Is having a ADN useless these days?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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Do employers favor those with a BSN ?

I agree so far with most of the comments about ADN vs BSN, but both hospitals where I work, as well as others in my area, have greatly reduced the number of LPNs that they are using. One hospital recently announced that they are almost completely eliminating their LPN workforce. I know this has been rumored for many years, but it seems that the economy has given employers the opportunity to put it into practice. It's possible that some will be rehired when things turn around, but I'd be surprised if the number of LPNs reaches previous levels.

In my area, none of the hospitals hire LPN's at all. They have ones who have worked there for years but they don't hire new ones. The only LPN opportunities around here are in the nursing homes.

Specializes in Corrections.

I know for sure Children's hosp. Los Angeles only takes BSN into their residency program but as soon as the baby boomer's start to retire the demand will shoot up again and everyone will be hurting for RN's.

It all depends on area and particular hospital. My hospital favors a particular community college and they have hired many ADN new grads from there. And, they also favor a particular state college where they've hired BSN new grads.

However, the hospital's stated policy is to ONLY hire BSN's but they've never followed the policy. However, if you ask the nurse recruiter, she will say, "We only hire BSN new grads", but she hired me, an ADN new grad!

So, do not believe what the personnel (HR) office tells you . . . our hospital "officially" has a hiring freeze and we've hired 4 new grads during the freeze. So, go figure . . .

Specializes in Med/Surg.

I don't think any amount of education is useless.

However, I do wonder why nursing is the only profession that tends to criticize/devalue higher education. It really, really boggles my mind. :mad:

It really does depend. The entire St. Francis network of hospitals in Memphis requires a BSN now, no more ADN new grads at all. The Methodist system is 99% new grad BSN, and if you do have an ADN...they require you to go back to school within a certain amount of time to get the BSN. As far as LPN's, they are very rarely hired in Memphis from what I hear, and the ones who have been there a while are signing that they will get the RN within a certain time. But who knows what it's like other places, gotta search and see....an ADN isn't useless

Specializes in Ortho and Tele med/surg.

Having an ADN is not useless, but it really depends on what part of the country you live in right now. I know that some hospitals are moving towards magnet status, which will require all their nurses to have BSN's. Also, a lot of hospital have tighten up about their hiring and has turned a lot new grads away. In the end, they are only setting themselves up for a huge nursing shortage in the future. Having an ADN is not useless, but your best bet is to continue your education right way.

At my hospital in South Florida, I am positive I got my job only because I have a BSN. They are looking to get magnet status and most of the nurses there graduated from a community college, so to get someone who already has a BSN helps their ratings. I was told that there were many people who applied to my position, but that my BSN was desirable. And I was out of the bedside for a couple years.

There will always be the debate of: which is better BSN or ADN, but many employers want a higher degree. It looks better on their hospital records to have a high number of bachlor prepared nurses.

Even BSNs are having a hard time finding jobs. It's just the suckyness of the economy. A lot of jobs are putting up arbitrary requirements such as GPA requirements in order to weed out applicants. That doesn't mean your degree is useless. It just means employers are making their applicants jump through hoops to play their game. And then they will offer $2 less than the average because people are desperate.

In short, why do they do this? Because they can.

No nursing license is useless. Gets you a better entry level salary than a lot of jobs. Can always go back to school and get a higher degree. Back in the day I got only a diploma from hospital school. It has served me very well for many years.

This statement is true for the most part. However,its a different time and place,with the economy being in the tank.if you want an advantage over ,say,75% of nurses then the bsn is the way to go. As an adn I now work in a ltc facility because in my old state the push was for bsn's so much that many adns are being pushed into ltc and hh,which means we in turn were pushing out the lpns in the ltc and hh fields. Even the ltc facilities in Nj don't want lpns anymore. What a terrible economy

Specializes in SICU, MICU, Med/Surg, ER, Private Duty.

i'm in the new york area, many more hospitals are hiring BSN nurses, however, the pay differential is about 50 bucks more than an ADN nurse.

but I encourage everyone to get a BSN just for job security. Its more marketable and flexible. ADN is very limited if you want to go up the later in nursing career...

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I have an ADN and four years of experience as an RN and I have had *no* problems finding work when I recently relocated to a different state. I was hired with no problems, and this was a magnet hospital.

Specializes in Hospice.

Here in NC, there is no difference. MSN are in need for education and higher case manager jobs, but ADN BSN has no pay diff or difference in hiring

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