BSN does not mean better... Sometimes education is overrated!

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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okay so here's my point.

i have been reading several things on here about "i have my bsn so therefore i should make more money..blah, blah, blah" frankly i am sick of hearing it. let me give you a little background on me before i finish what i started.

i started out as an stna (cna) about 8 years ago. then i went and got my lpn. now i am getting my adn and i will graduate in may 2008. once i get my adn i am planning on going back and getting my bsn.

now let me say that i have met many bsn nurses who could not even figure out how to empty a foley drainage bag. they deemed that as "aide work". they also thought that they were better than us, and that we should bow down to them. also, i have met many bsn nurses who were so knowledgeable about everything and were excellent nurses. bedside manner was fantastic.

in general..i have met good nurses and bad nurses. that includes lpn's, bsn's and adn's. just because you have more education does not mean that you are better and should be paid more. honestly, bsn is a choice. it is a choice that i want to make. why would an employer pay a bsn all this money when they could pay an adn or a diploma rn less money for the same job? therefore...around the same pay for both. i just get sick and tired of people saying...i am better than you because i went to school for one year longer or two years or whatever. education is very important .....but its not everything when it comes to this debate. i met this master's degree nurse and she was sooooo stupid. i couldn't believe that she managed to get her degree. i knew this lpn who was smarter than any nurse i have ever met....rn's included. and vice versa.

my point: what makes a good nurse is personality, common sense and what you do with the knowledge that you possess.:balloons:

Tweety - I'm with you on this. I've been a nurse for 15 years and have never heard the BSN is better thingie out in the work world. What I do hear (and see) is that some positions require a BSN or MSN or whatever. There is nothing wrong with this.

And...I did the LPN to ADN to BSN to MSN to post-MSN certificate and boy do I wish that I had just gone straight to the BSN! Would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

I think I've mostly heard these things here on allnurses.

I too would have gone the BSN route - If I had been directly out of high school. I did go that route for a Social Work degree right out of high school.

I've mentioned before that my mentor suggested that I NOT take a CNA course or do the LVN program first - just go straight for my RN.

The only way to do that was a local CC. I had three kids and live 70 miles away from the CC and 3 hours away from the university.

steph

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Specializes in Trauma ICU.
I just have a quick comment...

It seems as though alot of times we dicuss the ADN who has "been around the block" and therefore is more mature and has life experience. The issue that I wonder about and have experienced is the ADN that was 17 right out of HS and got thier ADN and now are working on the floor as a 19 yo RN. This SCARES me...at 19 there is NO WAY i was ready to take on the responsibility to be an RN. I think there may be a few exceptions to the rule but i dont know many 19 yo's that are ready for that. I would not trust my health or that of my child in the hands of a 19 yo whether they were educated or not.

I experienced a group of 19 and 20 yo New Grads that came to ME when I was still a student and were asking me questions about med calculations and other things. It made me really nervous.

What do you all thing of the BSN in this capacity?(just out of curiosity)

I am a 20 y/o BSN-RN, and I have had a couple of patients tell me that they didn't feel comfortable with me being their nurse due to my age. One lady even requested a change of nurses, with a coworker. She had CHF and was taking Digoxin. Well, I walked in to ask my coworker if she had the PCA keys, and I heard her say "Ms. So and So, I've got your digoxin ready for you," and the lady's heart rate was in the upper 40's. I asked my coworker (in her 40's) if she was sure she wanted to give it, and she was positive. So I pulled her to the side and told her that it wouldn't be a good idea. So she asked every nurse on the floor....just to find out I was right. Just because someone is older doesn't necessarily make them a better nurse because they have more "life experience".

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I am a 20 y/o BSN-RN, and I have had a couple of patients tell me that they didn't feel comfortable with me being their nurse due to my age. One lady even requested a change of nurses, with a coworker. She had CHF and was taking Digoxin. Well, I walked in to ask my coworker if she had the PCA keys, and I heard her say "Ms. So and So, I've got your digoxin ready for you," and the lady's heart rate was in the upper 40's. I asked my coworker (in her 40's) if she was sure she wanted to give it, and she was positive. So I pulled her to the side and told her that it wouldn't be a good idea. So she asked every nurse on the floor....just to find out I was right. Just because someone is older doesn't necessarily make them a better nurse because they have more "life experience".

That is amazing because one of the things POUNDED into my brain in school was NOT to give Dig unless you did an apical hr for one minute. Don't even open the dig. And when you go to chart, you MUST chart a heartrate.

Weird.

steph

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Family Practice.

