ADN vs BSN Battle

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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Let me start by saying this is a vent post so if you are not interested in an opinion based post please skip over.

I am currently about to graduate from an ADN program in December. I have worked super hard to get into my program, worked hard throughout my program learning all the same stuff as BSN nursing programs, and just recently took the same Hurst review for the same NCLEX program as BSN students. With that being said, I see so much "title throwing" on this site. By that I mean there are so many posts almost belittling ADN nurses and they are a bit discouraging.

Don't get me wrong I 100% understand it will be more difficult to find a job however here in the DFW where I am at, 2 major hospital groups have partnerships with ADN programs meaning they are still hiring ADN nurses. If anything, and again I mean no disrespect but I hear better things from floor nurses during clinical rotations about our program than some of the major BSN programs in our area.

I guess my frustration comes into play when it seems as though at the point I am in now in terms of getting close to application time there is no support for others. Rather if you read this site and you are an ADN nurse you may feel as though you wasted your time getting a degree. I definetely need a job ASAP but I am not going to belittle those who I feel over paid for their education at which once the "new nurse" title is gone it really doesn't matter where you went to school so long as you have a valid RN license.

Hmm, just feeling a bit discouraged I guess. At any rate, just thought I would share my silly rant. :) Hope everyone is having a great day!

Specializes in Med/Surg, Gyn, Pospartum & Psych.

I am a widow and I needed to find the fastest cheapest way to a paycheck so that was the ADN program. I also picked a program that was rated very high in preparing nurses for the actual floor. It is more difficult to find a job but I found a small hospital that gave me a chance as a contingent (the Director of Nursing was a clinical instructor at our school). Six months later when the little hospital was having a hard time giving me enough hours to live on, I applied and was hired at the big magnet hospital that I was told I'd not be able to get a job at without my BSN. It may have helped that I already had a BS in Bioengineering from my younger days. Either way, time are changing that those of us with ADN are going to have to accept that we need to get the BSN at some time if we want to advance. I can do it at my own pace now while still having the bills paid. If I was 20 years old and single, I'd have gone for my BSN from the start.

It is funny. I had to work harder for the ADN at a community college than I did for my BS in engineering at a major state university. We did BS level work in the nursing area, we just didn't do all the extra classes like statistics and history. Since I did all those getting my first degree, I am just looking at a few online classes in that appear to be primarily paper writing classes and patient population classes. I do find it frustrating that the one year online RN-BSN will cost 3 times what I paid to get the entire 3 year (1 year of prerequisites) ADN degree...but my hospital will give me some money to advance my degree when I do return. For now, I am just getting settled in my job and trying to spend some time with my kids while they are still at home. School in in my near future though. An ADN isn't going to be enough for much longer....kind of like watching all the LPNs in my area working as Nurse Techs or Nurses Aids. It isn't even worth arguing about ... it is going to happen and those of us with ADNs better have a plan in place.

I believe it is an evidence based practice decision to prefer BSN's as statistics appear to indicate better outcomes with BSN's- one of the benefits(?) of everything in a database is data is accumulated and interpreted about everything. Most hospitals in my area will hire ADNs with a contract requiring a BSN within a time frame, some pay tuition some don't. And as nursing , medicine, NP's, PA's, paramedics, Techs,CNA's etc try to continually define their roles as health care changes and reforms, I have heard the term Professional Nurse start to be bandied about, with that being a bachelors prepared RN. I used to work somewhere where there were steps of RN (and of course each higher step paid more) and to move up the first rung was BSN. Many people don't realize there are still many diploma programs around also.

What will keep ADNs around for a long time is RN education (for that matter ALL education) is a business and no school is going to just allow their programs (with years of waiting lists) to simply disappear. In my state the RN programs are the most sought after in the community college system and those students (taxpayers and voters) aren't going to simply shut those programs down.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
On this site I actually see more of BSN bashing than ADN. It seems as if it's okay for ppl to say things such as "BSN's are a waste of money", "We're all nurses in the end", "The ADN programs in my area are better anyway", etc., but if I were to say that "BSN programs are better because in the end you end up with a higher degree" then I'm bashing.

This has been my experience here as well.

I was an ADN RN for the first 6 years of my career, and then I went back for my BSN, and now I'm finishing my MSN. Do I feel like I am a better nurse than I was for the additional education - sure do! Am I safer, more competent than an ADN nurse simply because of my BSN? Probably not. But I think EVERY SINGLE PERSON benefits and becomes more well-rounded, and a richer person for having more education.

