Fairly Unique Situation

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Hello all. I went to college on a wrestling scholarship and was originally in nursing school and made it to my ped/ob clinical rotation when my commitment to my NCAA division 1 scholarship became too much to handle on top of nursing school so I decided to change my major to something relevant to the courses I had already take. I finished my bachelors in exercise physiology and want nothing to do with it now especially because there are no jobs. I have recently decided to start school back up in September to obtain my associates degree in nursing. I have a job as an MST on a med/surg floor in a large hospital and well over half of the 50+ nurses I see each day have their associates degree. I was wondering others opinions on this. I will only need 1 year to finish up because I have so much of the coursework done from my bachelors. I feel like I'm in a great position because I'm already getting great experience working in a large hospital that hires internally and hires ADN prepared nurses. Then there's the dreaded ADN vs. BSN ugh. Here is a question. Lets say I utterly refuse to get my BSN later in life. Will I just not have a job at all as a nurse? Are they really going to do away with every associate nursing schoo/program? I am not talking about only in the hospital I'm talking about getting a job anywhere. The way people act on these forums it seems as if the millions of ADNs will not be able to work without a BSN which I find very hard to believe on top of the fact that they are going to have to shut down hundreds of schools/programs. What about nursing homes? Home health? Is it really reasonable to think that every single nursing job in the near future will only be for BSN prepared nurses? It just seems a bit improbable and frankly impossible. As I said I work with literally hundreds of BSN prepared nurses. Feedback please!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

This whole "ADN is going away" discussion is nearly identical to the "They're doing away with LPNs" discussion I heard in the late 70s.

Get your ADN, pass NCLEX and carry on - that would be my advice.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

" As I said I work with literally hundreds of BSN prepared nurses. Feedback please!"

Thinking you meant to say ADN-prepared nurses?

At any rate, I don't think us ADNs need worry. This "getting rid of ADNs and LPNS" has been around for many, many years. Even though there currently is NO nursing shortage, the day will soon be upon us that ALL nurses in every shape and form will be utilized due to the aging of the Boomers.

Also, if I may, why are you dead set against furthering your education? If I hadn't been 40 when I started practicing, I would definitely gone on to higher levels of education. Please don't be stubborn and close your eyes to future potential.

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Yeah you're right that's what I meant. Also, I was simply being hypothetical. I definitely might go back I was just saying is it really the end of the world if I opted not.

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If you have a Bachelors already in a subject, is there a college near you that offers an accellerated BSN? I would also ask if your exercise phys. credits transfer...you may find you just have specific nursing classes/clinical rotation to do before obtaining your BSN. If you are already employed, and it is the difference between 1 year and 18 months, the extra months may be well worth it. Especially if down the road you may see yourself in management.

A friend of mine had a bachelors in some sort of non-utilized very much subject ( I think it was philosophy.....yes, it was philosophy). She decided to seek out a BSN, went to her local college that had an accellerated program, and a year later had a BSN....

I don't think one is "better" than the other--and an ADN can mean you can just do online RN to BSN at some future date, but if the college is going to give you credit for the classes you have already taken, I would do it now, before that time which the credits are no longer valid.

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiology.
If you have a Bachelors already in a subject, is there a college near you that offers an accellerated BSN? I would also ask if your exercise phys. credits transfer...you may find you just have specific nursing classes/clinical rotation to do before obtaining your BSN. If you are already employed, and it is the difference between 1 year and 18 months, the extra months may be well worth it. Especially if down the road you may see yourself in management.

A friend of mine had a bachelors in some sort of non-utilized very much subject ( I think it was philosophy.....yes, it was philosophy). She decided to seek out a BSN, went to her local college that had an accellerated program, and a year later had a BSN....

I don't think one is "better" than the other--and an ADN can mean you can just do online RN to BSN at some future date, but if the college is going to give you credit for the classes you have already taken, I would do it now, before that time which the credits are no longer valid.

I agree, I would look into this option. If you do decide to get your ADN I wouldn't worry especially if the hospital you work at hires them.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

Get the ADN if your only goal is to have a job. Get a BSN if you want to have more opportunities and employment choices over the next 40 years.

And like the others said, why not just get the BSN now since you already have another Bachelors?

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Specializes in Cardiology.

I have my ADN right now. I feel less prepared than my colleagues who have their BSN. That being said, it was the right choice for me because I have a mortgage, car payment, and most importantly, child to feed. I needed to be able to start working as a nurse sooner rather than later so I could meet those commitments.

I do plan to go back to school very soon (I graduated a year ago) and get my BSN and eventually my DNP, and the year of experience I have is going to help me better understand what I am doing in school.

But I'm not really worried if I change my mind and decide I want to stay with my ADN. Though my hospital (magnet) pushes for people to be BSN prepared, I would have to guess that ADN nurses would be grandfathered in if the degree is ever done away with. My prior career was supervision in the hospital lab, and that is what happened when my state went forward with MT and MLT licensure. Those who were already working as MTs without a degree were allowed to stay in their positions, but all MTs from that point forward had to have a degree.

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Thank you all for your feedback! The reason I am choosing to get my ADN first is because I found a program that I can start right away, everything is online except clinical/lab so I can work full time and pay bills, and I have well over half of the curriculum accounted for. I could double my salary and then some in less than a year if I go this route. There is only one school with an accelerated BSN program and it would require me to quit my job (therefore not be able to utilize tuition reimbursement) and it is a much more expensive route. This is literally the best option. I can work full time and attend school and utilize tuition reimbursement all while continuing to gain hospital experience. I can always do an RN to BSN online program down the road and at least I will be making nurse money rather than tech money if you catch my drift.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.
" As I said I work with literally hundreds of BSN prepared nurses. Feedback please!"

Thinking you meant to say ADN-prepared nurses?

At any rate, I don't think us ADNs need worry. This "getting rid of ADNs and LPNS" has been around for many, many years. Even though there currently is NO nursing shortage, the day will soon be upon us that ALL nurses in every shape and form will be utilized due to the aging of the Boomers.

Also, if I may, why are you dead set against furthering your education? If I hadn't been 40 when I started practicing, I would definitely gone on to higher levels of education. Please don't be stubborn and close your eyes to future potential.

I completely agree. I am now on my journey to completing my BSN. I have been a RN for 12 years. I may someday want my masters. Just not yet.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

The 'BSN mandate' is driven by patient outcomes research. There are an increasing number of studies that report significant differences associated with higher numbers of BSN prepared nurses.... that's the reason for the IOM recommendation in the US. Hospitals will be hard-pressed to justify non-compliance to the public who are more educated and demanding than ever before.

The BSN-only mandate in acute care may not happen right away in your part of the country, but it's already a fact of life in most large urban areas in the US. There's no going back.

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As I said before I work with hundreds of ADN prepared nurses and there are hundreds of schools offering associates degrees. You're saying that they will all be fired and all of those schools shut down in my lifetime? The question is; will there still be jobs *even outside of the hospital, at ALL* for ADN prepared nurses?

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