Do additional college degrees help when looking for a nursing job?

[krazykev]

Fellow Humans:

I am what some would call a professional student. I have two other college degrees in addition to my ADN degree that I will be completing soon.

So can anyone tell me if the additional education that I have achieved will be looked upon favorably by the H.R. people who will be reviewing my resume? Could it give me an extra edge in finding a job?

The area in which I live is flooded with nursing students and finding a job can be difficult.

Please share your opinions and wisdom with me.

[krazykev]

I agree that there's a lot of anti-intellectualism in nursing. It is actually quite sad that it is this way because there is so much knowledge that we could use to help patients. Don't all nurses understand that knowledge power?

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I agree that there's a lot of anti-intellectualism in nursing. I is actually quite sad that it is this way because there is so much knowledge that we could use to help patients. Plus, I am currently in an ADN program and I really miss the university setting because no one in my program really cares about learning anything. They just care about a C.

Are you sure NO ONE in your ADN program cares about learning anything? I doubt that is a fair assessment. Some, sure. NO ONE, I doubt it.

[Ophelia78]

I have a BA in Anthropology and it didn't matter a hoot when it came to a nursing position. It is not considered as good as a BSN despite the theory and research base and my wage is not increased by it at all. My work experience as a caseworker did help me earn one of two new grad positions in the ICU I started at.

I did happen to choose not to pursue Anthropology to the doctoral level because of the difficulty finding a job in the field. I knew several folks with Masters and PhDs who could not find a teaching position. They almost disbanded the department I graduated from a few years ago. My diploma of Nursing increased my gross yearly income by double. When I graduated with my BA in 2000, I was offered a fieldworker position for a contract archaeologist for $7.50/hr- ha! So much for that bachelors....I'm finding it's more useful when writing sci-fi/fantasy...

[Mommy TeleRN, RN]

You know - this thread makes me think of something that has been bothering me. I am a first time college student and about to graduate with my ADN. I am dual enrolled already to get my BSN next. I was a good student when I was younger, honor roll, gifted programs etc. Never went on to college so had no idea how it would work out. I applied myself very hard, studied diligently, and have made A's in all my non-nursing classes. I have made A's and B's in nursing. I have also done well in clinical and have always gotten good appraisals from my instructors.

However, there is this "stigma" with making good grades in nursing school. I have heard on more than one occasion about how "A" students aren't critical thinkers and this from faculty! They make you feel bad for working hard and studying hard. What is the most ironic to me is that exams are SUPPOSED to test our critical thinking, yet make an A and suddenly you aren't a critical thinker? huh?

I have a classmate (well many we are a big class..this is an example) that barely studies, often fails exams all together (last exam..class avg was 88, she failed) barely squeaks in a passing grade, but they act by their theory that she as a "C" student probably has more critical thinking skills than above avg students?

I guess I've always been of the mindset I need to KNOW the material to apply it and I always want to do my best on exams. But this prevalent mindset that A students lack common sense is getting tiring.

Sorry to rant - off my soapbox now.... :)

[krazykev]

To begin with, what I have gathered from this thread so far is this:

1) Additional degrees do help achieve different employment positions within the field of nursing. However, a person needs to have an ADN or higher when working in the field of nursing; therefore additional education does help. Unfortunately, it does not help with receiving a higher wage.

Now what I think is the following:

Nursing is just beginning to see individuals with multiple degrees working within the field. So, as time passes, I think that the nursing field will begin to appreciate the value of people having greater education.

Plus, it was not that long ago that all a person needed to become a RN was a diploma. So, I believe that by slowly raising the educational standards they are subsequently changing the knowledge base in nursing as a whole.

Now, I know that some people are going to say it does not matter what educational level a nurse has, but I do believe it does because then we are paid according to our level of knowledge thereby increasing the value of us nurses.

In my area in Wisconsin were I live in 1985 nurses were making about $10.00 an hour. Now, in 2007, they make double that. Not to mention that the need for nurses continues to increase, which does increase the bargaining power of nurses.

Now, people are welcome to say that I am full of B.S., but I see knowledgeable nurses as being extremely valuable in the world, but we are going to have to assertive with our value and stand up for what we believe we are worth not just monetarily, but professionally as well.

[krazykev]

Yes, in my program it is the same way with grades. But, I encourage you to look outside your program and look at the professional nurses that do value learning. For those are the nurses that often have some very wonderful advancement opportunities.

Plus, I see this scenario occurring every day in my clinical settings because education is increasingly becoming more important in the clinical setting.

So, hang in there and continue to value education because it is important to our profession.

You know - this thread makes me think of something that has been bothering me. I am a first time college student and about to graduate with my ADN. I am dual enrolled already to get my BSN next. I was a good student when I was younger, honor roll, gifted programs etc. Never went on to college so had no idea how it would work out. I applied myself very hard, studied diligently, and have made A's in all my non-nursing classes. I have made A's and B's in nursing. I have also done well in clinical and have always gotten good appraisals from my instructors.

