BSN RN & Certifications not allowed on my badge: I am outraged!

[Simba2241]

After much hard work, dedication, and sacrifice I obtained my BSN RN in 2004. Today I walked out of an orientation at a major Raleigh, NC hospital because I was told why I asked why RN's could not proudly display their education and credentials "WE do not recognize titles here. There are no titles" I was outraged and hurt. In educating the orientation administrative person (she was not a nurse) I explained that having to meet strict criteria for certification and education levels are not a title! She looked annoyed. SO I left.

Education and credentials are not easily obtained. They are representations of a RN's commitment to his/her craft. They are indications of the sacrifice and hard work she/ he has put in to go the extra mile. I am in no way negating an ADN. ON the contrary, ADN's make just as much of a sacrifice (However...in all honesty.... you will never hear an ADN voicing concern about not being able to display her ADN...sorry if I have offended any ADN's but the truth is the truth!).

When I handed HR my resignation letter and explained why I am resigning after only 2 days of orientation she looked annoyed and asked : "What does it matter. All of you are RN's and you all do the same thing" I just looked at her and shook my head.

I cannot understand an organization that BANS your right to display your hard work. What right does that organization have?

Needless to say I left another hospital for a minor pay increase at this facility. I regret that decision. I told HR I would rather tolerate a few cents less and have the HARD EARNED RIGHT TO DIAPLY MY CREDNTIALS than to work for an organization who tells me I CAN NOT DISPLAY MY CREDENTIALS>

Shame on you Wake Med! You will never achieve magnet status if you continue to disregard the hard work of your RN's!

Sandra BSN RN

[cloister]

I read Critical Care and the American Journal of Critical Care, I have a BSN, and I work in a Magnet hospital. Both of my bosses are ADNs and frankly, they can nurse circles around me. A good nurse is a good nurse, degree notwithstanding.

[Lucky0220]

"does anyone here read???"

no, all us adns are illiterate.

that's how we passed the same state boards as the literate bsns.

roser13, you are way cool

[lindarn]

The main issue, is that hospitals are afraid that if patients see some nurses with "BSN", after their name, they will start to request a nurse who has a BSN. This, in keeping with the present, "customer service" mentality, hospitals would have to start hiring more BSNs, and, "EEGADS"!!!, possibly have to pay them more to revruit and retain them. Heavans to Betsy!

There is no reason that a nurse, who has earned a college degree, a specialty certification, should not be able to put that information on their name badge. Patients have a right to know what the qualifications of their care givers are. Hospitals wish to maintain the status quo of, "a nurse is a nurse is a nurse". It does nothing but help their bottom line. If a nurse feel miffed because she has no college degree, or specialty certifications to put after their name, they are always free to earn a college degree, or a specialty certification, like other have done.

Nurses complain that the reason that they don't like unions, is that all the nurses earn the same, even if they work harder than other nurses who they work with. I feel the same way about my degree and certification. I worked hard to earn them, and it cost me alot of money to earn them and maintain the certification. But under the present way nurses are compensated, I have no ways of increasing my pay as a reward for MY hard work.

Doctors who achieve higher education and training charge more for their services. Nurses, on the other hand, could be expert critical care nurses, but earn the same as a nurses who works in med surg, or the new born nursery. Again, this is exactly what hospitals want. We do ourselves no favor by allowing them to get away with this. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

[kanzi monkey]

I'm guessing magnet status does not include a measurement of what letters are on a nurses badge. But I'm sure they can calculate how many BSN educated nurses are working at a facility. My employer knew my educational background when they hired me, and it is part of WHY they hired me. Badges are for identification purposes--if you have a certification in a particular specialty of nursing, it would be great to show it on a badge so that you can be identified as a person who has competency in that field. IDs are practical. If you want to include educational credentials on an additional name tag, that's fine. You don't see that often in other professions. But your resume or CV--that's hot stuff :)

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

good grief .. just go find a job that let's you put those awesome BSN letters on your badge... what's the problem? you have to do what makes you happy and if that makes you happy then do it...

we all have different goals in life, problems , things we value, thats what makes life so exciting and interesting. if your goal is to work for a hospital that has BSN on your badge ,, go for it...

can you go back to your magnet hospital ? see if you can reapply and get your job back.

