RN-BSN necessity if existing BS?

[RNgrad2012]

Prior to attending nursing school, I earned a BS in Community Health Education. I live in Iowa, and there is talk of making BSN the standard, instead of ADN. My question is does my BS in a related field "equal" to BSN in employers eyes? Is it worth my time/money to have two bachelor's degrees, or should I proceed directly to an MSN? I have ZERO desire to be in management, I am happy to be a floor nurse, so I worry about making myself over qualified. One day I'd like to teach, but not at least for a decade. I'm currently 29, married, no kids. Eventually want to move out of state and or country, so that's also a concern about furthering my education.

[llg, PhD, RN]

1. Bottom line #1: BS (other field) plus ADN does NOT equal a BSN. Of course, each employer has different requirements ... so it is possible that someone will say that "at their hospital, people don't need BSN's." But if you want to be mobile in your career and have the best chance of getting a good job in many regions of the country, you need for your BS degree to be in nursing and not something else.

2. Bottom line #2: BSN's and MSN's are NOT just for management positions. There are a wide variety of nursing roles out there that require at least a BSN. Many others that require at least an MSN. If you think that you might want to get out of the staff nurse role someday (e.g. for scheduling or financial reasons) ... you might want to take advantage of the opportunity you have now (before you have kids) to get your education out of the way.

Good luck to you with whatever you decide.