However, there is this "stigma" with making good grades in nursing school. I have heard on more than one occasion about how "A" students aren't critical thinkers and this from faculty! They make you feel bad for working hard and studying hard. What is the most ironic to me is that exams are SUPPOSED to test our critical thinking, yet make an A and suddenly you aren't a critical thinker? huh?

I have a classmate (well many we are a big class..this is an example) that barely studies, often fails exams all together (last exam..class avg was 88, she failed) barely squeaks in a passing grade, but they act by their theory that she as a "C" student probably has more critical thinking skills than above avg students?

I guess I've always been of the mindset I need to KNOW the material to apply it and I always want to do my best on exams. But this prevalent mindset that A students lack common sense is getting tiring.

Sorry to rant - off my soapbox now.... :)

[Selke]

.... However, there is this "stigma" with making good grades in nursing school. I have heard on more than one occasion about how "A" students aren't critical thinkers and this from faculty! They make you feel bad for working hard and studying hard. What is the most ironic to me is that exams are SUPPOSED to test our critical thinking, yet make an A and suddenly you aren't a critical thinker? huh?

I have a classmate (well many we are a big class..this is an example) that barely studies, often fails exams all together (last exam..class avg was 88, she failed) barely squeaks in a passing grade, but they act by their theory that she as a "C" student probably has more critical thinking skills than above avg students?

I guess I've always been of the mindset I need to KNOW the material to apply it and I always want to do my best on exams. But this prevalent mindset that A students lack common sense is getting tiring.

Sorry to rant - off my soapbox now.... :)

I've heard this too. I've worked in teaching hospitals and would hear other nurses refer to (usually) medical students or residents as having "book knowledge" but no "common sense." My impression from these nurses was they were trying to maintain their self esteem over and against the very bright and brilliant medical students they worked with every day, who brought out feelings of intellectual inferiority. If you value common sense over book smarts then you won't feel so bad about yourself because you're not as bright.

I guess I haven't heard of this attitude in nursing school. That's sad, very very sad. Wow. This perpetuates the public image that nursing doesn't take much intelligence or education, doesn't it? I think enough physicians already think it doesn't take much to be a nurse, that the smart people become physicians. This attitude just validates this. Talk about oppressed group behavior.

I'm with you on the value of getting "A's". Not that only A students make the best nurses, but one should strive for excellence and do one's best in whatever you choose to put your energy and life into.

[Selke]

I have a BA in Anthropology and it didn't matter a hoot when it came to a nursing position. It is not considered as good as a BSN despite the theory and research base and my wage is not increased by it at all. My work experience as a caseworker did help me earn one of two new grad positions in the ICU I started at.

I did happen to choose not to pursue Anthropology to the doctoral level because of the difficulty finding a job in the field. I knew several folks with Masters and PhDs who could not find a teaching position. They almost disbanded the department I graduated from a few years ago. My diploma of Nursing increased my gross yearly income by double. When I graduated with my BA in 2000, I was offered a fieldworker position for a contract archaeologist for $7.50/hr- ha! So much for that bachelors....I'm finding it's more useful when writing sci-fi/fantasy...

Have you thought of continuing your anthro studies in medical anthropology? (I promise you, you'll lose brain cells by just doing nursing day in and day out without feeding your intellect and creative side -- I know I have :) ) Even just taking one class at a time keeps you around others who share your intellectual interests. I think there are teaching and/or research positions in schools of medicine or nursing for people who are clinicians and have a PhD in a field in which they could teach classes to health professions students, such as medical sociology or anthropology, even research methods (I think the social sciences use similar research methods as nursing). There is a huge shortage of nursing instructors and lord knows they need someone who knows the discipline to teach it, rather than these nursing MSNs who read a textbook on sociology and try to teach a few ideas from it. I would have found it very useful if they had experts teaching these things in my BSN program, maybe a "what every nurse/doctor needs to know about sociology/anthropology/philosophy/religious studies/whatever."

What about forming an organization for non-traditional nurses, NPs, CNMs who are educated in other disciplines or creative fields who use their health care experience to inform their writing and research? And to offer mutual support? Completely bypass Sigma or ANA .

Keep writing, learning, and doing your thing!!!

[Ophelia78]

Selke,

There are a few organizations that combine anthropology and nursing:

The Transcultural Nursing Society http://www.tcns.org/, and

Society For Medical Anthropology http://www.medanthro.net/index.html.

I did consider medical anthropology, but a med anth. professor telling me she found it hard focusing on studying behavior and not actually able to help her subjects convinced me to work in the human services, and subsequently nursing.

I do know Case Western has a dual MSN in Anthropology and Nursing. If I could stomach living near my in-laws in Cleveland, I would go for it. Until then, I am more interested in eventually teaching nursing alone- that is, unless I can sell the book...