Support for ADN's required to secure their BSN lacking

[dzadzey, MSN, RN]

Across Ohio, and the nation, the drive is on to require a BSN to secure...or continue...employment in acute and critical care settings. While the research data shows improved outcomes in these settings with a high level of BSN staffing, there are problems with this push. Some systems are giving experienced ADN's as few as two years to secure their BSN, yet these healthcare systems are failing to meet the commitment expected of these ADN's with a commitment to these experienced ADN's in securing their BSN. Tuition reimbursement plans consistently fail to meet the cost currently incurred in returning to school.

I saw the hand-writing on the wall, and secured my BSN before it became mandated. But my employers tuition reimbursement plan at work covered, at best, half the cost of one semester. This lack financial commitment to the educational advancement of experienced ADN's leaves these nurses angry and upset..feeling hospital administration are trying to get something for nothing, perhaps in order to let attrition thin the ranks of ADN's in acute and critical care settings. This attrition will, in turn, allow healthcare systems to hire in new grad BSN's at a lower starting salary than the experienced ADN's they will be replacing.

Until nurses stop being doormats, start acting like the professionals we are, and demanding the respect and benefits that derive from that professional status...nothing will change.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Well said.

[smartnurse1982]

To be fair,its not the employers job to provide tuition reimbursement.

A little something would help,esp if I get a bsn and yet I don't get a raise(which would happen in my situation as Bsn and Adn. Nurses have the same pay rate)

[elkpark]

Until nurses stop being doormats, start acting like the professionals we are, and demanding the respect and benefits that derive from that professional status...nothing will change.

IMO, the "professional" thing to do is take responsibility for furthering one's own education and career without expecting an employer to pay for it. I don't really get where this expectation comes from in nursing that it is the employer's responsibility to pay for people to go back to school, and, if they don't, we're getting mistreated and ripped off.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I have no problem with them not paying as long as I am grandfathered in. It is the requiring BSN when I already paid my way through school long ago that is my issue. It doesn't make financial sense at my age.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I used to feel that employers should feel obligated to pay for a significant portion of a nurse's continued education. I don't feel the same way more.

My family paid for my undergraduate education by making sacrifices in our standard of living. We didn't have some luxuries as my parents saved money regularly to pay for my education. I also earned a merit-based scholarship by working hard in high school. So I was able to enter a BSN program right out of high school and entered the nursing workforce with a BSN from the get-go. I was never paid anything extra for having that BSN. So why should an employer pay for my ADN/Diploma colleague's education -- thus paying that other nurse more than me? Why does she get a free ride?

I don't object to tuition reimbursement that all employees are equally eligible for. But I don't suppor the idea that an employer is obligated to give people a free education just because they didn't do what needed to be done when they were younger -- or because they changed their minds about their careers.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Tuition reimbursement is abenefit, not a required perk of the job. Many facilities have done away with tuition reimbursement completely. I am very grateful that my workplace pays for any of my (as of yet not required) education, even though it doesn't come anywhere close to covering the costs.

[dzadzey, MSN, RN]

I find it surprising that so many think the issue is about nurses getting a handout from employers to pay for their education. What it is about is employers mandating a level of education of nursing staff to retain their positions in acute and critical care, then failing to support the nursing staff in securing that education, whether that support be monetary or other support to aid ADN's in securing their BSN.

In a sense, it is about getting something for nothing, but rather it is employers seeking to gain a higher level of nursing care at little or no cost to the organization.

[elkpark]

I find it surprising that so many think the issue is about nurses getting a handout from employers to pay for their education. What it is about is employers mandating a level of education of nursing staff to retain their positions in acute and critical care, then failing to support the nursing staff in securing that education, whether that support be monetary or other support to aid ADN's in securing their BSN.

In a sense, it is about getting something for nothing, but rather it is employers seeking to gain a higher level of nursing care at little or no cost to the organization.

Sorry, I still don't get why people think it's the employer's responsibility and not the individual professional's.

[CrossCountryRN2008]

Tuition aide is a perk not required. What happened to personal responsibility?

[OCNRN63, RN]

IMO, the "professional" thing to do is take responsibility for furthering one's own education and career without expecting an employer to pay for it. I don't really get where this expectation comes from in nursing that it is the employer's responsibility to pay for people to go back to school, and, if they don't, we're getting mistreated and ripped off.

I think there is a responsibility when they change the game; you're hired 20 years ago when a diploma or ADN was sufficient, then in order to satisfy Magnet (aka "Marketing Scheme"), they want those nurses, who were hired in good faith, to further their education.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against education. I am against staff being forced to further their education when it's done to further the agenda of the hospital. They want to say to the public, "Look at how many BSNs we have!"

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

It is a nice perk to offer as part of an employment package, but just that, a perk. It isn't something that can be expected. It is a little embarrassing really that nurses have to be coerced into higher education.