Do you need all those degrees?

I went back to school for my BSN because I wanted it, for myself.

Yup I did it for me. Were I younger I would get some more education. For me. At this point I am too tired to deal with f/t work AND school. But I love learning.

Well I started with an ADN. Went on for the BSN as an example to my children. I am now in year 2 of 3 in a BSN to DNP program. I am doing it because I want a terminal degree in my field.

I don't see the point unless someone wants to go further in their career. When I get my RN I will go through an associate's degree program. I will later get my BSN only because it seems everywhere I look the jobs hiring want me to have my BSN. I think it's pointless. You learn the same nursing skills in both programs & I will get paid the same regardless of my degree. As an LVN I'm making more than my best friend out of nursing school with a BSN who graduated at the top of her class.

I think many people are going for graduate degrees out of a sense of insecurity and because they worry about the future. Healthcare is no longer a career of perpetual job security like 10 years ago. It seems if the country as a whole suffers ("job growth" = new Burger King jobs) healthcare suffers too.

It seems the situation is the worst in the large cities where you have easy access to advanced degrees but limited access to jobs due to competition. Large cities have a localized glut of healthcare professionals but this is unique just to the largest metropolitan areas. Rural areas have shortages of healthcare professionals, except nobody wants to live there. Sophisticated young women want to live and practice in New York City or LA, they don't want to live in Pecatonica, IL, even though Pacatonica is hiring new grads, no questions asked, as long as you have a BSN.

When you look at the interior of the country, away from the biggest metropolitan areas, LPN nurses and associate degree nurses still dominate the job market, they are in demand and employable.

I don't know what to say, if you live in NYC or Chicago or LA and you need a graduate degree to find an entry level job then maybe you can consider moving to another part of the country? Because in that kind of job climate even a graduate degree may not save your skin?

I think BSN and MSN are useful for bedside. Many nursing instructors still work bedside for extra money. Nursing educators and managers should have MSN and maybe MBA in healthcare.

When I read the comment by dnsonthego about management at her facility questioning "why nurses are going for all these degrees...", the first thing I thought was I am glad I do not work at that facility.

We are living in the age of information in the 21st Century and even though earning a higher degree will not get you far from the bedside, I fervently believe that knowledge is never wasted. The attending physician who made the comment that he sees the degree mania as silly and wasteful is one of those who would like to keep nurses in the 17th Century.

True, some very factual observations were made. I am frequently embarrassed when nurses with advanced degrees display such poor writing and grammar skills and English is their first language unlike the reference mentioned. I am also amazed at the online schools churning out degrees without actually educating the participants. Many of them nowadays do not even require the GRE to have a basic measure of the graduates being enrolled. So long as you can pay, they will continue to thrive.

It is difficult for nurses to advance to higher levels of management because there are so many of us. Nepotism and who you know play crucial roles in the pecking order of things. But does that mean that you should stifle your potential? Who knows what tomorrow holds?

I embrace education and I love to learn. Thus far I have earned two undergraduate degrees, a masters degree and I am contemplating doing a doctorate but not in nursing. It is something I have always desired and I am doing it for me.

Don't hate on the ones who make a sacrifice to earn an advanced degree. The proliferation of degrees may be attributed to peer pressure or some may see it as a stepping stone to a promotion. It is better to have it in hand than to be denied because you did not have it.

As the health care environment changes, more will be demanded of the bedside nurses. It is no longer just about the poop...

Forward to the future! Diploma and two-year degree nurses are fast becoming relics. Hop on board before you wake up and the last train has left the station!

A peer in the BSN program went on to the MSN program directly out of school without ever having worked a day in health care. People who talked about her plans saw her avoiding the world of work. It was not surprising that at the age of 26 she had never moved out of her parents' house. Another acquaintance with a master's and doctorate in counseling, is now back in school, for what, I don't know. This person has never been able to hold a job, so it is also not surprising that they are back to doing what they do best, attending school. Some do well at attending school, others prefer to work in the world of adult work. To each his/her own.[/quote']

26 and living at home? I think that's the norm around here unless you're married! High cost of living :)

I think it's a little naive to say that four year degrees in the likes of journalism, fashion design, philosophy, etc. are never a waste. Of course they can be a waste. They can be a huge waste of time and money. For the vast majority of grads, these degrees do not result in gainful employment. How can that not be a waste?