I am not comparing myself, a BSN, to another nurse, an ADN. I am comparing myself, a BSN, to myself, an ADN. And as an RN with greater education than I had, I am a better person, and a better nurse. And I bet the same would go for every single person here.

Thanks everyone for yall's post. Maybe I should clarify my long term goals. I definetely have every intentionof getting my BSN in Nursing. It is a must in my state. I eventually want to pursue a graduate degree and become a NP if school doesn't get the best of me in the mean time. I commend anyone getting a nursing degree regardless of what route you choose. Best of luck to everyone in your careers.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

You're "discouraged" by title throwing, yet you started yet ANOTHER thread about it. :banghead:

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I will never understand how a poster can speak for an ENTIRE state "my state prefers BSN's". Maybe in a HOSPITAL setting, but there is SO much more to nursing than the "holy grail" of a hospital position. This attitude irritates me more than the whole "ADN vs BSN battle" And for the record, I think that line is ridiculous, but I used it since that's what OP titled her thread.

My state prefers hiring BSNs. As I was told by a nurse in CNA school: because it gives hospitals better status recognition as well as BSNs "appear more likely" to advance in specialty professions.

But I hear stories about an LPN right out of school landing a job in a hospital in pediatrics, and an NP being the only one in her class to get a job after a year.

Anyway..I hope to flaunt my RN one day, period!

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Really? What state is this? I surely hope that there are NO ADN degrees being offered in your state if absolutely no graduate stands a snowball's chance in heck in getting a job because your ENTIRE state ONLY employs nurses who hold a BSN degree.

Thanks everyone for yall's post. Maybe I should clarify my long term goals. I definetely have every intentionof getting my BSN in Nursing. It is a must in my state. I eventually want to pursue a graduate degree and become a NP if school doesn't get the best of me in the mean time. I commend anyone getting a nursing degree regardless of what route you choose. Best of luck to everyone in your careers.

BuckyBadgerRN I am in Texas. A lot of the major hospitals still hire ADN contingent that you acquire a BSN degree usually within 2 years. I appreciate your pick up on my sarcasm in my title "ADN vs BSN." Definetely wasn't a battle post rather truly using the term versus. I was curious to see people's opinions on why they chose ADN or BSN, what their thoughts were about the politics of jobs hiring ONLY BSN or accepting ADN. You will never understand a concept unless you open your self up to others opinions so yes I started yet another thread about it because I wanted to see people's views. Thanks for posting :)

I agree with the fact that no bashing should be going on. People have their reasons for choosing their particular degree path. There are some BSN's that think it wasn't worth it, just as there are some ADN's that wish they went straight for BSN. One should just go whichever course fits their life goals. I'm in an ADN program and they have a 100% job placement rate for the past 2 years. That goes back to location. In Georgia, it's easy for an ADN to land a job because so many are still accepting them. Now if you live somewhere that you know will highly enforce having a BSN then that's what you should go for. As far as my own personal goals, I will be going back for my BSN, only because I want to do NNP; to each its own.

I will never understand how a poster can speak for an ENTIRE state "my state prefers BSN's". Maybe in a HOSPITAL setting, but there is SO much more to nursing than the "holy grail" of a hospital position. This attitude irritates me more than the whole "ADN vs BSN battle" And for the record, I think that line is ridiculous, but I used it since that's what OP titled her thread.

I use it because that is what RN instructors have used when they spoke about it to me. It's not that difficult to figure out the statistics for an entire state and what most hospitals and other health care environments prefer hiring I assume?

I just read some stats in one of my upcoming nursing class books I was skimming the pages of - but I got about 5 new books and I don't remember which or where right now. It broke up the percents of nurses hired, what degree, and in what positions. (ot - I was surprised school nursing was one of the lowest percents also physician offices low). I think this info would be easy enough to find on line too. Hospitals were the highest percent. I guess I should be careful about not using it as the "end all" though since it's definitely not.

"Based on completed responses from 461 schools of nursing, 45.1% of hospitals and other healthcare settings are requiring new hires to have a bachelor's degree in nursing (up 1.4 percentage points since 2013), while 79.6% of employers are expressing a strong preference for BSN program graduates. "

from American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Employment of New Nurse Graduates and Employer Preferences for Baccalaureate-Prepared Nurses

I would really be interested in seeing it broken down for states.

You're "discouraged" by title throwing, yet you started yet ANOTHER thread about it. :banghead:

I think there as many threads on this topic as there are for the PVT. By the way, does the PVT work the same for people getting their ADN as it does for people getting BSN:p

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