ADN Or BSN?

[KnottyNurse17]

Hi Everyone, starting out would you recommend getting your ADN first or just going straight into a BSN program? Getting into some ADN programs can be very competitive and can take up a lot of time so I was thinking maybe just going ahead and start the BSN program since I can get it in about 3 years tops. Advice?

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

RNs r we...you say there are more nurses coming in than leaving. Do you have actual evidence of this or is it your gut feeling? Also there is also an overall increasing population and more baby boomers meaning a huge elderly population which requires much more medical care than a young population. There are so many factors to health care. One is if you have a million people and 30% are over say age 60 or if 70% are over 60 then the amount of care and the type of care provided varies. When I was military nurse certain posts would have a high population of young soldiers so we needed much more OB nurses because they were all having babys. Others places many retirees so we needed a different number and need of staff.

This is a couple of years old now, but pretty much sums up the problem of new grads today: American Nurse Today

It's a clear and definite problem that continues....more nurses are being churned out (over the last several years, and continuing on now) than are leaving. It will absolutely impact nursing as a profession negatively as the crucial "gain experience" years are leaving so many new grads WITHOUT any experience (because they can't/couldn't find jobs).....but they will be needed at SOME point. But not now. And when the shortage DOES smack us in the face, we're going to be swamped with nurses with zero experience in acute care--the very areas they will be needed--one day.

To make oneself most competitive when the time comes to get the chance to land a sought-after position, it's crucial to have the most to offer you possibly can. For most new grads, that's going to be a BSN over an ADN.

I totally agree that area of the country, population, specific regions will have differing needs; I'm speaking in broad terms. While the population in general IS aging, the hospitals that provide their care are closing down and narrowing their services. Hiring less help.....welcome to lower insurance and Medicare reimbursements.

The NEED may be there for the population, but if the cash isn't....that's it.