80% BSN staffing by 2020

[jadelpn]

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?

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

Sneeds....you are so right. Excellent post.

[anonimiss]

Higher education is first and foremost a FINACIAL INVESTMENT. This is especially the case when a large corporation (hospital) makes it a requirement to keep your job. When I make an investment, I expect a return. The financial returns for the BSN simply isn't there. Its a waste of time, effort and most importantly money.

Trust me, there are many more profitable ways to invest $10,000 which is the cost of my local RN-BSN program.

The only way I will even consider the BSN is if I choose to complete a Master's degree. If my hospital requires it to keep my job, I will leave the hospital setting. If eventually a BSN is required to remain a nurse, then it is time to leave the profession. My economic freedom doesn't come from my job but through my investments. I will not be forced to make a bad investment in order to keep a job. That is slavery.

[lindarn]

What other health care professions, have multiple entries into practice? NONE. They were ALL, BACHELORS DEGREE AS INTO PRACTICE, AND HAVE INCREASED THEIR ENTRY INTO PRACTICE TO DOCTORATES, AND MASTERS DEGREE.

Even Recreational Therapists, have a Bachelors Degree as entry onto practice. None of these other health care professions, come close to the potential harm, as nursing.

PT, OT, Pharmacists, ALL out earn us! They limit the numbers allowed into the profession, to prevent the glut we now have in nursing. This keeps their skills in demand.

These professions, all gain from having a single entry into practice, the higher education requirement, limits the hordes from applying, like they are in nursing.

OTs have told me that they are happy that the entry was increased to a Masters Degree, for the above reasons.

There is NO reason that nurses should not be making more than other health care professionals. WE allow our skills to be cheapened, by allowing unskilled HS dropouts, to take over our professional practice.

NURSING needs to DEMAND a higher wage for the higher education that is being required. UNIONIZATION is the way to go.

If the "MARTY MARYS", of nursing would quit standing in the way, a National union by NNOC, would do alot to improve the power of nurses, our pay and benefits. Quit complaining about more education, and just do it. Nurses already licensed need to be grandfathered in so they do not have to go back to school.

Again, until nurses unionize for our own protection, and self preservation we are in a rut, that is of our own making.

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN ,BSN, CCRN

Somewhere in the PACNW

[llg, PhD, RN]

Higher education is first and foremost a FINACIAL INVESTMENT.

That may be true for you ... but it is not true for everyone. Sure, the financial aspects of education are important. But there are other important considerations, too -- and those other things sometimes add up to be more important than the money. Also, with many employers offering tuition reimbursement, the cost of an RN-BSN program does not have to be outrageously expensive. Finallly on the financial front, I think stability would lead to lower costs over all for most folks compared to the hodge-podge of schools, degrees, and credentials we current have.

For the nursing profession, the time has come to raise our standards. You may be able to live out the rest of your career able to get a job you like without having to get a BSN. If that is true, then I am happy for you.

But new nurses entering the field need to be informed that most of the best career opportunities in the future will go to the nurses with a BSN or higher. Most students and new grads I talk to seem to already realize that. As that generation of new nurses becomes better educated than generations of the past, the tide will continue to turn in favor of higher education for nurses. Pockets of resistence will exist, but they will come to become fewer and farther between with time.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

What other health care professions, have multiple entries into practice? NONE.

*** Respiratory therapy and physician assistant come to mind. Both are like nursing and can be enter at the associates degree, bachelors degree, or graduate degree level.

PT, OT, Pharmacists, ALL out earn us! They limit the numbers allowed into the profession, to prevent the glut we now have in nursing.

*** I see you point but to be fair, none of those other professions have had a concerted effort made to artificially create a glut of nurses by self serving and dishonest organizations.

The glut of nurses was intentionally manufactured through the use of tax payer money to greatly expand nursing schools, and of course the false "nursing shortage" propaganda. The glut of nursing isn't the fault of the ADN programs.

These professions, all gain from having a single entry into practice, the higher education requirement, limits the hordes from applying, like they are in nursing.

