Credentials

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Apr 19, 2015

I think they are free to make whatever policy on this they see fit (regardless of how arbitrary it is). I also think you are free to seek employment elsewhere where the policies are more in line with your beliefs on this.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2015

Just wondering what others think about this issue...My workplace has a policy on credentials required for management positions. Nurse managers must have a Master's degree or be enrolled in a Master's program. The organization does not care where the degree is from (could be an online joke school for all they care) or what the level of achievement was. There does not seem to be any rationale for this requirement. Thoughts?

The rationale is probably that it's a Magnet requirement (although technically, only the CNO must have a minimum of a Master's degree; managers must have a minimum of a BSN).

I don't understand what you mean by the bolded. What does "level of achievement" mean?

Most facilities have this requirement. I see nothing wrong with it.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2015

As for the level of achievement, a passing score in my MSN program is 83%, and you are required to pass all classes. That said, level of achievement (GPA) for a master's degree is expected to be high, and it's built into most programs---meaning, if you earn the MSN, you must have achieved a high level of mastery.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2015

Ah, is that what "level of achievement" means? Well, of course they will care about it in that one would need to get passing grades in order to get their degree.

But I've never had an employer care about my "level of achievement" in school, in that nobody has ever asked me what my GPA was in school. As long as I passed and got the degree, that's all they care about.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Apr 19, 2015

There is a distinct difference between a BSN and MSN. During your undergraduate career, the focus is on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, and in some cases synthesis. In a graduate program, the focus is synthesis and evaluation, both of which are higher levels of learning. A graduate degree has prepared the nurse as an advance practice nurse- in other words, the training has prepared the individual to become a leader in research, theory, and practice. More importantly, it has trained the person to synthesis and evaluates data. My comment should not suggest that BSN nurses cannot perform these functions. But rather than testing to see if the BSN nurse can, a requirement such as having a master's degree insures the person has learned those skills (although I have met MSN prepared nurses who couldn't).

The same question holds true in business, why do companies require mid-level managers to have MBA's?

bellini · Apr 19, 2015

I think they are free to make whatever policy on this they see fit (regardless of how arbitrary it is). I also think you are free to seek employment elsewhere where the policies are more in line with your beliefs on this.

Yes, I am free to seek employment where there is some clear statement as to the real value of education. Thanks.

elkpark · Apr 19, 2015

Plenty of posters here valiantly defend the "online joke schools" all the time, so the quality of one's school is apparently less of a concern than it used to be in general. Is your complaint the idea of requiring an MSN (having or working on one) for nurse manager positions? It's true that a lot of places don't have that requirement, but I'm not sure what kind of "rationale" you think your employer ought to offer you. If they want to require an MSN for management positions, there's nothing stopping them and they're not the only organization to do so. And I am another person confused by your reference to "level of achievement." What is that supposed to mean (other than that, I'm guessing, some people who have management positions in your current organization have degrees from schools you don't approve of)? Is this about you not being able to get a NM position because you don't have the credentials your employer requires?

joanna73, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2015

Many employers require a Masters for certain positions. Usually, if you've completed a Masters program, you have achieved a certain level of clinical competence.

Where I live, the majority of Masters programs stipulate that the applicant has worked full time for at least 2 years prior to their application.

KaTieL1 · Apr 20, 2015

I know that a lot of facilities are trying to achieve Magnate status and that requires a certain percentage of Nurse Managers to have their masters or be enrolled in a masters program. But these facilities also have to have a certain percentage of their nurses have their BSN...or be enrolled in a BSN program. This obviously causes controversy with the seasoned nurses who are being pushed to go back to school or find other employment.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 20, 2015

I know that a lot of facilities are trying to achieve Magnate status and that requires a certain percentage of Nurse Managers to have their masters or be enrolled in a masters program. But these facilities also have to have a certain percentage of their nurses have their BSN...or be enrolled in a BSN program..

This is not true. Magnet requires that the CNO have at least a MSN; nurse managers must have at least a BSN. There is no mandate regarding educational requirements for floor nurses.