · Jul 12, 2002

I was just curious...is this normal?

I don't know how normal it is in other places. My BSN program required over 1500 hours of clinical experience. But, I must add that prior to my college of nursing becoming a BSN degree offering institution, they were a diploma program in existence since 1904. When they made the transition from diploma program to BSN program, they kept the clinical focus from the diploma model. Also, our ADN program here also offers a good amount of clinical requirements. Both of the local nursing programs are excellent as far as I can tell.

Linda

knowlegzseekr · Jul 12, 2002

Hospitals in my area(NW Florida) pay a whopping 30 cents extra an hour for a BSN :eek: I guess that's better than nothing though:o

Dez · Jul 12, 2002

Wow, this is discouraging! I had planned on getting my BSN,but if you r not getting paid much more then what is the purpose of the extra schooling? What are the benefits then?

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2002

Originally posted by Dez
....then what is the purpose of the extra schooling? What are the benefits then?

Well, the benefits are your education - I'm a firm believer that NO education goes to waste in the long term. Also you get a bit more instruction in stuff along the lines of "critical thinking" which of course you've been doing if you've been a RN already, but still... You also pick up some other information that comes in handy.

And. . . . You demonstrate the ability to finish a bachelor's degree program. Stick-to-it-iveness, ability to write term papers, etc.

Love

Dennie

LasVegasRN · Jul 13, 2002

Originally posted by Level2Trauma
This, among many other things, will help to keep our profession in the sub-standard category. Someone please tell me in what other profession does the attainment of a higher degree not come with the attainment of more money. Just curious.

Not everyone has the money to be able to afford a BSN. Or do you want this profession to turn into something where only those who are "well-off" can become a nurse? I won't get into this age old argument. Like you said, there are MANY things that contribute to the perception of our profession being in a "sub-standard" category. Some believe that nurses unionizing contributes to this belief also.

Let's not make perceptions become the rule of our profession. We've worked too hard to go backwards.

live4today, RN · Jul 13, 2002

originally posted by nursedennie
curlygirl, that makes sense to me.

love

dennie

ps - the thing is, we're all "educated" if it's diploma, adn, bsn, msn lpn.... whatever! it gets up my nose............

dennie.....i'm still laughing at your avatar having her finger up her nose, and here you are talking about how "it gets up my nose"...so i'm laughing myself silly on the other side of this computer. :chuckle :lol2: :chuckle you know i love you, but i really miss your photo. hey.....how about using that huge cat's photo for an avatar, dennie. even if it wasn't really that big, i loved that photo. :kiss

live4today, RN · Jul 13, 2002

originally posted by dez
wow, this is discouraging! i had planned on getting my bsn,but if you r not getting paid much more then what is the purpose of the extra schooling? what are the benefits then?

when i was a nursing student, our professors always joked about the different degrees in nursing, and this is what they would say to us:

aas/adn.......average azz in nursing/average doo in nursing

bsn.........bull shick in nursing

msn.........more shick in nursing

:chuckle :roll :chuckle

so......i guess the benefits of all that extra bookwork just improves one's ability to dish out more 'shick'...........or should i say.....improves their ability to eat more 'schick' in nursing. :chair: :rotfl:

mark_LD_RN · Jul 13, 2002

to emily-mom ; that is the first i have heard of such a thing more orientation for bsn than adn? that hospital must have bought into that fallicy that bsn get no clinical training. you said you had 600 hours cliical time that is less than 1/4 the time i spent in clinicals. example of local programs adn preceptorship 40 -60 requirement, the two BSN programs require 160 and 200 hours of preceptorship. we had rotation through ER,NICU,ICU, CARDIAC CATH LAB, and other areas that the local adn programs do not offer. while this may not be indicative of all programs, i do see a problem with people painting topics with one broad sweep of the brush.

as far as pay goes, i think all nurses should be considered professionals, we are all educated, just at different levels. I think a person should be paid more for advanced degrees and also for experience. if a degree does not matter than LPN,ADN,diploma,BSN,MSN and PhD should all make the same. a person should be paid for advanced degrees as a way to promote higher learning and to promote nursing as a whole. our hospital pays BSN 1.00 an hour more and MSN gets 1.50 more an hour.

money is not the only reason to get advanced degrees, it gives you more options and for my self i am proud to have earned it and am motivated to go on to even high degrees.

i think to be considered a true profession nursing need to have the BSN as the one entry level

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2002

originally posted by cheerfuldoer

dennie.....hey.....how about using that huge cat's photo for an avatar, dennie. even if it wasn't really that big, i loved that photo. :kiss

my sweet and lovely friend, you know i can deny you nothing within my power to accord. here's the big kitty. would you like a copy of the picture? let me know and i'll send him to you.

and mark, your point is valid, but only up to a point. yes, for sure education is usually worth more and compensated more. but here's a f'rinstance. let's get away from nurses, because we're all so close to that. how about this: i have a couple of different degrees, i'm also an ordained minister. but if i took a job flipping burgers, if i expected to be paid a lot more than the teenagers also flipping those burgers, then i'd be disappointed.

obviously jobs that require more education to have should pay more -- they don't, always, but that's just another sad fact of life. people with the "higher" degrees probably should be doing different jobs, with more responsibility or whatever, that makes them more valuable to their employers, if the $$ is that important.

and i hereby state my intention not to post on this subject again, as i am repeating myself. at least i know i am doing it, and it's not through my short-term memory problem. *sigh* but you maybe noticed that i didn't "promise" not to. heh heh

love

dennie

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2002

Oooooh, rethinking some of my wording on that last post!!! (not going back on my stated intention - this is a CLARIFICATION, not an ADDITION as SUCH)

In NO WAY am I comparing bedside nursing to flipping burgers!!! NO WAY NO HOW NOPE NOT EVEN! I'm just only saying that if they're all doing the same job, then yes, I agree that all those different ppl Mark mentioned should make pretty much the same amount of money. If one of them is more productive, more valuable for some reason, that that person will probably start making more money.

I would *hope* that I would be a standout as a burger-flipper and would quickly be promoted to a more responsible, higher-paying job. Maybe assistant restaurant manager. There's another hard job! Ewwwwwwww

Love

Dennie

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jul 13, 2002

Interesting thoughts previously posted here:

EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE: LOOKING BACKWARD INTO THE FUTURE

Martha A. Nelson, PhD, RN

Nelson, M. (May 31, 2002) "Education for Professional Nursing Practice: Looking Backward Into the Future" Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. #7 No. #3, Morificecript 3. Available: http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic18/tpc18_3.htm

live4today, RN · Jul 13, 2002

Yeahhhhh for you Dennie for posting the cat photo. I just love that cat picture so much. I wish he was that big, I would love to pet a domesticated cat that size. :chuckle BTW: the cat is much more becoming to look at than our Queen Mother picking in her nose.....or is that a photo of Queen Elizabeth...the Queen Mother's daughter??? :chair: :chuckle

I would love to have a picture of that cat. I'll "PM" you an email address you can mail it to in a sec, then I'm going to bed. Yawn!! :kiss