WHY do I need a BSN?

[AnnMarie52471]

I am taking classes towards my BSN because like other nurses with a diploma or ADN I am being "forced" to return to school for my BSN. I have had my ADN for 9 years. My question is HOW is statistics, critical inquiry, and the other classes going to make me a better nurse? Isn't hands on training the best way to learn? I feel like they are requiring BSN now and in 10 years want MSN so that we wont need doctors working on the floors, because nurses will do their own orders!!

I am 42 y/o and rally don't want to do this, but I have a minimum of 23 years left of working and had to be forced to stay where I am due to not having a BSN. Sure they say we may be "grandfathered" in, but that limits us to stay put.

Anyone have any input on this, as to what am I going to learn getting my BSN and why the requirement now?

[smartnurse1982]

Not grandfathering in experienced nurses is simply an absurd argument no matter how you look at it.

You want to change the entry to RN practice to BSN? Okay, but no one has the right to tell a diploma/ADN RN that they "have to" go back to school to keep their licence. Ditto for LPNs. If they change the educational requirements for LPNs they will grandfather me in.

I don't see how any sane person could argue against grandfathering.

Maybe i worded it a bit wrong.

I know for me,if i am grandfathered in,there would be no point of going back to school.

I guess if i do not,the free market would take care of me anyway,which is happening now.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

I guess if i do not,the free market would take care of me anyway,which is happening now.

"Free market"??? Hardly, anything but. More like a highly manipulated market. More like insider trading.

[ronchelednik]

Sure, that works out in the carefully constructed, detailed scenario you invented in order to present a situation in which the ADN-prepared person clearly comes out ahead. It would be just as easy to invent a fantasy scenario in which the BSN path is clearly the much better option. Neither proves anything.

Whenever one of these discussions is happening here, lots of people keep harping on the amount of student debt involved in nurses returning to school to complete BSNs as if crippling levels of student debt is simply a fact of life. I returned to school to complete a BSN at a nearby state university many years after graduating from my original hospital-based diploma program. I don't recall how much it cost me, but I do know that I was easily able to pay for the program out-of-pocket as I went (working full-time and going to school part-time), without even considering taking out any student loans. I did take out some loans for graduate school, but only the minimum amount necessary after factoring in a few scholarships I was able to get and working part-time through my graduate program (full-time during the summer and holiday breaks). The investment was well worth it and it was no hardship at all to pay the loans off. If further education is something people want, there's always a way to make it work. People who don't want it can always come up with a kazillion reasons why it's not feasible.

You bring dishonor to yourself elkpark. Your comment is filed with false assertions claiming this story is somehow made up and false. You could not be further from the truth. Everyword I stated is absolute truth. I don't hide behind a made up name. My wife Lisa (same last name as my screen name) works at SMRC in Perrysburg, VA. I will not reveal the other nurses name but it has happened as I stated. I seen your comments many months ago but decided to ignore you, for haters will hate but I would hope you would allow others to share their perspectives to a forum without you tearing it up and berating others. What you did hurt.

[flightnursetaylor]

This may have been pointed out already but I haven't had the chance to read through all 5 pages of the comments. BSN does not make you a better bedside nurse. It makes you look good on paper. Hospitals are encouraging their nurses to complete their BSNs in order to either achieve magnet status or to make the Board of Directors impressed with how many nurses they have on staff that have higher degrees. This results in better chances at getting grants, education money, etc. I have been a nurse for 17 years and just finished my BSN last year. Mostly because I wanted to get it done. I am only 40 and have another 20 years of employment left. Another reason was that the hospital that I work for offered tuition assistance and an additional dollar more per hour to any nurse with their BSN.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

BSN does not make you a better bedside nurse.

Based on what source?

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

There are a bunch of them. University of Arizona, American Sentinal University, and University of San Francisco among them.

