HELP with nursing credential order

Katnip, RN · Apr 1, 2009

It goes BSN, RN, and later any other certification credentials. Degree goes first. My professors explained it that it goes by the credential that's most difficult to lose. You aren't going to lose the degree, you're not likely to not renew your licenese, you may decide to drop your certs.

Music in My Heart · Apr 1, 2009

Personally, I'm opting for ♪♫ in my ♥, RN and leaving all the degrees and credentials on my CV.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 1, 2009

do what many nurses do... in my hospital the rns put rn first, then degree, then certs. why? the reason i am given is that they are rns first. there is no such thing as a bsn or msn profession. the profession is rn. so, nurses saying "i am a bsn" are stating that "he/she is a degree", which is not true. plus, anyone can get a degree, but not anyone can be licensed (there are a few that graduated with me with no license). therefore, you have a bsn, like i have an mba. i am not an mba. i am a registered nurse with an mba (among other degrees).

outside of the work setting, a few times i have seen people choose to use degree, license, certs when writing articles or books. on the other hand, most of my textbooks are written rn, ph.d, blah... so i plan to keep this format in my future unless otherwise asked to do differently. :twocents:

mzjennx, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2009

so it really doesnt matter but preference. well im proud of my bsn! so i think im going to go with

xj3nnerz, BSN, RN

unless this is wrong, but i dont want to be wrong. so if anyone else wants to clarify please do.

Music in My Heart · Apr 2, 2009

so it really doesnt matter but preference. well im proud of my bsn! so i think im going to go with
xj3nnerz, BSN, RN
unless this is wrong, but i dont want to be wrong. so if anyone else wants to clarify please do.

I say, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do..." as the folks making up badges in the hospital which way they do it and then follow suit.

allnurses Guide · Apr 2, 2009

You are correct with the BSN first, as Katnip said. If you look up references and such on line for protocol, it is the highest degree you've earned (which is almost impossible to have revoked) first, then the license (which an RN has, being "registered" with the state as a provider who passed their boards), then credentials such as CEN, CCRN (pass an exam, specific to a specialty). Other credentials that are easier to get, such as ACLS, most of us do not list but you could if you wanted.

Yes! Be proud of your hard work and wear it! :bow: At my hospital, some use the degree and some don't, and most of us really don't care, we just want to know you can do your job! Most patients don't know the difference anyway, we're all just maids anyhow:p

Marvin1379 · Aug 5, 2009

You do not put ACLS after your name. It's not intended for that.

Otherwise, as a few of the above have said, it goes in order of hardest to lose. Such as I am Marvin1379, BS, RN, OCN. Ive heard conflicting opinions about "BSN." technically, it's wrong and it doesn't exist. It is a bachelor of science degree majoring in nursing. Some places do have Bachelors of Nursing which would then be a BN. Furthermore, in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. If so many put BSN, then why does noone put BSP? Computer science graduates don't put BSCS. It is very pertentious to put BSN and basically say "look at me nursing world! I have a bachelor's degree! You only have a diploma or associates!!" now, we should be proud of academic achievement, but to make up a crediential is just foolish and sad. The initials of the credential depends on the degree that you obtained, not the major.

Music in My Heart · Aug 5, 2009

Ive heard conflicting opinions about "BSN." technically, it's wrong and it doesn't exist. It is a bachelor of science degree majoring in nursing... Furthermore, in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. If so many put BSN, then why does noone put BSP? Computer science graduates don't put BSCS. It is very pertentious to put BSN and basically say "look at me nursing world! I have a bachelor's degree! You only have a diploma or associates!!" now, we should be proud of academic achievement, but to make up a crediential is just foolish and sad. The initials of the credential depends on the degree that you obtained, not the major.

I'm interested to hear this perspective, one that I've not seen discussed before. Bringing my BS from another field of study I've several times wondered about this... why is nursing the only field that I've ever seen where the initial of the field of study are appended to the degree?

It hasn't struck me as pretentious so much as it has as being insecure.

Why do we see BSN and MSN but we don't see PhDN?

Nursing is also the only field that I've seen in which people routinely put sub-doctoral degrees on their identification badges, cards, papers, etc. In the high tech world, even PhDs rarely put their degree on anything except their business card or a professional publication (certainly not on an ID badge).

I think the alphabet soup of nursing looks a little silly, to be honest. Perhaps other nurses are impressed by it but nobody else is.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2009

I'm interested to hear this perspective one that I've not seen discussed before. Bringing my BS from another field of study I've several times wondered about this... why is nursing the only field that I've ever seen where the initial of the field of study are appended to the degree?[/quote']
The business profession does this, too. So does social work.
BBA = Bachelor of business administration; MBA = master of business administration
BSW = Bachelor of social work; MSW = master of social work

dishes, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2009

It seems you can list your credentials either way. I use RN BScN followed by certification credentials because this is the way I see it listed with colleagues and also it is the way I see most nursing journal articles list the authors name, followed by RN, MSN etc. However, I just looked it up in wikipedia and see the following guidelines are given for listing nurse credentials.

A nurse's postnominal (listed after the name) credentials usually follow his or her name in this order

Highest earned academic degree in or related to nursing (e.g. "MSN")
Nursing licensure (e.g. "RN")
Nursing certification (e.g. "CCRN")

Generally credentials are listed from most to least permanent. A degree, once earned, cannot be taken away. State licensure is only revoked for serious professional misconduct. Certifications generally must be periodically renewed by examination or the completion of a prescribed number of continuing education units.

Nurses may also hold non-nursing credentials including academic degrees. These are usually omitted unless they are related to the nurse's job. For instance, a staff nurse would likely not list an MBA, but a nurse manager might choose to do so.

Nursing credentials are separated from the person's name (and from each other) with commas. There are usually no periods within the credentials. (e.g. "BSN" not "B.S.N.")

So the way I see it, if you are listing your credentials for a business card, follow the employers advice and list the same way as your collegues. If your listing your credentials to submit an article for publication follow the editors advice. If you are listing your credentials on your resume, list them according to your own preference.

Music in My Heart · Aug 6, 2009

The business profession does this, too. So does social work.
BBA = Bachelor of business administration; MBA = master of business administration
BSW = Bachelor of social work; MSW = master of social work

Good point about the MBA/MSW. In nearly 20 years of working in private industry I've never, ever seen BBA and I've worked with literally hundreds of them.