I always enjoy reading the hierarchy of nursing forums. When I started my pre-reqs 6 years ago (one class at a time) when my youngest was 9 months old, I was so excited about going for my LPN. I know some of you are reading this saying "Well you do realize that your are at the bottom of the food chain". Well at the time I started LPN's were still in the hospitals and were tentatively going to be faded out. Well as time went on and money was short, I fulfilled my dream of becoming a nurse (LPN), we'll what used to be considered a nurse. Now from reading all of these forums I've come to the conclusion that alot of nurses tend to not be very nice and forget that not all of us had or have the opportunity to get our Bachelors or Masters, but are content with the fact that we went to school to help people. No I am not a RN, nor to I claim to be one, but I do have something to contribute to the healthcare field. I do believe in each tier there should be a pay difference, considering cost and knowledge, but to think that just because you have more letters behind your letter that you are better than me (LPN), you're not. Instead of having that mentality why don't RN's let LPN's assist and you mentor us instead of constantly belittling us. As for anyone who has a higher degree of education, I think it is wonderful and you deserve it for the sacrifices you made or didn't make, but for me the bottom of the food chain LPN, it just isn't presently in the cards and hasn't been in the past, so I will continue to be proud of my accomplishments and you be proud of yours (BSN, MSN).

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
i guess you need to clean the sand outcha ears cause every other thread on this forum these days is about these very subjects.

:lol2:

i'm talking about in real life.

but even here on this forum if you count the number of bsns that put down adns by saying they are better nurses, compared to the overall number of posts, it's still small. also there are an equal number of adns who put down bsns.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Just because someone is older doesn't necessarily make them a better nurse because they have more "life experience".

Agree. Sometimes new grads have such fresh and up to date knowledge, I pick their brains a lot. So many things have changed since I graduated.

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Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.

ok, have to chime in... was an LPN for 18 years...and a da$% good one... went for my ADN because I was doing the same work but being denied opportunity... and was an ADN till 3 days ago

I did find, however, that the added classes to get my bsn DID give me more theory and knowledge; and helped me better understand the journals I was reading, and DID help me think more critically. I do not think it improved my clinical skills; those i developed by experience. Many many years of hands on care... and i do not think that can be taught in a classroom!!

I work with several RNs and one LPN now... and the LPN is one of the ones that I trust the most.... because she has YEARS of clincal experience. I look at the way a person works and thinks ; not their degree.

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ok, have to chime in... was an lpn for 18 years...and a da$% good one... went for my adn because i was doing the same work but being denied opportunity... and was an adn till 3 days ago

i did find, however, that the added classes to get my bsn did give me more theory and knowledge; and helped me better understand the journals i was reading, and did help me think more critically. i do not think it improved my clinical skills; those i developed by experience. many many years of hands on care... and i do not think that can be taught in a classroom!!

i work with several rns and one lpn now... and the lpn is one of the ones that i trust the most.... because she has years of clincal experience. i look at the way a person works and thinks ; not their degree.

well said, i agree. although i learned many of my skills for management through hard work, willingness to learn nursing confrences, cirtifications etc. it seemed to work well because i was able to advance to places my bsn co-workers didn't. classes for my bsn were interesting but not much use in general. the cost/value ratio was mis matched. by-the-way, i love your picture on your post site. it is sooooo cute. it sounds like your doing well. best luck in the future. :rotfl:

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Agree. Sometimes new grads have such fresh and up to date knowledge, I pick their brains a lot. So many things have changed since I graduated.

I wish I worked with you! There's an experienced nurse I work with from time to time who makes me nuts by saying how such-and-such was done wrong, or this-and-that was charted right when I know it to be the opposite BECAUSE I'm only out of school a year. Specifically on legal issues, the newest information was given to us as we were leaving, so I'd trust that over her info (which is 12 years old and she doesn't believe in continuing education, so I know she's not kept up on it).

/rant :)

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.....heard a nurse that float to our unit say "Anyone can put potassium in an IV, but it takes a BSN to know why".

LOL...I guess I'm a special case, since either that WAS taught in my ADN program, or I'm a psychic learner!

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I wish I worked with you! There's an experienced nurse I work with from time to time who makes me nuts by saying how such-and-such was done wrong, or this-and-that was charted right when I know it to be the opposite BECAUSE I'm only out of school a year. Specifically on legal issues, the newest information was given to us as we were leaving, so I'd trust that over her info (which is 12 years old and she doesn't believe in continuing education, so I know she's not kept up on it).

/rant :)

That's true. I've been a nurse for a long long time. I learn so much from new grads. Plus , I feel if I'm open to hearing new things, asking questions of new grads that they will feel more free about asking questions of more experienced nurses.(even those that "eat their young". I do hope since you are a fairly new nurse that many of us "older nurses" keep up on our education too,we also have alot of experience so tap in on it.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
LOL...I guess I'm a special case, since either that WAS taught in my ADN program, or I'm a psychic learner!

:lol2:

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