Is having a ADN useless these days?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

Published

Do employers favor those with a BSN ?

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I think you guys are missing the point.

I didn't say I have a bachelors degree in business and want to now apply as an RN. I said I have a bachelors degree in business and an ADN. Big difference. I took a full 3 YEARS of extra education to get it too. ABOVE my bachelors degree.

Go back and reread my posts. If you have an answer, please answer, if not, I don't need the attacks.

Thank you

AnneS,

I'm sorry if you are feeling attacked. I honestly didn't intend that.

The answers to your above scenario are found in the core nursing courses required in an RN-BSN program. This is typically 30-45 credits of core upper division nursing classes that cover nursing content not included in ADN programs. If you look at some RN-BSN programs in your area, you will see what these courses are comprised of. It's generally Nursing Theory, Nursing Research and Evidence Based Practice, Infomatics, Health Care Policy & Politics, Health Care Systems, Case Management, Gerontology, Palliative Care, Public Health, and some sort of Quality Improvement/Management. These may or may not be in separate classes or the content may be integrated into various classes with different names. BSN programs that are accredited must teach the "essentials of BSN education" as delineated by the AACN:

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/BaccEssentials08.pdf

I've heard some of my fellow ADN nurses/students say things like "but we covered some of those topics in the ADN..." Not really. Not in depth like you will in an RN-BSN program.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
Let's reverse this for perspective. Would any nurse with a BSN go to a non-nursing employer and apply for, say, an engineering job because they have a BS degree and the job requires a BS in engineering?

Right. This would not fly! My husband has a BS in engineering, and works with people who have this degree and higher. There are no combinations, such as an associate degree in engineering and a BA in basket weaving, that would substitute.

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Specializes in med surg.

Ok, thank you for your replies. I plan on bridging to a MSN and I imagine I will be taking these courses then. I have applied to a hospital that I know is trying to reach magnet status by hiring BSN's and I have interviewed with them. I was wondering how they viewed by BS degree. I guess I will find out soon enough.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

anne- to answer your question, i can give you an example of my particular program. here are the curricula for my school and the local cc. you'll see they are very different.

  • biol 231, psyc 230, and chem 106, are required for admission to the program.
  • all cognates must be comleted before junior year.
  • a grade of "c" or better in each cognate and nursing course is required.
  • a minimum of 120 credits are required for graduation

nursing requirements

nurs 220foundations of therapeutic interventions3

nurs 222professional nursing i 3

nurs 223fundamentals of nursing practice 3

nurs 224health assessment 3

nurs 340psychiatric / mental health nursing 6

nurs 342adult health nursing i 6

nurs 344maternal newborn nursing 6

nurs 346nursing of children and families 6

nurs 370public and community health nursing6nurs 372adult health nursing ii 6

nurs 374contemporary professional nursing 3

nurs 375transition to professional nursing practice 6

prerequisites and cognates

biol 108basic principles of biology 4

biol 231human anatomy 4

biol 335human physiology 4

biol 348microbiology 4

chem 105general, organic, and biological chemistry i 4

chem 106general, organic, and biological chemistry ii 4

psyc 110introduction to psychology 3

psyc 230human development 4

college-wide requirements

wrtg 100writing and rhetoric4

math 010basic mathematics competency 3

general education core

engl 161western literature 4

hist 161western history4 core (3)

non-western worlds4 core (4) critical inquiry / cultural issues4

distribution requirements

(sb) social & behavioral sciences3psyc 110(sb) social & behavioral sciences3 (a) visual & performing arts3chem 105(ls) laboratory science4 (m) mathematical systems3chem 106(sm) science / mathematics4elective

one elective3

the students at my local cc take:

anatomy

physiology

microbiology

composition 1

elective

intro to health careers

dosage calculations

general psych

developmental psych

nursing 1, 2, 4 and 5 (nursing 3 only for lpn students)

total of 71 credits for the adn

i hope this helps. :nurse:

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Specializes in School Nursing.
I can hold a conversation about Jung or Faulkner without being forced to take a class about Jung or Faulkner. Being conversant about Jung or Faulkner is not going to make me a better nurse.

If I want to take classes to make me a more well-rounded person, I will audit one (and I have). I resent being forced to take them as part of a science degree. If I wanted to do that, I would have been a liberal arts major.

In Texas, the core curriculum for a BA/BS in anything includes these so-called fluff classes. My comp 2 professor was a huge fan of Faulkner, and required a couple different papers on his stories. :eek: These classes are not so much about learning about Faulkner, as they are about learning to read a piece of work, interpret it, and write about it in a coherent fashion. These classes are the foundation of thinking and reading critically.