*** Well it would be nice to get rid of all the "shake'n bake" DE MSN programs.

NURSING needs to DEMAND a higher wage for the higher education that is being required. UNIONIZATION is the way to go.

*** Let's face reality. Very few of the "BSN as entry to practice" advocates will be satisfied by simply requiring a BSN to entry nursing. You are pretty much a lone voice for that. Most of the others will not be satisfied until they have also managed to punish all of those who had the gall to enter RN practice with less than a BSN.

Seems to me we have two realistic options available. Neither of which will satisfy most of the BSN advocates.

The first option, given how very little difference there is between ADN programs and BSN programs is to simply add 9-20 credits of gen ed classes to the ADN and declare them to be BSN programs.

The other is to set a date after which all who wish to sit for the NCLEX-RN must have a bachelors degree in nursing and grandfather in all those licensed RNs who do not have a bachelors degree on that date. (as you have often advocated for).

In my opinion for either of those things to happen there would NEED to be a significant increase in RN pay and benefits. Investing the time and money into a degree like a BSN in order to enter a field that involves such hard work and high levels of responsibility only to make $20 an hour or less isn't going to fly for most people.

a National union by NNOC, would do a lot to improve the power of nurses, our pay and benefits. Quit complaining about more education, and just do it. Nurses already licensed need to be grandfathered in so they do not have to go back to school.

*** Right!

Again, until nurses unionize for our own protection, and self preservation we are in a rut, that is of our own making.

*** I agree, however I think you down play the roll of nurse employers and schools of nursing have played in artificially creating a glut of nurses with their false and self serving lobbying and propaganda.

[sneeds]

ACK!!! I have my BSN and I'm displeased! I take up for the ADN because they know what they need to know on the most part to be a nurse! Most of the fluff classes have to do with leadership, etc. OFFER THIS as a certification to save the RN money OR HAVE THE HOSPITAL PAY FOR IT. It is unethical for our ADN's to DO what a BSN does and crap on them to spend money. It is unethical to pay the BSNs the same amount as the ADN WHEN THEY DO THEM SAME THING - BEDSIDE!! It will also be crappy to pay the MSN the same as BSN when THEY DO THEY SAME THING IF THEY WORK BEDSIDE. You only have so much time to do something during the shift at bedside. WE ALL DO THE SAME THING AT BEDSIDE. ALSO..... llg ... many hospitals are cutting back on reimbursements! Time is money... opportunity costs, family time. When curriculum and wages can justify getting a higher degree then bring it on!! Stop enslaving nurses with student LOANS AND CONTRACTS!

[sneeds]

Thank you for listening to my rants. LOL. I just want so much for us nurses because we do so much and we CARE for our patients, our MDs and our OURSELVES!

[DoGoodThenGo]

If many hospitals continue along as they have with only hiring new grads with BSNs and encouraging and or mandating experienced nurses to get their four year degree in fifteen or so years you could see places staffed in the majority or wholly by BSN prepared nurses.

Here in NYC at least for the top hospitals handwriting is on the wall. It does not help that between closings and mergers there soon will by only a handful of "major players" in the hospital market. Victories have been won for Long Island College and Interfaith hospitals in Brooklyn in terms of keeping them open, but how it will all end in keeping them financially healthy and vibrant facilities in future is still a work in progress.

As one has stated previously and frequently this whole sad affair could have been avoided if the matter had been settled within the precincts of the nursing profession itself. There has been over fifty years of going back and forth on the matter of the BSN becoming mandatory for entry. Long enough for persons to attend nursing school, graduate, pass the boards, work and retire with nothing more than a diploma or ADN degree.

What is going to make things very painful is that this time not only is the BSN coming down from outside the profession (via hospitals/facilities), but at the same time of a trifecta of external pressures on health care systems. Obamacare, recent and prolonged economic recession, and the calls to bring down costs/make systems more efficient all mean things are not going back to business as usual.

No, most places do not pay extra for the BSN, and why should they? Currently in most areas of the USA it is an employers market for nurses, especially new grads. With scores of applicants both new and experienced for every one open spot hospitals can easily pick and choose.

