Are ASNs worthless?

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So, I'm about to begin my prerequisites for the nursing program. My plan was always to earn my ASN, get a job at a hospital that would pay for my continuing education and then go to an ASN to BSN bridge program.

I have a friend that just graduated nursing school and she is encourage me to just get my BSN and says hospitals are now looking to employ BSNs, not ASNs. Is this true? Are you noticing the tides turning already? I heard the transition would be happening but not so quickly.

My hesitation is that I'm a mother to a toddler and was hoping to have another before nursing school began. I know that NS is intense and full time and the BSN program is long. Any advise? I will also be contacting the advisors at my school and I'm aware I've not committed myself to either program. Input? Advice? Experience?

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Sigh. Try using the search function here and you'll read for days on this very topic. Weeks if you're a slow reader

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I mean, I've been searching similar topics but they seems to be 50/50. Some say no big deal, they got a job and will earn the degree soon. Others say, no way don't waste your time and go straight to a BSN.

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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.
I mean, I've been searching similar topics but they seems to be 50/50. Some say no big deal, they got a job and will earn the degree soon. Others say, no way don't waste your time and go straight to a BSN.

That's because it's a very regional thing. You need to look at what the employers in your area want. Do job postings say BSN preferred? or required? ADNs tend to be hired in all types of positions in rural areas with no problem but have a harder time finding acute care jobs in heavily populated areas.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Yep, pretty much. Did you think the response here would be vastly different?

I mean, I've been searching similar topics but they seems to be 50/50. Some say no big deal, they got a job and will earn the degree soon. Others say, no way don't waste your time and go straight to a BSN.
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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I finished my Associates in December '15 and got an excellent job right away. I'm doing Ohio U online and will have a BSN by this coming December. By getting my ASN first I saved around 15k and am able to start earning money *now*.

ASN is only worthless if you don't keep going, but it's a great idea if you want to maximise your earnings while keeping costs low. I have not had any trouble finding work.

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Specializes in Maternal Child, Home Health, Med/Surg.

Not at all! ASN is a very worth while degree. It depends on your area to know what the hospitals are looking for. Where I live, they motivate you to gain a BSN but do not demand it.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

You really need to research your current area or the area in which you wish to work. In my area, having a BSN will help you in your job search. In fact, come 2020, my facility will not be hiring ADNs and those without a BSN will be terminated. I live in an urban area where there are far more applicants than available jobs. Our job postings currently state BSN preferred. In a few years, that will become BSN required.

It may be different where you live, which is why you are seeing so many different responses in the various threads. What matters is what the requirements and preferences are where you are, not where everyone else in the country is.

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I have my Associates and that's all my hospital requires.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

As others have said it depends on your regional market. My mother got an ASN degree and had no difficult securing an acute care job right out of school. At that point in time she lived in a more rural area. about 10 years later she moved to a major metropolitan center and couldn't find any acute care position willing to take her (even with 10+ years in-specialty experience) and took a home health position before retiring from nursing.

In my current city securing a hospital-based acute care position requires a BSN. However work is plentiful in home health, long-term care, and out-patient settings for ASN nurses, so some of it depends on where you see yourself working when you graduate.

The ASN is not a worthless degree but depending on your job market, priorities, and goals it may have higher or lesser value to you personally.

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Depends where you live. I was accepted into my ASN program and made that choice to pursue it because Louisiana needs nurses way too badly to pick the ones who went to school a little longer. Every single one of the graduating nurses at my school last year were hired before they passed NCLEX, contingent upon passing of course. Some of them were hired on in hard-to-get specialties like NICU, even.

No, I wouldn't say my degree will be "worthless".

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Look at the requirements for the hospitals in your area. About half the hospitals around here require you to have a BSN or get your BSN within five years. It's totally area dependent.

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