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

you should go work for rex hospital. they're a BSN only facility, except for those who were grandfathered in or work at the convalescent center. that way you don't have to worry about working with any non-credentialed nurses and can display your alphabet on your badge. they even cancelled all their new grad fellows that were ADNs.

i'm a LPN, and i used to work at duke/durham regional, where the majority of the nurses were ADN and diploma from durham tech and watts. no soup there either.

hate to see you give up a wonderful opportunity of working at wakemed for something so petty. there is alot of room for growth there and they are truly the best in the area. i would chose them for my care over rex, unc-ch, raleigh community and duke univ/durham regional.

[Medic09, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Simba, you have now confused two distinct issues.

Few would dispute that aquiring certs and degrees is a good thing, overall. Few would dispute that continuing one's education and training is good for the practitioner and the patient.

But you told us that you quit a job over DISPLAYING those things. That's another matter entirely, as I've indicated in my other comments.

Don't confuse the issues, folks. Requiring facilities to have continuously trained and certified personnel is not the same thing as insisting that it be advertised on the ID.

[leslie :-D]

Just because my conviction and passion is stronger in some areas than yours does not negate my passion.

i guess i find it confusing that on one hand, you want to "hone" your skills, so you can aspire to be the very best.

99%+ nurses who strive for excellence, would seek an employer w/a reputation for providing superior care to its pts.

and so, i find it ironic that rather than work for a hosp w/excellent reputation, your foremost concern is being able to display your credentials.

therefore, your quest for excellence in nsg, seemingly contrasts w/your quest for recognition.

again, most nurses would go for the facility w/the reputation in providing exc pt care.

and again, i'll rub my chin and think, "interesting"...:)

leslie

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Question: How many patients, in pain, potentially confused, or simply focused on other issues, actually look at or care what designation is on their caregiver's ID?

Does anyone seriously think that an oncology patient, pressing the call light to request her next dose of pain med, would refuse the services of an RN, holding out for the med administration by a BSN/RN?

[agilitydogs]

As a matter of fact, I think it is unfortunate that many ADNs can not enter certain job fields such as CWOCN and many many many others UNLESS he/she is a BSN.

Actually, an ADN can apply for the CWOCN as long as they have a Bachelors in something. I have 2 previous BS degrees (one in math and one in biochem where I wrote no less than 10 research papers with...ohhh...statistics and all. Come to think of it, I actually did the hands on research behind the papers too), so does that make me any less of a nurse than you just because I don't have a BSN? Should I get to display my 2 previous degree's on my badge just so I can "proudly display" all of the hard work that went into those degrees? No. I would PROUDLY display my ADN if my hospital would allow it, but I think if every certification and degree were put on a badge, we would run out of room .

[sharpeimom]

i live and was formerly employed in this very very small rural area and obviously my employer was aware of my degrees, certifications, etc. but they also highly valued how i treated and cared for my patients. as an aside, one man was so pleased with the care i gave his family member that he installed our new furnace then has continued to service it gratis for more than a decade. he also wrote a note to my boss which she sent me a copy of later. i have continued to read the same journals i read when i worked. save your wrath for the really big battles and as my mom used to tell me, "choose your battles carefully."

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

[smalltownnurse2506]

Do you honestly think that your average patient even knows what a BSN is? I don't think so, but then again I live and work in a hicktown where there are a good number of people who can't even read. There is not a hospital in this area that will pay you more for having a BSN. However, I do know of one that does allow you to display your credentials. I have never been concerned about what my badge displays (I have a BSN in case you were wondering). I love the small town that I live in and I am proud of the service that I provide to this community.