BSN requirement for new grads in acute care

Published

Specializes in Dialysis, Hospice, Critical care.

The decision on the part of my employer, and many other healthcare providers, to begin requiring BSN degrees for new hires to the acute care setting does not affect me. It does however, affect more than a few of my co-workers. They have voiced their concerns over this new requirement, and those concerns are expressed in the following themes.

1. Returning to school is too expensive.

2. Family and personal commitments make returning to school impractical at this time.

3. OhioHealth does not offer a salary differential for BSN prepared nurses over ADN prepared nurses.

With tuition costs running to $300-$500 per credit hour for BSN completion programs and more than $700 per credit hour for graduate school, my employers's tuition reimbursement program is woefully inadequate in assisting those who seek to further their education. In my case, it covers less that half the cost of a semester's tuition for the MSN program I am enrolled in.

In most other career fields where Associates prepared employees and Baccalaureate prepared employees fill the same jobs, there is a wage differential of $2,000 to $4,000 per year, but not so with nursing. I realize this is standard practice throughout much of the healthcare industry, but if my employer wishes to keep its best and brightest at the bedside, a thorough re-examination of pay structure is in order.

As to the second theme, my employer could assist employees, particularly single parents, with expanded day-care options, especially for those working night shift when it can be most difficult to secure child care.

I have found, from my own personal experience, that patient care and outcomes improve with an increased presence of baccalaureate and master's prepared nurses. However, the healthcare industry, in general, and my employer, in particular, should not seek to achieve this at little to no cost on their part. In other words they need to stop trying to get something for nothing. In this regard my employer should not seek to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I know the nay-sayers here will say"It's never going to change because this is the way its always been." But unless we, as nurses, stop being door-mats to healthcare and hospital administration, the nay-sayers will be right, no matter what educational and professional achievements we accrue.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

They can have their cake and eat it too. They can only hire BSN nurses AND not be required to assist their current nurses obtain degrees by not requiring it for current employees.

They can do it cause of the false and self serving "nursing shortage" propaganda. The fake nursing shortage was created with this exact situation in mind. Use nurse's (tax payer) money to fund dramatic expansion of nursing programs, created brand new programs like DE MSN and ABSN to dramaticaly increase the number of nurses. They created this situation on porpose.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have found, from my own personal experience, that patient care and outcomes improve with an increased presence of baccalaureate and master's prepared nurses. However, the healthcare industry, in general, and my employer, in particular, should not seek to achieve this at little to no cost on their part. In other words they need to stop trying to get something for nothing. In this regard my employer should not seek to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Will you tell us about the improved patient care and outcomes associated with an increased presence of baccalaureate and masters prepared nurses, that you have personally experienced?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pedi.

Is your employer requiring already employed ADNs to return to school or be terminated? Because your OP doesn't say that, it just says BSN only for new hires. I worked for an institution that was BSN only in hiring practices but there were plenty of ADN nurses who'd been around since the beginning of time who weren't ever going back for their BSN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I have been hearing this for 34 years.......my BSN after my ADN did NOT improve my nursing skills. It was online papers and fluff that I don't believe added to my skill set one iota......I wouldn't have done it but it was paid for. I think eventually it MIGHT become BSN entry but who is going to employ all those placed out of their jobs at these community programs and tech schools. I don't see it happening. I also don't see it happening that a masters prepared nurse work at the bedside after thousands of dollars in debt for $30.00/hr.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.
Will you tell us about the improved patient care and outcomes associated with an increased presence of baccalaureate and masters prepared nurses, that you have personally experienced?

The information that I have found that points towards better/safer care for patients were on nurses that obtained their RN to BSN, not just initial BSN, or ADN for that matter. Some of these studies don't diferentiate between the two. Example: The nurses could have been working as an ADN or Diploma for the past 20 years and then got their BSN and all of the sudden, they're providing better/safer care because of it! :roflmao:

Not knocking furthering education at all, I will finish my RN to BSN this November, hence the research.

This reseach basically hypothesized that RN to BSN students due gain knowledge over their ADN, Diploma, or BSN nurses simply because they have work experience to relate and build into the newly learned (or reviewed) information.

So if you start out of the gates fresh out of school, what degree you start out with really doesn't decide whether you're going to be a better/safer nurse than the peer next to you but your own personality (work ethic, want for continuing education, ability to gain critical thinking skills, etc). Oh, let's not forget how the facility you work in is run... :facepalm:

Not trying to start a war or fluff my own ego, but this is really what I found when researching RN to BSN students...enough articles and research to write a 10 page APA paper on the topic anyways. :saint:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Magnet status is really screwing with each state's ability to get its citizens to return to work. Many people such as myself with BS in other fields have obtained our ADNs. The ADN-BSN paper writing skills programs are ridiculous and as I just stated on another thread, states should require any hospital accepting Medicare/Medicaid payment to hire ADNs since 60% of new grads are ADNs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Magnet status is really screwing with each state's ability to get its citizens to return to work. Many people such as myself with BS in other fields have obtained our ADNs. The ADN-BSN paper writing skills programs are ridiculous and as I just stated on another thread, states should require any hospital accepting Medicare/Medicaid payment to hire ADNs since 60% of new grads are ADNs.

*** Given the fact that to be certified as a Magnet hospital there is no requirement that they hire only, or a certain percentage of BSN grads, how is it "screwing" states ability to get their citizens to work?

The last thing we need it more people coming into nursing. Few is better, but not too few. Hospitals should be slightly hungry for nurses so that they have to treat and pay us decently, but not so hungry they can lobby to import more nurses from other countries.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

This reseach basically hypothesized that RN to BSN students due gain knowledge over their ADN, Diploma, or BSN nurses simply because they have work experience to relate and build into the newly learned (or reviewed) information.

*** The fly in that ointment is that the BSN program doesn't include and information or knowledge about nursing.

I did my BSN at a well respected state university that has a large school of nursing with programs from traditional BSN to DNP and PhD and several APN offerings. There was nothing about nursing in my program with the exception of one community nursing class that only re-covered ground taught in the ADN community nursing class.

I would never do it again and strongly recommend other ADN RNs not do an RN to BSN program. I pretty much consider them obsolete now. If I had it to do over again, and what I recommend for others, is to do RN to MSN and skip the BSN altogether. The one exception of course is ADN RNs who plan on going to CRNA school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I live in Florida, and I just recently graduated with a ADN, the hospitals here "prefer" you have a BSN for new grads in addition to experience. It makes it difficult to find employment, I plan on returning to school ASAP that way when I have gained my experience while working towards my BSN I'll have a better chance in employment.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

*** Given the fact that to be certified as a Magnet hospital there is no requirement that they hire only, or a certain percentage of BSN grads, how is it "screwing" states ability to get their citizens to work?

The last thing we need it more people coming into nursing. Few is better, but not too few. Hospitals should be slightly hungry for nurses so that they have to treat and pay us decently, but not so hungry they can lobby to import more nurses from other countries.

I believe it's 80% BSN for magnet by 2020.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I believe it's 80% BSN for magnet by 2020.

Actually, the whole BSN 80% by 2020 is from an Institute of Medicine Report.

The Future of Nursing: Focus on Education - Institute of Medicine

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion