Highest Education Achieved - What to Select?

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

On hospital job applications, I often see the question: 'what is your highest education achieved?'or something to that effect. I have 2 bachelor degrees (one in psych and one in nursing, the latter was accelerated) and a Juris Doctor (which I completed in between the bachelor degrees). I have naturally wanted to choose doctorate but recently have been inclined to choose bachelors because I think Nursing Jobs (especially floor nursing jobs) only really care about your NURSING degrees ... and by selecting doctorate I feel that I am misrepresenting that I have a DNP or something like that. Also, I don't want to weed myself from an applicant computer search by choosing doctorate and getting filtered out as potentially overqualified. Another nurse I know with the same background (we are not that rare a breed anymore) has had the same issue.

Thoughts?

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

[morte, LPN, LVN]

If you applying for a NURSING job, that would be the education they would be interested in.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

JD is not equivalent to "doctorate" in terms of educational achievement. Pre-req for JD is Bachelor's degree, but some law schools don't even require that. Pre-req for doctorate is a Master's degree & doctorates require dissertation (original work).

If the application is specific to a nursing job, they probably want highest nursing degree. You can include other (non-nursing) educational achievements in your resume.

[elkpark]

JD is not equivalent to "doctorate" in terms of educational achievement. Pre-req for JD is Bachelor's degree, but some law schools don't even require that. Pre-req for doctorate is a Master's degree & doctorates require dissertation (original work).

If the application is specific to a nursing job, they probably want highest nursing degree. You can include other (non-nursing) educational achievements in your resume.

Not really. Doctorates in many disciplines don't require a Master's -- people go directly from a baccalaureate degree into doctoral programs. And only a PhD requires a dissertation. But PhDs are not the only doctoral degrees. JDs and MDs are doctorates, just as DNPs (and the old NDs, DNSs, and other non-PhD nursing doctorates) are. Just not a PhD.

OP, if the application asked specifically about the highest level nursing education you have completed, I would agree with the other posters. But if, as you say, it asks generically about "education" without specifying, I would include your JD.

Most employment applications ask you to include all education completed and all former employment (in the last X number of years). Many employers feel that leaving something (education or previous employment) off is dishonesty sufficient to get you dropped from consideration, or, if you've already been hired when they find out, fired from your job. I understand your qualms. However, honesty is always the best policy in nursing -- people's lives depend on our honesty and personal integrity.

Best wishes for your journey!