BSN...what for?

[exit96]

Hello,

I am new here and a new nursing student. I work at a hospital as a CNA on the med/surg unit. I am just wondering, for those going on for your BSN, what exactly will do you intend on using it for? I ask this knowing nurses that have their BSN and end up floor nursing and getting the same pay as an ADN. I am trying to think on 'where' I want to go in Nursing and whether to start working toward a BSN also.

Dan

[KateRN1]

Knowledge is power but if we're both changing trach's and hanging that peritoneal dialysis fluid, who can tell what the difference in our education is?

I can tell.

And when the time comes for promotion or management, the BSN nurse is more likely to get it, all other factors being equal. And because I don't want to be changing trachs and hanging PD for the rest of my career. Because I can think ahead to the time that I won't be able to be that nurse on roller skates. Because I've already had two positions in my career that required a BSN, so I can clearly see the value, having already faced it and happy as heck that I persevered. If you don't want to invest the time and money and want to stay at the bedside until your back breaks, more power to you. Someone has to do it. But I still say that education is never wasted. I learned something useful from every single BSN course I did. As well as every single CEU course I've ever done and every single conference I've attended.

[MedSurgeMess]

As much as I love my patients in med surg, I know I can't work bedside forever. I got my BSN just for self fulfillment, and decided during that program that I want to teach, so I got even more out of it than I bargained for. A lot of my fellow students that were in the progam just wanted the piece of paper that said BSN, but some of us really wanted the knowledge. In the end, you could tell. Like KateRN1, I have made sure to learn something useful from every class, CEU, conference or community program that I have been part of.

[anonymurse]

Bummer that I'd need a BSN (or other bachelor's) to get a WOCN cert.

[libra32547]

I took this directly off the SC BON website. It was under the board minutes from March 2009, under "10 Year Transition Plan for ADN to BSN" It will be interesting to see how this progresses. I have heard that this idea has been going on for awhile, and that every few years people get ramped up again about the whole ADN vs BSN thing. I also hear a "rumor" that in SC, they are trying to do away with LPN's in the hosptital setting by no longer hiring new ones, and encouraging the current employees to go back for RN. Don't know how true that is, have never found anything on BON minutes. It may just be a hospital prefrence. Oh below is what I took directly from the SC BON minutes.

"This issue was taken up in response to research by Linda Aiken which

concluded that more education equates to safer practice. The worldwide

education standard is moving toward baccalaureate in science (BSN) degree

for nursing. The question is how to move toward that standard. Currently, two

thirds of the United States nurses are associate degree prepared (ADN)

nurses. One option would require ADN prepared nurses obtain their BSN

degree within ten years of licensure. The question arose as to what happens

at the end of the ten years if the nurse has not obtained the BSN. Discussion

included but was not limited to: raising general education courses in ADN

programs to a level that would easily transfer to BSN, Colleagues in Caring

articulation model, employer requirement for BSN nurses, employers giving

incentives to obtain a higher level education, encouraging students entering

into ADN programs to use it as a step toward their BSN, and counseling

students in future education goals."

[jcgrund]

I am close to finishing a LPN program, and I plan to continue on for my BSN because I want to be commissioned in the Air Force.

[DrCateRN]

There are a lot of very good reasons for obtaining the BSN, not the least of which is broadening one's options within the field. With an ADN, one is likely to remain at the bedside, which in itself is not a bad thing, but as the years go by, the back, the knees, and the feet start to take their toll and one might want to at least have the option of moving to a less strenuous field of action. Another reason is that the bachelors degree is the requirement for entry into most other professions, why not nursing? There is a difference between nurses trained at the Associate's level and those trained at the bachelor's level. While beside skills may be equal, BSN nurses are more highly trained for leadership, management, delegation, critical thinking, etc. Does this make them better nurses? Not necessarily, however it does provide a broader base from which to practice. I began as an ADN, moved through the BSN, MSN, and DNP. Each step broadened my understanding of nursing and its theoretical foundations. I strongly believe that nurses benefit their patients, their peers, themselves, and their profession when they continue to grow and gain more knowledge and experience. You will be glad you did.

[DoGoodThenGo]

A mandate for making BSN mandatory for entry into the profession is something that various bodies have been pushing for since 1965, and though each decade since you will hear "soon", it has never really happened.

There would have to be some serious and huge changes in the United States education system at the lower levers to bring about a mandate of a four year degree. IIRC, according to recent data, fully half of students graduating from high schools in the USA lack basic college level math and science skills. Moreover because of remediation work, it can take students five or more years to graduate from a four year degree program. As many of these students are minorities, there could be noise that such a requirement would unfairly harm them, which could lead to court actions.

Right now the real money is in bedside nursing, which explains why so many RNs both ADN and BSN who left the bedside for other careers or areas of nursing are flooding the floors and units. It is also one of the reasons nursing is short of instructors, as one can make more, often much more doing bedside care.Considering the wide gaps between what hospitals pay for ADN nurses versus BSNs any student considering entry into the profession wisely caculates the cost to benefit ratios.

As the nature of bedside nursing has changed, many ADN programs have changed as well, adding more science, math, social science and management courses, so much so that some programs run nearly three to almost three years. ADN programs as opposed to diploma and AAS programs were always supposed to be a stepping stone to those seeking a future BSN degree.

Regardless of how one feels about various methods for entry into the profession, historically nursing programs were designed to churn out new grads to keep up with the need to replace nurses who leave. The fact that over forty years after the ANA first issued it's position paper on nursing, almost two thirds of nurses graduating from nursing programs are Associate degree holders tells something.

[MJJFan1, BSN, RN]

I can tell.

And when the time comes for promotion or management, the BSN nurse is more likely to get it, all other factors being equal. And because I don't want to be changing trachs and hanging PD for the rest of my career. Because I can think ahead to the time that I won't be able to be that nurse on roller skates. Because I've already had two positions in my career that required a BSN, so I can clearly see the value, having already faced it and happy as heck that I persevered. If you don't want to invest the time and money and want to stay at the bedside until your back breaks, more power to you. Someone has to do it. But I still say that education is never wasted. I learned something useful from every single BSN course I did. As well as every single CEU course I've ever done and every single conference I've attended.

I don't know how long you plan on working , but I was in the US Marine Corps for 16 years and my last 4, are being spent working as a nurse for the US Government. I will retire at age 39 and receive a check for the rest of my non working life. So break my back, I think not.

Oh yeah, With my beloved Marine Corps experience, I've learned that education doesn't turn one into a leader. Manager you may one day become but can you actually lead? Are you afraid to address your subordinates? Can you actually tell someone what to do and not ask? You don't gain leadership with education. And if you think it does, come try that on my floor.