Grandfathering Nurses Question

[SupMelissa]

I have been a nurse for the last 12 years and I have been turned down in various settings because I do not have my bachelor degree!! i think that this "grandfathering" is a lot of talk and that it should be put in writting. I am missing out on great opportunities and the employer is missing out on a greta nurse in the end!

[loriangel14, RN]

Some employers are asking for a BSN for some positions. They have every right to set the requirements for positions when they post them. Grandfathering only means that they aren't making diploma nurses get their BSN in order to reamin licensed.

[SupMelissa]

I still do not think that it's right!!! I don't think anyone with 12 years of peds (acute NICU experience) experience should be turned away for a position - when the competition is a BScN nurse with 4 years of experience. In my eyes, and as a parent - I would be more apt to take an expereinced nurse in the field above all else. Doesn't matter what is on paper at that point.

[Fiona59]

Have your union look at the competition. File a grievance. That's what you pay your dues for.

Just remember, if you have to grieve to get the job, do you really want it? Consider the dynamics on the unit. Is the manager a bully? Will they find a fresh grad easier to shape to "their" way of doing things over an experienced nurse?

I'm not saying it's right, but it's what happens.

[SupMelissa]

This is not a union job - I have a union but this position is not unionized. Not right is exactly it!!!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

The employer has every right to weight various factors however they wish when they're hiring new staff. It's well-known that Sick Kids, for example, does not hire diploma nurses. Period. And while it's perfectly reasonable to apply for positions that state "BScN required" and hope for an opportunity to be interviewed so you can impress them with your knowledge and experience, it's not a given that your experience will even be examined. If the person doing the screening is looking only for applicants with a degree, your application will go on the reject pile without them looking any further. It's not necessarily fair, but it isn't really wrong. The one who writes the pay cheques gets to decide who they employ. And that applies to unionized units as well. Where I work, people with years of seniority and experience are being passed up for new grads because management is putting all the weight on the interview - which is their right... they decide what's going to matter most. The union has their hands tied in this situation, because the contract stipulates that "when all else is equal, seniority will be the deciding factor". If education is given 10 points, experience given 20 points, specialty certification given 10 points, dress and deportment 10 points and the interview given 50 points, all that has to happen is the applicant shows up casually dressed and unprepared for an in-depth interview and they're toast.

We've got 8 new grads starting on our unit this month. Scary times.