Associates or Bachelors??

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Hi,

I am currently a student at a community college in northern Virginia. My school has a two year nursing program to get an associates degree. I am very stuck on my next step because I have been told by many that unless I have a bachelors I will have an extremely difficult time finding a job. If I decide to transfer I will spend a few more years at my community college at the rate I'm going since I work as well. But with the associates I'll be done before I know it. I am very confused and I just need to know do hospitals really look for a bachelors??? Thanks!!

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Specializes in Gastroenterology, PACU.

You know, your pre-reqs are going to be the same regardless (at least here in Texas) - statistics, bio, a&p, nutrition, pharm, etc. So that "two year degree" winds up being more like a 3 year degree, when you take in the two years of "nursing school" with the at least one year of pre-reqs. And doing ADN-BSN is going to be a good year or two of management type classes, so you'd wind up doing more school in the long run, with that route.

As for work, I can only speak about here in Dallas, Texas, but many of our magnet facilities require a BSN. And the ones that don't prefer BSNs for residencies and internships. So that knocks you out of consideration for a good chunk of the job market. My facility where I work is a county hospital, and ADNs get jobs here and are accepted for residencies just as much as BSNs. But I've heard in rural areas, they don't care at all. Look at the hospitals around you, look at their hiring posts, and see what it says for requirements. That's going to give you your answer. Does it say "ADN, BSN preferred" or does it say "BSN required"? Some of the facilities around here won't let you work critical care without a BSN, too.

Best of luck!

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Get your ADN first. Then you can get your BSN in another year full time or two years part time. Hopefully on your employees dime.

This BSN requirement is dumb. I've got a bachelors of science in biology and I can say "whoopie" in regards to having a bachelors. If a hospital really wants me to have BSN or MSN, they can pay for it.

I personally know our ADN program (and grads) and better and more desirable than some top rated Colleges with BSN programs.

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Some of the facilities around here won't let you work critical care without a BSN, too.

That is so dumb. A BSN is all about research and management (with some community health). All of that has little to nothing to do with critical care (except evidence based practice).

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That is so dumb. A BSN is all about research and management (with some community health). All of that has little to nothing to do with critical care (except evidence based practice).

Kind of irrelevant though, if your dream is to work in critical care and the market where you live demands a BSN.

To the OP, it all depends on the local market. Having a BSN might not be required at all to get the top jobs. But the only way to find out is to check out what the hiring requirements currently are at the hospitals where you have an interest in working.

If you get your ADN and are hired at a hospital which will give you tuition assistance, I'd say go for the BSN for sure. You might even be lucky enough to get assistance for a graduate or advanced practice degree. That would be the best of all worlds.

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Yes it is irrelevant considering we aren't going to change the rules.

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Specializes in Gastroenterology, PACU.
Kind of irrelevant though, if your dream is to work in critical care and the market where you live demands a BSN.

To the OP, it all depends on the local market. Having a BSN might not be required at all to get the top jobs. But the only way to find out is to check out what the hiring requirements currently are at the hospitals where you have an interest in working.

If you get your ADN and are hired at a hospital which will give you tuition assistance, I'd say go for the BSN for sure. You might even be lucky enough to get assistance for a graduate or advanced practice degree. That would be the best of all worlds.

Thanks. That's the point I was going to make, too. Whether it's dumb or not doesn't actually make any difference. If you go to a recruiter and say, "your hiring requirements are dumb! You should hire me anyway," I highly doubt it's going to go your way. You have to be competitive for your market, like I said. And here in Dallas, having a BSN is what makes you competitive. I don't know about Whateversville, Kentucky, but I don't really need to know, unless I'm planning on seeking a job there.

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I've got a bachelors of science in biology and I can say "whoopie" in regards to having a bachelors. If a hospital really wants me to have BSN or MSN, they can pay for it.

I would have probably gone for an ADN if I didn't already have another bachelor's degree. But it would have been the same amount of time for me to go for the ADN as the BSN since my core courses applied to the BSN. Wouldn't that have been the same for you since you already had a BS in biology?

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.

As long as there is a glut of new grads employers will make the "relevent" decision to hire you or not. In markets where they can require the BSN, they will, and you are left to keep filling out applications or move to a more ADN friendly market.

Most employers don't really know what you have actually learned in your nursing program. HR looks at your resume and it can be thrown out for not having the proper degree without a human even seeing it.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I would have probably gone for an ADN if I didn't already have another bachelor's degree. But it would have been the same amount of time for me to go for the ADN as the BSN since my core courses applied to the BSN. Wouldn't that have been the same for you since you already had a BS in biology?

I also had a BS in biology prior to a BSN, and while it wouldn't have made any difference in time to complete the degree I'm not sure I'd still chose a BSN over an ADN given the cost difference. I got my BSN at a public school that at the time was pretty cheap (although "top ten" ranked for nursing). Today that same program will run you $80,000 compared to around $10,000 for an ADN that uses the same curriculum.

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It didn't appear so. At least not in my area. Possibly if I were to move. I didn't explore that option. The ADN school here took all my pre-requisites. Plus my parents let us live in one of their rentals for free while I was unemployed and In school. So it made sense to stay here.

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Along the lines of this conversation. Some of the hospitals up here consider any bachelor degree and ADN as good as a BSN. I like that mindset.

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