80% BSN staffing by 2020

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

This has been on the forefront of every conversation regarding nursing I have been a party to as of late. 80% of BSN prepared nurses for acute care by 2020. Is this just being kicked around as an ideal, or did this mandate pass? Not sure if this is national or state.

A number of hospitals will only hire BSN's. That is certainly their right, however, to use the 80% by 2020 mandate as a reason to not hire less than a BSN is a bit odd to me.

My understanding is that this mandate states that currently employed nurses are grandfathered. They also have a 10 year period of time to obtain a BSN. From what I have read about this, it is a state mandate that has yet to pass in most states. But the information is vauge.

Or is administration just throwing it out there in attempts to go for Magnet status???

Curious on if you have heard this in your area?

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I only heard it as a recommendation; not a mandate or law; it would be impossible for certain areas to meet that requirement. I don't believe that there will be a requirement, especially when the next nursing shortage hits.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Well, I just read the article about Vanderbilt nurses having to clean rooms now, so I wonder if any BSN programs are going to start adding a housekeeping class to their curriculum?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

October 2010 Institute of Medicine Report:

The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health

Key messages

• Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training
  
• Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.
  
• Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure
  

The Future of Nursing: Focus on Education

Entering the Profession

Nursing is unique among the health care professions in the United States in that it has multiple educational pathways leading to an entry-level license to practice. Nursing students are able to pursue three different educational pathways to become registered nurses (RNs): the bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN), the associate’s degree in nursing (ADN), and the diploma in nursing. More recently, an accelerated, second-degree bachelor’s program for students who possess a baccalaureate degree in another field also has become a popular option. These various pathways provide numerous opportunities for women and men of modest means and diverse backgrounds to access careers in an economically stable field.

The qualifications and level of education required for entry into the nursing profession have been widely debated by nurses, nursing organizations, academics, and a host of other stakeholders for more than 40 years. Although a BSN education is not a panacea for all that is expected of nurses in the future, it does, relative to other educational pathways, introduce students to a wider range of competencies in such arenas as health policy and health care financing, community and public health, leadership, quality improvement, and systems thinking. Care within the hospital continues to grow more complex, with nurses having to make critical decisions associated with care for sicker, frailer patients and having to use more sophisticated, life-saving technology coupled with information management systems that require skills in analysis and synthesis. Care outside the hospital is becoming more complex as well. Nurses are being called on to coordinate care among a variety of clinicians and community agencies; to help patients manage chronic illnesses, thereby preventing acute care episodes and disease progression; and to use a variety of technological tools to improve the quality and effectiveness of care.

A more educated nursing workforce would be better equipped to meet the demands of an evolving health care system, and this need could be met by increasing the percentage of nurses with a BSN. An increase in the proportion of nurses with a BSN also would create a workforce poised to achieve higher levels of education at the master’s and doctoral levels, required for nurses to serve as primary care providers, nurse researchers, and nurse faculty— positions currently in great demand across the profession and within the health care system. The committee recommends that the proportion of nurses with baccalaureate degrees be increased to 80 percent by 2020. While it anticipates that it will take a few years to build the educational capacity needed to achieve this goal, the committee maintains that it is bold, achievable, and necessary to move the nursing workforce to an expanded set of competencies, especially in the domains of community and public health, leadership, systems improvement and change, research, and health policy.

Improving the education system and achieving a more educated workforce—specifically increasing the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees—can be accomplished through a number of different programs and educational models, including: traditional RN-to-BSN programs; traditional 4-year BSN programs at both universities and some community colleges; educational collaboratives that allow for automatic and seamless transitions from an ADN to a BSN; new providers of nursing education such as proprietary/for-profit schools; simulation and distance learning through online courses; and academic-service partnerships.

In addition to increased numbers of BSN-educated nurses, schools of nursing must build their capacities to prepare more students at the graduate level who can assume roles in advanced practice, leadership, teaching, and research. While 13 percent of nurses hold a graduate degree, fewer than one percent have a doctoral degree. Nurses with doctorates are needed to teach future generations of nurses and to conduct research that becomes the basis for improvements in nursing science and practice. The committee recommends doubling the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020....

Further info on: The Future of Nursing: Focus on Scope of Practice

[MunoRN, RN]

It's an IOM recommendation, not a mandate. I sat on an "action coalition", set up to try and meet this goal. Currently about half of Nurses have a BSN, moving up to 80% can't be done by just shutting down the ADN programs since BSN programs are already stretching their clinical opportunities. What we found, which is basically the same conclusion other states came up with, is that the only way to do this is to keep ADN programs as they are, add some classes, and call ADN degrees BSN degrees. The shift to BSN curriculum in ADN programs is already well under way, so really all we're adding is some electives and about $30,000, which unfortunately will result in a $5,000/year pay cut over the average Nursing career.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

It's nothing more that a suggestion by the IOM. You know, the organization that is STILL putting out false propaganda about the supposed nursing shortage. What does that tell you about the IOM?

As for Magnet, it's a dying fad. Lot's of good hospitals are dropping certification and others are are deciding not to waste the money.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Thanks so much for the information.

I feel like the suggestion is being called a mandate, and being used as a scare tactic--or that is how it is being used

in any and all conversations that I have had regarding this.

BSN's are a good thing, however, ADN's with multiple year experience and close to retiring were less than thrilled.

I appreciate the responses.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Calling it a mandate as another intimidation choice of words to promote the agenda......kind of like everything being HIPAA in order to compel compliance.

Just because it is said doesn't make it real.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

As for Magnet, it's a dying fad. Lot's of good hospitals are dropping certification and others are are deciding not to waste the money.

Do you have a link to this? I have heard you say it several times but I can't find the data anywhere.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Thanks so much for the information.

I feel like the suggestion is being called a mandate, and being used as a scare tactic--or that is how it is being used

in any and all conversations that I have had regarding this.

BSN's are a good thing, however, ADN's with multiple year experience and close to retiring were less than thrilled.

I appreciate the responses.

Recommendation is the correct word. Mandate is too strong and suggestion is too soft. People use semantics to support their argument.

The truth is that it remains a buyers market and hospitals are able to be picky about who they higher, and they can pick and choose from the IOM to support their hiring practices.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Recommendation is the correct word. Mandate is too strong and suggestion is too soft. People use semantics to support their argument.

The truth is that it remains a buyers market and hospitals are able to be picky about who they higher, and they can pick and choose from the IOM to support their hiring practices.

^Using the IOM and paraphrasing to support a viewpoint for their benefit...

Suggestions are just "suggestions"...unfortunately in his market, it is being used as "requirements" in some areas...

[BostonFNP, APRN]

"A more educated nursing workforce would be better equipped to meet the demands of an evolving health care system, and this need could be met by increasing the percentage of nurses with a BSN. An increase in the proportion of nurses with a BSN also would create a workforce poised to achieve higher levels of education at the master’s and doctoral levels, required for nurses to serve as primary care providers, nurse researchers, and nurse faculty— positions currently in great demand across the profession and within the health care system."

This is the important part of the statement for me, not the recommendation for 2020.