Again if the profession as a whole had dealt with rather than argue, debate and or run from the original ANA white paper proposals there may have been a less painful way of doing things. Following the Canadian model ADN nurses could have had their own scope of practice at the cost of perhaps surrendering "RN" for "technical" or some such nurse, but they still would have had a place. But no, whilst everyone bickered hospitals/facilities decided a nurse, was a nurse, is a nurse regardless of her/his education. So they freely slot in BSN nurses and fully expect them to perform as ADN.

Both in NJ and NYS "BSN in Ten" legislation seems dead. But guess what? If things keep on going as they are at least in downstate NY there won't be a need for any laws. Hospitals will have pretty much gone over to all or mostly BSN staffing on their own. This will have a ripple effect down the line as community colleges and other programs offering ADN degrees either find ways to adapt or will simply close. Already there are rumors Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing (ADN) will be offering a BSN program within the next few years.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

As one has stated previously and frequently this whole sad affair could have been avoided if the matter had been settled within the precincts of the nursing profession itself. There has been over fifty years of going back and forth on the matter of the BSN becoming mandatory for entry. Long enough for persons to attend nursing school, graduate, pass the boards, work and retire with nothing more than a diploma or ADN degree.

*** Right. However the huge road block to that is the mentality of so many in the BSN as entry to practice. The well traveled and effective path taken by other health professions, that of declaring a new standard / requirement and grandfathering in all those who graduated under the old standard, isn't good enough for them. Had they advocated for that I sincerely believe they would have encountered far less resistance.

Again if the profession as a whole had dealt with rather than argue, debate and or run from the original ANA white paper proposals there may have been a less painful way of doing things. Following the Canadian model ADN nurses could have had their own scope of practice at the cost of perhaps surrendering "RN" for "technical" or some such nurse, but they still would have had a place. But no, whilst everyone bickered hospitals/facilities decided a nurse, was a nurse, is a nurse regardless of her/his education.

*** This is a good example of exactly what I am talking about. It's like the goal was to create the most animosity to the idea of BSN as entry to practice possible, rather than a goal of a BSN educated nursing work force. Obviously telling hundreds of thousands of skilled and experienced RNs that they will no longer be RNs and must settle for some lessor title and roll is guaranteed to make them dig their heels in and fight to keep their title.

The Canadian model is the wrong one for the USA. We don't need their model. We have plenty of good, proven models here to follow. BSN as entry to practice advocates simply ignored them.

So they freely slot in BSN nurses and fully expect them to perform as ADN.

*** Not quite the case. BSN are slotted to preform in rolls exactly the same as ADNs because they are not trained for anything else.

Both in NJ and NYS "BSN in Ten" legislation seems dead.

*** Of course it is. It should be. Rather than working toward the goal of a bachelors educated nursing workforce the "BSN in Ten" seeks to punish those who had the gall to enter RN practice without a bachelors degree. The BSN in Ten is a great example of short sighted thinking in the nursing profession.

But guess what? If things keep on going as they are at least in downstate NY there won't be a need for any laws. Hospitals will have pretty much gone over to all or mostly BSN staffing on their own.

*** Yes of course. They intentionally created the current glut of nurses using false and self serving "nursing shortage" propaganda. They did that so they could be very picky about what nurses they hire. The days of having to treat impossible-to-replace nurses decently or risk them voting with their feet are over. That was the goal of manufacturing the glut of nurses.

Already there are rumors Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing (ADN) will be offering a BSN program within the next few years.

*** Never heard of Beth Israel but many ADN programs have been partnering with universities to offer a combined ADN RN and BSN in a total of 4 years for some time now. I would be interested to know how much they need to change their program to accomplish that.

[ak2190]

Please, if you want people to respect the BSN, add something valuable to it beyond the fluffy, self-deceiving, delusional ego stroking it tries to pass off as something valuable. There is a reason why nurses don't get more than a token raise at the most for having a BSN over an ADN. I am embarrassed by the classes they currently pass off as "higher education". We need to demand more from our education system. And before someone chimes in with "MY PROGRAM WAS AMAZING AND INTENSIVE", we all know that 98% of BSN programs are NOT built that way. If you can fix that issue, maybe I can convince myself to get behind the whole "BSN only" idea. As it is, I feel like I paid a lot of money to get a piece of paper that means nothing other than I can write really long papers and talk myself to sleep about nursing leadership and theory. And even that, I learned how to fill up space with long words and over-extended prose in high school.