Who are these people investing in four-year degrees simply to "broaden their horizons" or "find themselves"? Trust-fund babies? Not everyone is independently wealthy. For the average Joe a bachelors in most liberal arts studies will make him the most well-rounded fry-cook in a paper hat.

A BSN from an online diploma mill will result in better job opportunities than a four-year journalism degree from a respected university. I'm not saying that's right or nice or pretty, but it's true.

This touched a raw spot for me. I have a degree in art. It was NOT a waste of time. I love art. Just because I don't have a career in it anymore does not make it worthless OR anyone else's business. I do not have any type of gainful employment in any art field. SO WHAT?

I am also looking into getting a business degree. Why? Because I want to understand business and don't. I learn better with a structured curriculum than I do on my own.

I am not a trust fund baby. I am actually trailer trash and the first in my family to graduate college. I work for each degree I get and I am still paying for the first one.

I have a diploma now, but I want a BSN. I may go as far as MSN, because I like to expand my practice and learn new things. I just like to learn. I don't understand why that is a big deal.

If other people want to remain ignorant, good for them. Just don't be the crab in the bucket that pulls down people like me that realized ignorance isn't bliss, it sucks.

PS - If I want to be a fry cook, why does that make me less because I will be an educated fry cook? What if I just like to read philosophy over french fries?

I like to expand my practice and learn new things. I just like to learn. I don't understand why that is a big deal.

*** If you think your desire to learn and expand your practice is a big deal then I have wonder if you have read this discussion?

This touched a raw spot for me. I have a degree in art. It was NOT a waste of time. I love art. Just because I don't have a career in it anymore does not make it worthless OR anyone else's business. I do not have any type of gainful employment in any art field. SO WHAT?

I am also looking into getting a business degree. Why? Because I want to understand business and don't. I learn better with a structured curriculum than I do on my own.

I am not a trust fund baby. I am actually trailer trash and the first in my family to graduate college. I work for each degree I get and I am still paying for the first one.

I have a diploma now, but I want a BSN. I may go as far as MSN, because I like to expand my practice and learn new things. I just like to learn. I don't understand why that is a big deal.

If other people want to remain ignorant, good for them. Just don't be the crab in the bucket that pulls down people like me that realized ignorance isn't bliss, it sucks.

PS - If I want to be a fry cook, why does that make me less because I will be an educated fry cook? What if I just like to read philosophy over french fries?

The fact that you are a nursing student proves that you chose to pursue higher education that is very specialized and career-oriented. I, too, come from working class roots, and taking "fluff" classes for my own personal edification was never an option for me, either. Or, at least it wasn't an option without first obtaining a practical education gives me a job that generates disposable income. To do otherwise would be putting the cart before the horse.

Being able to pursue higher education purely for personal growth and enlightenment is a luxury way beyond the reach of most people.

Higher education is ungodly expensive. It's a huge investment. To invest tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in a four-year program that isn't directly related to a career at the end of the tunnel is incredibly impractical for most of the population.

Our education system, from elementary on up, promotes the idea that everyone should be "well rounded" and that "following your dream" is the most important consideration in choosing a career. This has resulted in a generation of thirty-somethings in never-ending grad school with massive debt, working at starbucks, living with mom all in the pursuit of an education that will result in many employers simply saying "so what?".

We need to start herding students after middle school into vocational education where they can learn a useful trade. Find out what they like and are good at, and funnel them off into specialized, vocational programs. One for finance, one for healthcare, one for mechanics, one for engineering, etc.

Trying to achieve some sort of idealized broad or well rounded education has become a joke that's a waste of the students' time and a waste of society's resources. To force these kids to spend their high school years reading "Catcher in the Rye" and playing with clay benefits no one. And I say this as someone who considers himself well-read, listens to NPR and all that good stuff. But once kids get the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic, it's time for the education to become specialized and time to begin ushering them toward a career.