BSN for NY State RNs?

[RNPD]

The New York State Board of Nursing has asked the State Education Department (the licensing body In NY) for regulatory change to require future graduates of ADN and diploma nursing programs to obtain a baccalaureate degree within 10 years of their graduation from the ADN or diploma institution. The graduates of the ADN and diploma programs would receive a "provisional" license to practice nursing that would expire in 10 years unless they earn a BSN. If they don't earn a BSN, RNs with ADN or diplomas will be demoted to LPNs.

Those already licensed as RNs when the law goes into effect would not be required to obtain the BSN.

From NURSING 2004 (March)

I know this has been mentioned in this forum previously, but it was still in the planning stages. Now that the Board has voted on and passed this proposal, I think the State Ed Dept will go along with the Board's wishes.

Comments?

[gerry79]

This may be the wave of the future. I think one of the midwestern states abolished ADN and diploma program long ago. I guess this will finally quiet the ADN-Diploma-BSN debate. I can see this also prolonging the nursing shortage if this were adapted nation wide. Many of the new RN's come from diploma and ADN programs thus producing new nurses faster than BSN programs. The diploma program is slowly fading away in many areas, and if this gains momentum, the ADN program will also suffer a slow death. What a shame though, diploma and ADN programs are great ways to obtain a nursing degree for the non traditional student. Is this a standard of care issue, or a financial issue, I wonder.

[RNPD]

The following quote from the website of the NYS Office of the Professions-Nursing-will give you some idea of the reasons for the change. It is part of the published results of a survey of RNs in NYS from September '02. The address is listed after the quote if you are interested in the entire survey results:

Baccalaureate degree recipients now make up increasingly smaller "shares" of the basic nursing preparation degree pool, as associate degrees have grown in popularity in recent years. Furthermore, since the average associate degree recipient defers the timing of her/his basic education training until the early thirties while the baccalaureate recipient typically completes her/his degree around 27 years of age, these timing differences suggest that baccalaureate degree recipients have potentially greater career longevity than holders of associates degrees. More importantly, based on our findings, baccalaureate degree recipients are more likely to extend their educational training to the master's or doctoral level than their associate-degree counterparts. These discrete educational strands suggest that especially aggressive efforts must be made at the high school level to attract and recruit prospective baccalaureate candidates for the nursing profession. Promising high school candidates must be apprised of the growing variety of scholarship, loan-forgiveness, and other financial incentives that are increasingly available to such candidates.

http://www.op.nysed.gov/nursing-survey-final-regents-report-nov.htm

another site with info:

http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:wFDicBxFiXYJ:www.aacc.nche.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/HotIssues/Nursing/New_York_Table.pdf+New+York+State+nursing+board&hl=en&ie=UTF-8