[DoGoodThenGo]

*** Right. However the huge road block to that is the mentality of so many in the BSN as entry to practice. The well traveled and effective path taken by other health professions, that of declaring a new standard / requirement and grandfathering in all those who graduated under the old standard, isn't good enough for them. Had they advocated for that I sincerely believe they would have encountered far less resistance.

*** This is a good example of exactly what I am talking about. It's like the goal was to create the most animosity to the idea of BSN as entry to practice possible, rather than a goal of a BSN educated nursing work force. Obviously telling hundreds of thousands of skilled and experienced RNs that they will no longer be RNs and must settle for some lessor title and roll is guaranteed to make them dig their heels in and fight to keep their title.

The Canadian model is the wrong one for the USA. We don't need their model. We have plenty of good, proven models here to follow. BSN as entry to practice advocates simply ignored them.

*** Not quite the case. BSN are slotted to preform in rolls exactly the same as ADNs because they are not trained for anything else.

*** Of course it is. It should be. Rather than working toward the goal of a bachelors educated nursing workforce the "BSN in Ten" seeks to punish those who had the gall to enter RN practice without a bachelors degree. The BSN in Ten is a great example of short sighted thinking in the nursing profession.

*** Yes of course. They intentionally created the current glut of nurses using false and self serving "nursing shortage" propaganda. They did that so they could be very picky about what nurses they hire. The days of having to treat impossible-to-replace nurses decently or risk them voting with their feet are over. That was the goal of manufacturing the glut of nurses.

*** Never heard of Beth Israel but many ADN programs have been partnering with universities to offer a combined ADN RN and BSN in a total of 4 years for some time now. I would be interested to know how much they need to change their program to accomplish that.

As with the original ANA white paper both New Jersey's and New York's "BSN in Ten" had grandfather clauses for any nurse (diploma or ADN grad) that was already licensed. Indeed the NYS proposal would have covered not only students already attending nursing programs, but those accepted at time of passage as well. Therefore in theory it would have been several years before new grads would have been affected.

Phillips Beth Israel school of nursing is one of NYC's oldest programs and is connected with Beth Israel Hospital. Like the famous Bellevue and Saint Vincent programs it once was diploma, then became ADN. It used to be that in whole or part GNs from the school would land spots at BIH or in the parent system of Continuum Partners, but we've been hearing rumors recently that is no longer so; the school is considered totally separate from the hospital system (which it really is, with it's own endowment and so forth...) and makes no promises to grads they will land any position.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

As with the original ANA white paper both New Jersey's and New York's "BSN in Ten" had grandfather clauses for any nurse (diploma or ADN grad) that was already licensed. Indeed the NYS proposal would have covered not only students already attending nursing programs, but those accepted at time of passage as well. Therefore in theory it would have been several years before new grads would have been affected.

*** I didn't know that but it sounds silly. We already know what happened when one state try to implement BSN only all by itself. Piece meal isn't going to work. History has given us a great example already.

When advocates of BSN as entry to practice get serious about implementing BSN only, vs their current path of seeking unemployment and punishment for ADNs I will listen to them.

Phillips Beth Israel school of nursing is one of NYC's oldest programs and is connected with Beth Israel Hospital. Like the famous Bellevue and Saint Vincent programs it once was diploma, then became ADN. It used to be that in whole or part GNs from the school would land spots at BIH or in the parent system of Continuum Partners, but we've been hearing rumors recently that is no longer so; the school is considered totally separate from the hospital system (which it really is, with it's own endowment and so forth...) and makes no promises to grads they will land any position.

*** Ya I never heard of any of those hospitals but I don't doubt what you are saying at all. Seems irresponsible to me. Those hospital better hope we never face a real nursing shortage. My hope would be that if such a shortage occurred nurses would remember who though they were too good for ADNs.