Magnet or other institutions encouraging or requiring higher education

aliciaRNBSN · Jul 6, 2012

I completely understand your frustration. I worked as a scrub tech for 7 years (4 of which I was in nursing school). I am now an RN in the OR, I have a bachelor's degree and I work at a Magnet hospital. Our supervisors must have at least a bachelor's degree and administration must have master's. I work with both ADN and BSN trained nurses and I know from experience that having a bachelor's degree doesn't ALWAYS make you a better circulator. I am very much for furthering your education but it's not for everyone. The biggest benefit I personally feel from choosing to get BSN vs. ADN is the knowledge that I obtained regarding research and evidence-based practices. Critical thinking is what makes a good nurse and you don't have to have a BSN to critically think.

Sorry. Not sure how to word the subject. My institution is moving in the direction to obtain magnet status (or so we're told). Part of this pathway is pay for performance type of raises. I'm not against that. I hate it when those that do the bare minimum get exactly the same as those that go far above and beyond. My institution also offers a carrier ladder or lump sum bonus dependent on many factors (education, tenure, years in same department, CE earned, extra curricular volunteering, providing education in the form of in-service to staff, certifications, etc.). Now, we are being told that we will be capped dependent on education level (a diploma or ADN cannot go as far as a BSN who cannot go as far as MSN... Etc.). We are also being told that we will be highly encouraged to continue with our education. Eventually salary caps will be education dependent. I am not against furthering ones education. But I also have mixed feelings about being forced to do so. I guess that many institutions now require a nurse to have a BSN or greater to even gain employment. I have a diploma. I have been thinking about getting my BSN for a while now. This new mandate has me wanting to both go for it finally but also not to, just because I am being told that I need to. You know what. I don't even know if I have a question here. I'm sort of just venting. I'm a damn good circulator. A bachelor won't make me any better. Or will it? What do your institutions ask or require of you education-wise anyway?
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aliciaRNBSN · Jul 6, 2012

Not completely true...Yes there is a lot of paper writing but you also learn more about whole person nursing, critically thinking, and using research guided nursing practices.

mol42 · Jul 7, 2012

I can appreciate your comments and thoughts, CirqL8. If you don't have your BSN I would get it. I can't say if it will make you a better nurse but I do believe you'll be paid better and the money you spend will be worth it in the long run. I am a BSN, BTW. master's degree----I'm not so sure. My hospital is a magnet hospital and they are requiring BSNs and certification in your specialty to advance up the clinical ladder. When I got frustrated iIstarted looking at other opportunities and it seemed that most facilities were looking for "BSN required". it seemed that a lot of hospitals across thenation are going in this direction because they want to look better to get magnet or other accreditation. those accrediting bodies have made these education requirements important for facilities as well as the public. at least in regard to the BSN. For my part, i have periodically looked at getting my Master's degree and trying to figure out if THAT would be worth it. So I hear your frustrations. I don't want to go back to school again I want to read for my enjoyment when I want to. but depending on what i want to do with my future i may be better off going for that further degree but I think BSN is in your favor.

But really, what i probably should have done, is pay more attention in that typing class in high school instead of blowing it off. Sorry for all the typos.:)

Goobstress · Jul 9, 2012

I worked at several magnet hospitals and the way I looked at it for my fellow co-workers who have ADN and their return on investment for what they were going to get was just not worth it. I have worked with plenty of ADN nurses in the O.R who are amazing compared to BSN nurses. Integrity and performance is solely dependent on the person and not just their certifications.

CIRQL8 · Jul 10, 2012

Call the "Wambulance".

LoL. That's exactly what I'm doing. Waaaa.

Need time to cool down. Big changes they are a coming. A lot at a time. One at a time I can handle fine. But when they go on and change everything that I've always known About my compensation at once, I stress.

Don't get me wrong. I do love my job. But I don't work for free either.

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