Entry level of nursing

[Cheryl Louise]

US national nursing organizations are endorsing a joint statement supporting the Associate Degree of Nursing as an entry level of nursing along with the Baccalaureate Degree of Nursing due to the push for making the Baccalaureate degree the entry level. This endorsement includes a seamless transition to an advanced degree if the nurse wishes to do so.

The "BSN in 2010" initiative did not occur as there are more Associate Degree Nurses than Baccalaureate Degree Nursing. Community colleges and Associate Degree Nursing Organizations are pushing to maintain the Associate degree as an entry level of nursing. There has been much research on the need for all levels of nursing due to a projected nursing shortage within the next 10 -15 years due to retirement of the largest age group of nurses. The push for "Magnet Hospital" designation requires only Baccalaureate Nurses be hired which is restricting job placement for Associate Degree Nurses.

Have any Associate Degree Nurses have difficulty finding jobs due to the BSN push for entry level and "Magnet Hospitals'?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Is this a school exercise?

If you spend much time on AN, you will find that ADN grads have been encountering this barrier for quite some time. Even hospitals that are not 'Magnet bound' are trying to meet the recommendations outlined in the IOM study (recommendation 4) for RN staff to be at least 80% BSN. http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Nursing%20Education%202010%20Brief.pdf

Although "organized" nursing has been playing around with entry into practice for a while, it seems that employers have already decided.