BSN requirement for all RNs

Nurses General Nursing

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Should a bachelors degree be required for all RNs?

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
Oh oh - I don't think we want to go here!

Not again

The OP needs to use search...there are numerous threads on this.

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There's the dead horse, where's my stick?

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Not again

The OP needs to use search...there are numerous threads on this.

"Oh no, not again...." I think that it is so interesting that people here act like it is such a redundant subject and yet all of you click on this and comment on it.

If this subject is so old and tired then why does it appear again and again from different people?

BECAUSE it gets discussed at nurse's stations across the country. And because nursing authorities and leaders dredge it up again and again and try the old "Someday the hospital will be all BSN RN's and everyone else will either be eliminated or become technicians."

New York is getting fired up over it right now. North Dakota has just recently proven to the rest of the country that it doesn't work. Their plan caved in!!

If BSN entry as the minimum into nursing worked it would already have been here.

ADN RN's and LPN's make up the vast majority of the nursing workplace. You can talk about eliminating them all you want, they are not going anywhere.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Actually, it is more likely because the OP is new. And I am pointing out that, no it is not new, and there is already plenty of opinions that can be found by using "search".

Actually, most of the posters to the thread are new. Of the older ones, we get the "oh, no...not again comments.

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Should a bachelors degree be required for all RNs?
The nursing shortage is bad enough. I don't see how adding two extra years of college education and learning really important things like, music appreciation, is going to help this global problem.

If a BSN in nursing meant 4 years of actual nursing education, then I would be all for it! I'd be for it if was 3 years of actual nursing education and a year of managment education. Or three years of actual nursing education and a year of residency! If the nursing shortage is going to be remedied then lots of things are going to have to change, and nursing education is a big part of it. Kate

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If you think that the 2 extra years in the BSN program are filled with such things like music appreciation, then you must not have your BSN. At the top of my head classes that were required in the BSN program but not the ADN program included pathophysiology, statistics, community health (2 semesters which had public health, home health, etc), leadership and management, health teaching and promotion, life cycle, health care systems, policy, and finance, global health, nursing research, and more! I started with my ADN so I speak from experience. BSN can't be 4 years of actual nursing. Even with the ADN, the first two years or however long it takes a person to finish their prereqs isn't nursing at all.

I have to agree with you in the nursing education part. Things need to change. An entry level degree should be set so that we are all uniform.

The nursing shortage is bad enough. I don't see how adding two extra years of college education and learning really important things like, music appreciation, is going to help this global problem.

If a BSN in nursing meant 4 years of actual nursing education, then I would be all for it! I'd be for it if was 3 years of actual nursing education and a year of managment education. Or three years of actual nursing education and a year of residency! If the nursing shortage is going to be remedied then lots of things are going to have to change, and nursing education is a big part of it. Kate

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Specializes in critical care.

I do not for one teeny weenie second believe a higher degree makes a better nurse. A more learned person maybe, but even that is up for debate.I am a critical care nurse. I took the same boards as every other nurse in my state. A degree does not make a good nurse. Experience ,common sense, compassion, and professionalism are key ,among other things.I worked with LPN's that could nurse circles around an MSN I currently work with. I know 2 BSN's who don't asked for help and are dangerous at times to work with. Their advance degrees do nothing for their instinct.

I have worked in public health .I have worked for vna. I work in a community hospital. I have gone toe to toe with my MSN manager over families from our community with loved ones in the ICU who need extra tlc.I have needed to remind her of the difference between patients and families in the " big" hospital vs. the tiny hospital settings.

Frankly I am feed up with this debate. The BSN requirement has been tried and it has failed all across the country.If you want advanced education get certified. That says it all in my book! Oh I'm a ASN.

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I think a BSN requirement as a minimum for entry into nursing is a fantastic idea. As you may have guessed, I have my BSN. However, I do not for one second believe that nurses who have their associates' or diploma are not good nurses. BUT...the true value in a BSN lies in the fact that a college education (a four-year degree) is valued by society. The fact that one can obtain eligibility to sit for licensure through a two year program makes nursing seem like some sort of a trade school or something. When the amount of education required is increased, the value of the degree increases....along with respect for the profession.

