How important is it to get a BSN?

Its not that important. Its all about the $$$

Depends on your market. In some places nurses can get acute care jobs without a BSN with no problem and in other areas it's near impossible.

Nobody will ever not hire you because you DO have a BSN, but it's possible (and highly likely in many job markets) that you'll get passed over for NOT having one.

I think it just really matter with your location and if you will be in a rural area to get that 1st year of experience. Living in a big city as a new grad without a BSN might become a huge problem for you without any connections.

In my local hospitals they are giving the nurses a limited amount of time to start working on their BSN. They are paying a certain amount for their education per year. But the thing is there is a nurse for 15 years who is excellent and now she's going for her BSN and learning how to...be a better nurse? I think not! But for the magnet status, the hospitals want BSN's.

Edit: I do think that my bsn education has helped me somewhat I'm not saying it's worthless. It just seems that way when I look at the excellent nurses who per hospital demand need to go back for it 15, 20 years later.

Thanks for all of your comments! I thought perhaps what I heard concerning the importance of getting a BSN was maybe a bit overblown, but I see now that it's pretty much necessary. Thank you for your input :)

I do a little teaching in an RN to BSN program and many of my students have years of bedside experience. If the experienced nurse goes into a program with a positive attitude and "looks to learn," he/she can learn a lot. I see it in my students every semester. They often come into my classes knowing very little about research and theory -- but graduate with far greater understanding of nursing knowledge and the ability to understand and evaluate what they read in journals. Many tell me they had no idea how much they didn't know before they took the program.

Wow, that's really interesting to hear. I didn't know too much about the BSN program. I was told that it was more for like preparing you for management roles, and I never really looked into what it was about. That's exciting to hear!

EDIT: Of course the programs may differ depending on the school, but I'm sure it's the same idea, no?

More and more hospitals are requiring a BSN. Studies have shown that BSN prepared nurses have better outcomes, so that is the reason for the requirement. You can start out as an ADN then do a bridge program to get your BSN. Many employers will help with the cost.

That's excellent to hear. And I think I heard about a BSN being linked to better patient outcomes, so I suppose it makes sense that they're implementing that requirement.