BSN or Associates Degree

[raynpetal]

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.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Seems like from what I'm reading the best/cheapest road to a BSN is getting that ADN first and then getting hired at a hospital that requires a BSN in X number of years but that also offers tuition assistance to pay for it.

[SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN]

kbrn, that's exactly the route I took. I got a job with an associates degree and had my employer pay for my BSN. Where I live that route is closing. We have two major hospital systems and both want their new hires to have BSNs. They will hire associate degree nurses with experience but new grads get preferred treatment if they have a BSN. That being said if you can get a job with an associates degree, make money and have your employer pay for the BSN that is super!!! I will tell you this don't expect to learn anything of use in your BSN program. In my opinion they are a futile and sometimes expensive waste of time. That being said they are useful for career development. Getting that piece of paper got be raises, jobs, promoted and ultimately an employer funded DNP education. Good Luck!!!

[raynpetal]

thanks for encouragement all!

[neogirl]

I'm guessing from your post you are in the Cleveland area? The hospitals are definitely competing to find BSN nurses. I know for a fact that at least a few of the major hospitals have goals that state they want a high percentage of their nurses with a BSN. Times are changing and it you are in a highly competitive area people will want to hire a BSN.

[SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN]

I hope to provide another angle of looking at the whole ADN versus BSN issue. If you are young and can get a job you want with an ADN by all means do so. However, the older we get the more our bodies don't want to comply with the rigors of bedside nursing. I've been in ER for a long time and it takes a toll on your body. I'm not to the point where I can't do the job anymore and can hold my own but that inevitable situation awaits. I broke one of the cardinal rules of common sense and got in a relationship with a coworker that lasted some years. We are no longer together but I still consider a dear friend and we work together. Years ago we used to debate whether getting a BSN was worth it. She thought the degree was stupid and wouldn't lend anything to her practice as a nurse (she's right as she is a fantastic nurse in all dimensions and the BSN is largely an exercise in nonsense). She decided she wasn't going to get her BSN as she hated school and could live on the money she made even if not having a BSN pretty much prevented any more promotions at work. This seemed like a rational decision to me. I decided that I was getting my BSN because my employer was going to pay for it and then grad school should I choose to go.

Fast forward 6 years. She still doesn't have her BSN but the physical toll ER Nursing takes has caught up with her. This past summer she had to undergo neck surgery from the daily physical beatings that nursing imposes. She was off 3 months to recover and is still in pain and barely able to function in the ER. She desperately wants out as she knows that its really not if something horrible is going to happen to her physically but really when. She has applied to literally every non-bedside nurse role in our hospital (dozens of them) and has failed to get any of them despite her excellent work history. They all want to hire BSNs for these roles. She's enrolled in a BSN program now & it will take about 1 1/2 years to complete it. She hopes her body holds out that long.

I on the other hand did the stupid BSN. I'll say it again it is an inexcusable exercise in studying things that is borderline silly that would be actually funny if somebody wasn't writing a check for it. I've received numerous promotions and when I decided that I wanted a break from the ER was immediately hired in a case management position. My hourly wage is about 25% higher than hers and she is every bit the ER Nurse I ever was. Getting the stupid degree also allowed me to enroll in my DNP studies from which I will graduate in 2 months which will lead me to a less physically demanding and more fiscally rewarding position to serve out my last few years before I retire.

Anyway, its your career and your life but know that father time awaits us all and nursing will take its toll physically. Also know that like it or not employers look at your degree for promotions, raises and future opportunities. Anyway have a good Sunday everybody

[thatgirl2478]

I'll be 40 when I start nursing school. Whether you can get work with an ADN or NEED your BSN is going to be a region specific (and possibly hospital specific) requirement. I'm in IL and some hospitals will still hire ADN's if they agree to get their BSN in 3 years. Those hospitals will usually help you with some tuition assistance - but you have to agree to work for them for x number of years AND many have GPA requirements too.

That said, I have a bachelor's and either a BSN or an ADN will take the same amount of time. Even the ABSN is only a few months faster than either the ADN or the BSN (and the school that offers the ABSN is ... questionable). I personally decided that the BSN was the route for me.

[bookchick]

I am 38, and I'm in my last semester of an ADN program. :) I just live in a rural area and chose to do it this way. I plan on going on next semester to start my BSN. I've been doing all the general classes for it, so I've just got nursing left once I graduate. It's been great. The hospital I've gotten a job with does want to see a BSN being worked on, so I think I'm on track. Good luck!