The difficulty lies in convincing others that this route will help the profession. During the current nursing shortage, it will be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to go to an all BSN system, simply because there will not be enough nurses. It would do no one any good, at least in the immediate future, to require all RNs to have BSNs...the profession would lose a large number of qualified RNs to care for their patients. In the long run though, I think it will elevate nursing from a trade to a profession. I know that we nurses already view it as a profession, but until others (general society, hospital administrators, etc) view RNs as educated, valuable, nonexpendable employees, is anything really going to change?

As for BSN programs being only two years nursing and two years 'general ed' or whatever....my BSN program was nursing for all four years. I started clinicals my second week of college, and my entire senior year was spent in a sort of nurse "residency" in which I was paired with an RN in a unit I was interested in, and followed her schedule, which included nights, evenings, weekends. I assumed all care for her patients and did everything (meds, vents, IVs, chest tubes, documentation, etc) while she supervised and provided guidance. I think my undergraduate program was fantastic in that respect.

Just my opinion. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone out there - I know a lot of fantastic nurses (both two-year and four-year degree nurses) who I would trust taking care of me or anyone in my family. Just think that increasing educational requirements for nurses would help start a trend in getting them the respect they (we!) deserve.

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As for BSN programs being only two years nursing and two years 'general ed' or whatever....my BSN program was nursing for all four years. I started clinicals my second week of college, and my entire senior year was spent in a sort of nurse "residency" in which I was paired with an RN in a unit I was interested in, and followed her schedule, which included nights, evenings, weekends. I assumed all care for her patients and did everything (meds, vents, IVs, chest tubes, documentation, etc) while she supervised and provided guidance. I think my undergraduate program was fantastic in that respect.

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Your BSN program sounds great. May I ask which university you attended? Were prereqs integrated throughout the curriculum? Wish we had programs like that here in California, unless they already do and I am just unaware.

Thanks...

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I went to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland OH. You may not have heard of it...seems like not many people outside of Ohio have:-) It's a small school, approx 3000 undergraduates and 6000 graduate students. It's more well known for its grad schools....medicine, law, dental, social work, and, of course, nursing. It's also a big engineering school out here.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
If you think that the 2 extra years in the BSN program are filled with such things like music appreciation, then you must not have your BSN. At the top of my head classes that were required in the BSN program but not the ADN program included pathophysiology, statistics, community health (2 semesters which had public health, home health, etc), leadership and management, health teaching and promotion, life cycle, health care systems, policy, and finance, global health, nursing research, and more! I started with my ADN so I speak from experience. BSN can't be 4 years of actual nursing. Even with the ADN, the first two years or however long it takes a person to finish their prereqs isn't nursing at all.

I have to agree with you in the nursing education part. Things need to change. An entry level degree should be set so that we are all uniform.

thank you uclarn for clarifying what a bsn program REALLY entails. unless you have been in a certain type of program it is unfair to assume what kind of education another person has. my bsn program was just like yours and i am very happy that i went through with it. the biggest advantage of having a bsn is that you are not hindered from applying for positions that require or prefer a bsn. some non-traditional positions will hire you with an adn/asn, but usually you have to have 3 or more years experience before they consider you. i was offered several 9-5, no weekends, no holidays postions in offices and community health as a new grad simply because i have a bsn. i elected not to accept these positions because i like and want bedside experience. in my opinion, experience is the best teacher. education is great and i think it is necessary to have, but unless you can really apply it through working everyday, it really won't mean a lot in the real world. i love experienced nurses and value them greatly. getting rid of seasoned nurses would be a disaster to our profession.

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Guess I have to had my thoughts on this subject. I usually am on other areas of the dicussion boards.

I am an AS RN, started out as an LPN years (and I do mean YEARS) ago. The very best nurses that I have had the pleasure to work with are the diplomia nurses. The knowlage base with them was exceptional. The poorest bedside nurses were the BSN. Seems like most of the time they were in school it was spent on classes like statistics, leadership, management, nursing research, life cycle, et. This is not ment to take anything away from the BSN, all I am saying is that the True bedside nurse was the diplomia nurse.

I intend to go back and add BSN after my name as some point in time.

The nursing shortage is extreme this time around it would be insane to ask all nurses to have a BSN. I understand the concept but do not agree with it.

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