Do I have to have a BSN?

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Hello everyone. I am not a nurse yet but rather applying to get in to a nursing program. My original plan was to just get my ADN, make contacts, and get a job upon graduation so I could start earning money sooner. Now I am worried I will have trouble getting a job without the BSN in this economy/job market. I am hoping to go into L&D, OB, PICU, NICU...you see the idea. I hope to go back for a BSN or RN-MS later on with the financial assistance of my employer. I'd appreciate any feedback from nurses who have taken different paths as well as those in charge of hiring.

Thanks so much!

Nikki

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Career Advice forum

I guess a lot will depend on the demand where you live and whether BSN is the preferred qualification

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I'm currently in the BSN program at a school that does both BSN and ADN. My professors have flat out, bluntly said that the ADNs pretty much learn all the same material, get paid the same, and their name tags in the future will simply say "RN", just like mine. The only difference that I can see is that at our school the ADNs are taught more like LPNs sort of. They get a gerontology class and we don't. We have to take some crap leadership classes and they don't. And they got a clinical for nursing foundations (a class that teaches pretty basic stuff - giving shots, putting in feeding tubes, etc. But they didn't actually do this stuff in their clinicals as far as I know). Personally, if you haven't already dedicated two years to a bachelors (for pre-reqs) I would go for ADN. Faster, and honestly, anything a BSN nurse might learn in school that an ADN nurse wouldn't, the ADN could learn on the job. I would pick ADN. :)

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I think it depends on the area...where I am all of the hospitals are asking for a minimum of a BSN.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

I have heard of hospitals only wanting to hire BSNs too, but the reality is that there is a nursing shortage out there and that won't always be possible. In my area, it doesn't seem to be an issue yet. If I was a youngster in nursing school and just starting out, I think I would go the ADN route and then, when I got a job, I would let them pay for my BSN through tuition reimbursement, which is in place in most decent-sized, reputable hospitals. There are a lot of online RN to BSN programs out there, which would be much easier than hauling yourself and your books off to a classroom everyday and would be easier to work around your work schedule.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I have heard of hospitals only wanting to hire BSNs too, but the reality is that there is a nursing shortage out there and that won't always be possible.

*** There is no nursing shortage. That there is a shortage is propaganda from those who have a vested interest in a nurse over supply situation.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.
*** There is no nursing shortage. That there is a shortage is propaganda from those who have a vested interest in a nurse over supply situation.

I have to respectfully disagree. I am a diploma RN and I get at least one or two emails every single day offering me job opportunities across the U.S. There is a strong need for nurses in my area (SE Michigan), and new grads are getting hired. When you figure in how many nurses are in their 50s and 60s and looking at retirement in the next few years, there is and will continue to be a need for nurses. I know that some areas of the country have instituted hiring freezes and the like, much to the detriment of the patient population, to save money, but yes, there is a need for nurses in most parts of the country. It may not seem like it to a new grad who is having a hard time getting someone to hire them based on what part of the country they live in, but it's true.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I have to respectfully disagree. I am a diploma RN and I get at least one or two emails every single day offering me job opportunities across the U.S. There is a strong need for nurses in my area (SE Michigan), and new grads are getting hired. When you figure in how many nurses are in their 50s and 60s and looking at retirement in the next few years, there is and will continue to be a need for nurses. I know that some areas of the country have instituted hiring freezes and the like, much to the detriment of the patient population, to save money, but yes, there is a need for nurses in most parts of the country. It may not seem like it to a new grad who is having a hard time getting someone to hire them based on what part of the country they live in, but it's true.

*** I agree there is a shortage of nurses at the bedside doing patient care. In many cases because the hospitals refuse to hire more nurses. I also think there may be a shortage of RNs willing to work for the current pay and working conditions being offered.

However when I see that so many nursing programs have expanded, in my state the number of graduates has doubled in the last 5 years, and look at state's board of nursing websites and see the number of licences out there, and see how grads are unable to find work in so many areas I come to a different conclusion.

Of course there may be local shortages, as in North Dakota, and maybe where you live.

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