BSN nurses

PhePhe, RN · May 31, 2003

I do. All other professions require at least a 4 year degree. If we want to keep up salary wise with other specialties, we have to raise the bar so that management can justify the extra dollars. Please, no disrespect to AD or Diploma RNs, but times are a changin'.

Gator,SN · May 31, 2003

The times are changing, I agree, but the problem that I see is that there are not enough Clinical instructors and lecture professors to teach and we are experiencing a nursing shortage. (There are waaaay too many debates on this BB about BSN vs. ADN and LPN etc).......As stringent as the nursing programs are at most schools and the long waiting lists that exist I really doubt that by 2010, the only nurses graduating from school will be BSN only.

EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN · May 31, 2003

This topic has really been debated to DEATH and it has gotten really ugly in the past. If you want to read some opinions on this, do a search for threads on ADN vs. BSN.

peaceful2100, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2003

I agree with PhePhe However, right now there are MORE ADN students then BSN students and if a requirement is made that all students go for BSN's then I think the nursing shortage will ONLY get worse not better.

Also another thing with waiting lists. If there were more faculty the waiting lists probably would not be so bad. There is a SEVERE, SEVERE shortage of faculty right now. How many of everyone's instructors are retirement age. I know MANY instructors at my school are wanting to retire soon and that will leave many positions available. How many of everyone's classmates say they would like to become a nursing educator in the future. If it is anything like my class probably not many at all. In my class out of 40 students only 1 DEFINTELY wants to become a nursing instructor and 3 are entertaining the idea including myself by for me that won't be for a LONG, LONG time.

fergus51 · Jun 1, 2003

It's the reality in a few Canadian provinces already, but it made more sense up here. Here the Diploma is 3 years, the BSN just one extra. In the US half of the ADN programs take more than 3 years because of all the prereqs and many BSN students are in for 5. If they could make programs that were simple 3 and a half or 4 years, no more I don't think it would be so hard.

BMS4 · Jun 1, 2003

I didn't post on the other threads about this subject, mainly because I do plan on cont. on for my BSN this coming fall (I graduated last May and wanted to work a year before I started back to school).

But I believe that RN's should be a BSN, mainly for the fact that the there are people out there who don't treat us as college educated professionals. Yes, I know professional is a graduate degree, but even with my ADN I feel like a professional. Like fergus stated, my ADN took me longer than the stated 2 yrs. I graduated last May with 150 college credits, all college level courses (I had to transfer half-way through my first program).

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2003

I am an ADN. However, I have 127 college credit hours. This is due to the nursing program waiting lists being so long, requirements changing, credits not transfering to my second college, etc. I've looked into getting a BSN. If I do, I will then have more than the required number of credits for a Master's Degree!

I graduated w/ honors and was valedictorian of my nursing class. You think that would count for something towards my BSN, but it doesn't.

I feel that colleges are going out of their way to hold nurses back from getting their BSN degrees. One advisor recently told me "You're just starting out. You have a long way to go to get your BSN."

What?!

I wish they would look at grades, total number of credits earned, and years worked as a nurse. These don't count for much in my experience.

I do not think the $$$, time and hassle it would require to obtain a BSN would benefit my career enough to bother.

Mkue · Jun 1, 2003

I feel your frustration hellllllo nurse. It does seem like a long time. I have so many psych courses it would be quicker for me to get a bachelor in psych which I had originally planned. I know of an RN who is getting a bachelor in Geriatrics, (something like that) she loves it. :)

pama · Jun 2, 2003

If by the year 2010 the BSN is the requirement for entry into practice, then the nursing shortage will be a national emergency. Currently 60% of all nurses in practice, and those who are graduating, are prepared at the ADN level.

Also, the ADN does better on the NCLEX-RN than the BSN graduate. Hospitals prefer the ADN directly out of school because of the skill level.

Nurses are professionals, regardless of the degree they receive.

At our college we advocate the ADN-MSN. We have an articulation agreement with the University where our graduates go directly into the MSN program, bypassing the BSN. This is the ultimate in nursing education. In two years receive the ADN, go to work, let the employer pay for the remaining education, and in another three years receive an MSN. The MSN can be as a nurse practitioner, educator, or administrator.

sbic56, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2003

No, hoping for all BSN's by 2010 isn't reasonable or necessary. This is similar to how when I was going for my LPN in '84, the word from the instructors in school then was that LPN's would be phased out by 1990. Hasn't happened yet, because there are just not enough nurses to do such a thing. To insist on making all nurses BSN's would only make entering the profession even less attractive than it already is.

twarlik · Jun 3, 2003

Originally posted by pama
Also, the ADN does better on the NCLEX-RN than the BSN graduate. Hospitals prefer the ADN directly out of school because of the skill level.

Not to start a huge debate but I don't think that this is entirely accurate. I've spoken with several nursing managers who actually prefer BSN graduates. Also, there are plenty of BSN programs with very high pass rates on the NCLEX, ADN programs with terrible pass rates and vice versa. I think that all programs are different and to characterize all BSN programs as somehow inferior to all ADN programs just isn't fair.

Todd (BSN student)

ps. Don't mean to come off as harsh or anything, I just get a little defensive when it comes to this sort of thing...