Can a hospital legally force you to get your bsn if you are an adn

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Can a hospital legally force or require an RN who only has their adn to become a bsn or be fired??? That is the rumor at our hospital.

Specializes in Med/Surg and ANCC RN-BC.

Maybe, if they paid for the education and you didn't get your bsn.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

The hospital as a business can't legally force you do do anything. However, they can terminate your employment if you do not meet whatever requirements they have.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.
The hospital as a business can't legally force you do do anything. However, they can terminate your employment if you do not meet whatever requirements they have.

It's not a legal question. It's about standards.

If a hospital requires all of their employees to be at a BSN standard then so be it.

You have no "right" to a job. No "right" for employment.

An employer has the right to impose standards on its workers. Meet it or move on.

It's not your company. You DO have a right to seek out another job.

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Specializes in FNP.

yes, they can.

Or what Scott said. No they can't make you do it, but that can make it a condition of employment after the fact. We did.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
It's not a legal question. It's about standards.

I think the previous poster was simply answering the question as it was asked. Can they legally FORCE you to get a BSN. No, they cannot legally force you to do anything. They can, however, fire you if you do not (which I realize is tatamount to the same thing, and I'm mostly just arguing semantics here).

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Maybe they couldn't. I don't know for sure. But they could always let go of someone and find other "legal" reasons as to why she's being let go, most especially if you're in an employment-at-will State.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho, Oncology, PACU.

So do they pay for it or reimburse? Yes...there is a difference. For me, I haven't obtained my BSN because I can not afford to go back to school. I don't have the money to pay out in order to be compensated back. I can not get a student loan (as i am so far in debt with loans from when I was in school) Nor do I have extra time in my schedule for classes with work and family and kids.

I have been a nurse for 6 years and thought for sure I could pay down my loans enough by now to go back to school and get my BSN. But life happens. Financial hardship happens, family happens. I really don't see it happening for a long time. I don't feel i have missed out on anything either. I have been a charge nurse. I have been a case manager, I have been relief PACU coordinator, and I have been offered DON before (but I was wanting out of the facility so declined). All things I was told in college I could never do without my BSN.

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Yes, they can require a BSN. Most employers wouldn't want to lose all their ADN nurses, though, so they would give adequate time to obtain the degree.

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Hospitals make it a requirement for continued employment and then terminate those who refuse to comply.

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If time and moey are holding you from your BSN you should look into Excelsior you can do it online one class at a time pay as you go. I had the same issue and they are great. Just avoid College Network as Excelsior offers all the same help directly.

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They won't for us.

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I graduated in 1975 and even then the rumor was about mandatory BSNs within the next 10 years for licensure.

I'm quite certain it's legal to do but for a definitive answer you should contact your BON.

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