BSN or Associates Degree

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Hello, I have begun taking pre-requisites for nursing finally. I'm in my forties and wondered if the rumor about nurses with associates is true. Are companies preferring nurses with BSN, and is it hard for a nurse with an associate's degree to find a job nowadays? Ultimately, I want to pursue the BSN but in future. I may have the opportunity to transfer from TRI-C (a community college) after taking my pre-requisites to a larger university for the BSN. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you.:rolleyes:

I have been hearing the same thing, but the thing that motivated me the most to get my BSN is the fact that my BSN program is accelerated so it was going to take me the same amount of time to get my ADN as my BSN. The best choice was obvious.

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Specializes in Pedi.

This largely varies based on region of the country. Where I live, a BSN is a must if you want to work in an academic medical center. Outside of the medical mecca city in which I live, in other parts of the region or in community hospitals, ADN prepared nurses may have no trouble. I can say that every application I've filled out recently asked if I had a BSN though as it is a requirement for most of the jobs I'm applying to.

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Maybe we'll see each other on the roads for travel nursing!

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In all the time I have been a nurse, I have never once found anyone who cared whether or not I had a BSN, which I don't.

But for nursing, keep this in mind as well: Employers hire bedside nurses. They really don't care if you want to be in "management." They don't really care if you want to use them as a stepping stone to an NP program. They want an employee who will stay and care for their patients. I honestly believe this is why I have never encountered a hospital that cared if you had a BSN, especially in larger, busier states.

In my area (Western PA), all the hospital systems are hiring preferentially for nurses with the BSN. The major hospital systems have mandated that all hires who don't have their BSN must obtain it within 4 years.

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Yep, here in Pittsburgh the big hirers want their nurses to have a BSN or agree to get it.

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I'd be glad to agree to get a BSN--so long as the hospital was paying the tuition. But, I've never worked in the North East. I would rather self-immolate than work in a big city hospital (Just the thought of the traffic and parking alone make me reach for my Bic lighter.).

I just got a great job offer (in my opinion) without a peep about BSNs, so, to each his own, I suppose.

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Hi there,

I had a friend who had her ASN. Her dream was to work in a hospital in Colorado, but she was having a very hard time getting hired by hospitals. She worked in home health for 8 years. Finally, she came across one hospital that was willing to hire her with her ASN. If pursing the ASN suits your lifestyle now, perhaps you could consider an online program to go from ASN to BSN? If you don't mind working in home health, ASN might be just fine for you while you save some money to go on to round 2. I personally like to get things out of the way, so I'd go for the BSN straight from the start, but everyone is different and there is nothing wrong with an ASN. I'd say it depends on your personality, where you want to work, and whether you think you could tolerate a longer program etc. Good luck!

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New York recently passed a law that would require a BSN in 10 years. I skimmed over it a little because I would be grandfathered in, and I would want a BSN in ten years anyways. I'm just hoping for my work place to pay for it and to do it online at a state university, while getting experience with my ADN. Who knows, after that I may just keep going! Coming back to school has been challenging but enjoyable.

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Hi there,

I had a friend who had her ASN. Her dream was to work in a hospital in Colorado, but she was having a very hard time getting hired by hospitals. She worked in home health for 8 years. Finally, she came across one hospital that was willing to hire her with her ASN. If pursing the ASN suits your lifestyle now, perhaps you could consider an online program to go from ASN to BSN? If you don't mind working in home health, ASN might be just fine for you while you save some money to go on to round 2. I personally like to get things out of the way, so I'd go for the BSN straight from the start, but everyone is different and there is nothing wrong with an ASN. I'd say it depends on your personality, where you want to work, and whether you think you could tolerate a longer program etc. Good luck!

I don't know why you all act like all you can get is crap jobs with an ASN. I've worked in a cardiac ICU, regular ICU, psychiatry, and now ER. So, it's not like ASNs are relegated to peri-care at a homeless shelter. Where I live, and also what represents a huge part of the country, no one cares except that you have an active unencumbered RN license.

Oh, and here's a real kicker: Nursing 2008 latest edition has a salary comparison. Diploma nurses make the same as BSN. They actually make more on average than ASN nurses.

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New York recently passed a law that would require a BSN in 10 years. I skimmed over it a little because I would be grandfathered in, and I would want a BSN in ten years anyways. I'm just hoping for my work place to pay for it and to do it online at a state university, while getting experience with my ADN. Who knows, after that I may just keep going! Coming back to school has been challenging but enjoyable.

I'm not anti-BSN. I'm just not anti-ASN. If I'm ever required to have a BSN to fill a square, I'll get it as cheaply and quickly online as I can. I'll find the closest thing to a degree mill I can get away with and that will by my Alma Mater for the BSN.

You have to understand, I already have a B.Sc. in Liberal Arts, the subject concentration I have used extensively throughout my life including, and especially, in nursing. To me, the BSN is a terrible degree. It reflects the fact that most of the nursing profession is anything but academic or professional. It's not an "academic" or even a Liberal Arts degree. It's crap, educationally speaking. It's a like getting a B.Sc. in Air Conditioning and Heating. It's pointless--except to fill an image and a square on an application.

The academic truth is that a bachelor's with an emphasis in biology and psychology should be a prerequisite for entering nursing school, and nursing school should be a MSN. But we'd have no nurses if that was the requirement.

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I don't know why you all act like all you can get is crap jobs with an ASN. I've worked in a cardiac ICU, regular ICU, psychiatry, and now ER. So, it's not like ASNs are relegated to peri-care at a homeless shelter. Where I live, and also what represents a huge part of the country, no one cares except that you have an active unencumbered RN license.

Oh, and here's a real kicker: Nursing 2008 latest edition has a salary comparison. Diploma nurses make the same as BSN. They actually make more on average than ASN nurses.

So we're showing that things are changing. Again, whether you like it or not.

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Personally, I don't think that NY law will last. I think when it becomes implemented, which it is not yet, and as time wears on, there will be legal challenges. They will have to show that there is some difference between BSN prepared students and ASN in nursing care, and they won't be able to do that. Not to mention, the "in 10" is going to be the problem. How will they discriminate on what BSN's will qualify? CCNE accreditation? All the BSN mills have that. Regional accreditation? They won't have any nurses.

The reason I am confident in saying this is because nursing only matters at the bedside. Management can be filled easily from the ranks of the bedside nurses, and instructors can be had from those ranks as well, but the only thing a state board cares about is bedside nursing care--protecting the public. And it is a PROVEN fact, you don't need a BSN to be a registered nurse. You just don't. You don't even need an ASN to be a nurse, but these days it's just easier for junior colleges to teach nurses rather than hospitals with diploma programs.

North Dakota tried to do the whole BSN thing and reverted back to ADN. So will NY.

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