A liberal arts degree, believe it or not, actually requires science classes.. so it's a two way street for people not wanting a degree in science.

I can't see how expanding ones understanding of history, government, art, humanities, etc. can possibly be a bad thing and just like the sciences, should be required before someone is given a degree.

If someone isn't interesting in an actual well rounded education, that is okay. It's your choice. I'm a believer that education broadens the mind.. and makes one a better professional in any field.. but what do I know.. I'm not even a nurse yet.

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Specializes in Psych.

I have a B.S. - it's just Mathematics and Chemistry, not B.S.N. I tested out of all the liberal arts stuff, though - so I guess I'm no better rounded for the BS than I was when I graduated from high school.

In order to get into the BSN program here I was going to have to take Texas gov't, macroeconomics, and University Success. Not while I was in the program - just in order to get in, which would have meant an extra year to get in and an extra year of nursing NURS pre reqs before I could get into the meaty nursing classes. That would have put me graduating in 2012, and an extra 25k in tuition.

Instead, I got my ADN and took Texas govt and economics while I was taking the other classes. Since I've already got my BS and my ADN, I don't have to take university success... I can do the ADN BSN route in one year, finishing in 2011, and have a year of working as a nurse under my belt at the same time.

All things being equal, I would have done the BSN program... but they weren't equal for me.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
If someone isn't interesting in an actual well rounded education, that is okay. It's your choice. I'm a believer that education broadens the mind.. and makes one a better professional in any field.. but what do I know.. I'm not even a nurse yet.

*** Obviously the push to make BSn the entry point for nurses is not about having nurses with well rounded educations. If that where the case then a nurse with and ADN and a bachelors degree in another field would be as good as the BSN but they are not.

The NY "BSN in Ten" is a good example. If the goal was nurses with well rounded educations then nurses who already hold degrees in other fields would be exempted and nurses would be able to seek degrees in other fields, fields that might actually be beneficial to nursing. For example a nurse who wished to move into leadership could seek a degree in administration or management.

I am pretty well convinced that the real reason for the BSN only crowd is to exclude certain types of people from the field of nursing.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

*** Only BSN counts. It's like this:

BSN = BSN

ADN plus degree in another field = ADN

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I am pretty well convinced that the real reason for the BSN only crowd is to exclude certain types of people from the field of nursing.

Wow! I sure hope not. I've never thought of it that way, and I really hope that's not the case.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I am pretty well convinced that the real reason for the BSN only crowd is to exclude certain types of people from the field of nursing.

It's sad that you think this.

Which is more likely...the above, or that a baccalaureate degree in your own profession in is desired?

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*** Obviously the push to make BSn the entry point for nurses is not about having nurses with well rounded educations. If that where the case then a nurse with and ADN and a bachelors degree in another field would be as good as the BSN but they are not.

The NY "BSN in Ten" is a good example. If the goal was nurses with well rounded educations then nurses who already hold degrees in other fields would be exempted and nurses would be able to seek degrees in other fields, fields that might actually be beneficial to nursing. For example a nurse who wished to move into leadership could seek a degree in administration or management.

I am pretty well convinced that the real reason for the BSN only crowd is to exclude certain types of people from the field of nursing.

I don't think the goal of having a nurse hold a BSN is so they are well rounded. The point of a BSN is to give a more in depth study of nursing--in the process of earning that BSN though, you also take other classes that enhance you as a person overall. So no, I wouldn't say that a BS in something else is equivalent to a BSN. On the other hand, I had previously said that I thought nurses should get a higher degree to improve themselves, and personally, I think getting a degree in something--even if it's outside of nursing--would be good.

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I have a B.S. - it's just Mathematics and Chemistry, not B.S.N. I tested out of all the liberal arts stuff, though - so I guess I'm no better rounded for the BS than I was when I graduated from high school.

In order to get into the BSN program here I was going to have to take Texas gov't, macroeconomics, and University Success. Not while I was in the program - just in order to get in, which would have meant an extra year to get in and an extra year of nursing NURS pre reqs before I could get into the meaty nursing classes. That would have put me graduating in 2012, and an extra 25k in tuition.

Instead, I got my ADN and took Texas govt and economics while I was taking the other classes. Since I've already got my BS and my ADN, I don't have to take university success... I can do the ADN BSN route in one year, finishing in 2011, and have a year of working as a nurse under my belt at the same time.

All things being equal, I would have done the BSN program... but they weren't equal for me.

I think it's nice that you have a BS outside of nursing. It gives you a different perspective and you have a different formal education to draw from. Many medical schools like applicants that don't have the routine pre-med major; many people major in history, english, or political science and still get into med school because they also took the core science classes but they took time to develop another area of expertise. I think those people are especially valuable because they provide a different perspective.

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