Is having an ADN really a terrible choice?

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Hello!! I just recently graduated with an ADN degree one week ago and waiting to take my boards. I been.an LPN 8yrs amd finally decided togo back for my RN anf here i am...but i digress...

Is having an ADN REALLY that? I already have a job lined up and i will be starting soon....the main reason i offered the position was becuz of my RN completion and i will be takin my NCLEX soon. Grant it, it at a LTAC facility but i figure this is a great way for me to get experience and.not become part of the sooo many new grads (ADN&BSN) that are not employed becuz they soooo desire to work in a hospital.

So please can someone clarify, IS HAVING AN A.D.N. DEGREE A TERRIBLE HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD WASTE??

(some post i read sure makes it feel that way) :-(

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Specializes in Pedi.

It depends on where you are located and what you want to do. You already have a job lined up so provided you pass NCLEX-RN, you seem like you're doing just fine.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I have an ADN and see nothing wrong with it. I also started out as an LVN. Then again, I have no desire to ever work at an acute care hospital.

However, due to the sluggish economy over the past five years, many people have been becoming nurses for the supposed job security. Now that there are more nurses in many job markets than there are available job openings, the BSN degree has become the new weed-out tool of choice for hospital jobs.

When several hundred people are applying for each hospital staff nursing job, HR can effectively cut the stack of applications in half by demanding a BSN degree.

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Specializes in Allergy and Immunology.

I have an ADN after graduating from my LPN-RN program about a year ago. I still struggle with the decision if I should go back or not. At first when I graduated I was like, "there is no way I am going back! I am so sick of school!" Then it was.... "may be in a year or so." Then last month is was, "yes definitely" and now I back to "no way." Mostly because of money. I do not necessarily need it at this time, I am in a clinic setting. I am like "The Commuter" where I have no desire to work at an acute care hospital (I have not worked a holiday ever and do not ever want to). And right now it does not make sense financially for me to add any more debt to the student loans I have now. But I will say this...If money were no object in going back to school, I definitely would just to be more marketable.

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Thank you all for your responses..... it just bothers me sometime because some people make it seen as if BSN is soooooo much more almightier than an ADN.

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Specializes in Allergy and Immunology.

I get it all the time. 'You should definitely go back for your BSN." And when they say that I just want to say, "You should definitely help me pay back this loan!" lol.

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I get it all the time. 'You should definitely go back for your BSN." And when they say that I just want to say "You should definitely help me pay back this loan!" lol.[/quote']

Lol!!!! Yes i hear you!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.

First off, congrats on finishing school and landing a job. Ltac seems awesome, I had an interview at one but unfortunately I didn't get it. I too was an LPN and I was also a CNA prior to finishing my BSN. But that doesn't seem to matter, because the majority of the interviewers didn't care about it at all. I guess because none of it was acute ::shrug:: I guess I am trying to say that in today's market every little advantage helps.

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First off congrats on finishing school and landing a job. Ltac seems awesome, I had an interview at one but unfortunately I didn't get it. I too was an LPN and I was also a CNA prior to finishing my BSN. But that doesn't seem to matter, because the majority of the interviewers didn't care about it at all. I guess because none of it was acute ::shrug:: I guess I am trying to say that in today's market every little advantage helps.[/quote']

THANK YOU!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

Depends on what you see yourself doing. If you want to work in management, be a clinical educator or go on to grad school, I highly encourage a BSN. If you see yourself working on the floor for years and years, I don't see the urgent need to get a BSN.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

Many women who already have kids, regular bills to pay, work part or fulltime jobs and are stretched way too thin to commit to the four years or more that are required to earn a B.S.N. It just is not a possibility. Many of these women are currently working as CNAs, LPNs or LVNs, and must continue to work.

Many more battered women who leave their dangerous lives behind then must find a new way to support and sustain themselves and their children, and they often find that an A.D.N. program suits their needs perfectly. In many ways, A.D.N. programs are geared for these women. Often the class schedule is more flexible than the average B.S.N. program is because the designers of it realize the constraints under which these students must operate. Work schedules are able to be more consistent, there is often more tutoring available, etc.

You can always do a B.S.N. degree down the road if you decide you want to pursue a leadership role later on. As far as I'm concerned, your associates degree is just fine -- for now and in the future, if it continues to make you happy and contented and it doesn't limit your career. No one can decide that but you. Please don't allow someone else to make you feel bad or inadequate about any decision you're comfortable with. That's letting another person occupy space in your brain rent free. (That was one of my mom's lines.)

Accept your degree, hold our head up high, and enjoy what you worked so hard to become. A nurse.

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Many women who already have kids, regular bills to pay, work part or fulltime jobs and are stretched way too thin to commit to the four years or more that are required to earn a B.S.N. It just is not a possibility. Many of these women are currently working as CNAs, LPNs or LVNs, and must continue to work.

Many more battered women who leave their dangerous lives behind then must find a new way to support and sustain themselves and their children, and they often find that an A.D.N. program suits their needs perfectly. In many ways, A.D.N. programs are geared for these women. Often the class schedule is more flexible than the average B.S.N. program is because the designers of it realize the constraints under which these students must operate. Work schedules are able to be more consistent, there is often more tutoring available, etc.

You can always do a B.S.N. degree down the road if you decide you want to pursue a leadership role later on. As far as I'm concerned, your associates degree is just fine -- for now and in the future, if it continues to make you happy and contented and it doesn't limit your career. No one can decide that but you. Please don't allow someone else to make you feel bad or inadequate about any decision you're comfortable with. That's letting another person occupy space in your brain rent free. (That was one of my mom's lines.)

Accept your degree, hold our head up high, and enjoy what you worked so hard to become. A nurse.

Thank u

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