I checked out the U of A and American Sentinal and yes, it is POSSIBLE and there are qualifiers (like having 30 general education credits deemed "transferrable", The ASU students must haves nursing experience or a Bachelors in another field. ASU offers only the soft majors - no clinical majors. U of A also has similar qualifiers. So yes, if you have enough years of nursing experience AND you have the transferrable general education credits AND you can devote your life fully to school, one could theoretically get a MSN in two years.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

I checked out the U of A and American Sentinal and yes, it is POSSIBLE and there are qualifiers (like having 30 general education credits deemed "transferrable", The ASU students must haves nursing experience or a Bachelors in another field. ASU offers only the soft majors - no clinical majors. U of A also has similar qualifiers. So yes, if you have enough years of nursing experience AND you have the transferrable general education credits AND you can devote your life fully to school, one could theoretically get a MSN in two years.

I know the most about the U of A program. Several of my friends / co-workers are in it now. U of A actually does not require any transferable credits. All they require is an associates degree from an accredited ADN program, an RN license, a 3.0 GPA and a year (or two) nursing experience.

From looking at their websites it is apperent to me that ASU and U of A do NOT have similar qualifiers. For example U of A does not require 30 transferable GE credits.

I don't actually know anyone who has done the ASU program.

A good friend is in the U of A program now and he only went to an ADN program for a year and earned 36 credits (LPN to RN). He also has CLEP credits and "recommended"credit for his army training that show up on his community college transcript. The U of A MSN program will actually be much faster for him than any of the many RN to BSN programs he looked into. All the BSN program wanted certain credits in certain areas, 6 credits in composition, 4 in chem and similar. U of A doesn't even look at what classes you actually did or didn't take. All they care is if you have an associates degree and the school in accredited.

He will graduate with a MSN after a total of one year of community college for his ADN (like me), and two years of online education for the MSN.

All of the people I know doing the U of A program are on track to graduate in two years.

When you say "soft majors" you mean it is not a NP or CNS program? Of course. Who cares? We are comparing the MSN to the BSN. The BSN is only a soft major and not a clinical degree as well.

I think there are lots of nurses for whom the MSN through U of A would be faster than a BSN. Inparticular veterans.

[indish]

Excellent!

[flightnursetaylor]

Based on Anecdotal evidence. I have seen nurses before and after they complete their BSN. Their patient care is always excellent and doesn't change one bit after they get that piece of paper. I went to work one day, found out I successfully completed my degree when I got home the next day. When I went back to work, I continued to give the best care that I could possibly give. I continue to do critical thinking and I have never once thought to myself, "I couldn't do this critical thinking without the help of that Bachelors degree".

[AliceTrout]

Reading through this thread has been upsetting and depressing.

The petty bickering, belittling, and name calling is pedantic and immature.

To me, it comes down to this. We should want to see our profession evolve, grow, and thrive. This happens by setting standards to live up to, not down to. So let's push the education further, but let's not dismiss the virtue of experience in the process.

I have seen many excuses for why people don't want to or were not able to further their education, but almost all of them were personal reasons. I feel like that sort of thinking is losing focus on who we go to work to serve - is that ourselves, our employers, or our patients?

If we realize that the priority goal is to improve our patients outcome - then you really can't justify arguing in favor of lower educational standards for the profession with any credibility. If you can't or won't make the commitment to step up academically - nobody should mock you, dismiss you, or call you names. Yet, don't be so sour if you find yourself becoming less in demand than those who do willingly acquire the extra schooling. Dismissing degrees like the BSN and MSN by saying they "don't make a better nurse" is a flawed argument at best, and appears to only be made in desperation by those unwilling or incapable (be it "life" or any other reason) of pursuing those degrees themselves.

Respect your fellow nurses and trust they made the right choice for themselves, and stop spending so much time criticizing the choice they made. Accept the choices you made, and handle the consequences of those choices like an adult.

Stop the comparisons, and realize everyone on your floor is bringing something unique to the table and appreciate the different perspectives instead of complaining about them.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Based on Anecdotal evidence.".

What is based on anecdotal evidence?

[flightnursetaylor]

My comments on how having a Bachelors Degree doesn't make a better nurse.