Is putting 'BSN' on badge snobbish?

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What do you think about having 'BSN' put on your badge? My hospital never used to automatically put it on nurses' badges. Now, the new grads with BSNs have that automatically printed on. Other BSNs have decided to have this credential printed on their badges. It never made a difference to me but some people make a big deal about it. I'm trying to decide if I want to get my BSN credential printed on my badge. I heard one nurse say that it's snobbish. The nurse that said that was an LPN.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

I know a few JDs who never sat for their boards who use JD behind their names. They do not practice as lawyers, but it still goes on their letterhead! You sometimes see it in corporate America, and I wonder what the corporate lawyers think of that.

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Specializes in CVICU.
Studies have shown that patients of BSN prepared nurses have better outcomes. I don't see anything wrong or snobby about having a title associated with positive outcomes on your badge.

Reference please?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Thank you. I do learn a lot from this website, really. :)

Nice to know I taught someone something today :)

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Specializes in Emergency, Administration.

Wow. I wake up and sign on line to half a dozen demands for citations. Well, here you go...

From the AACN website:

"New research indicates that a shortage of registered nurses prepared at the

baccalaureate and higher degree level is endangering patients. In an article in the

September 24, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Linda

Aiken and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients experience

significantly lower mortality and failure to rescue rates in hospitals where more

baccalaureate prepared nurses provide direct patient care. At least 1,700 preventable

deaths could have been realized in Pennsylvania hospitals alone if baccalaureate

prepared nurses had comprised 60% of the nursing staff and the nurse to patient ratios

had been set at 1 to 4. Unfortunately, only 11% of PA hospitals have more than 50% of

the nursing staff prepared at the baccalaureate level."

"Evidence shows that nursing education level is a factor in patient safety and quality of

care. As cited in the report When Care Becomes a Burden released by the Milbank

Memorial Fund in 2001, two separate studies conducted in 1996 - one by the state of

New York and one by the state of Texas - clearly show that significantly higher levels of

medication errors and procedural violations are committed by nurses prepared at the

associate degree and diploma levels as compared with the baccalaureate level. These

findings are consistent with findings published in the July/August 2002 issue of Nurse

Educator magazine that references studies conducted in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana,

Ohio, and Tennessee that also found that nurses prepared at the associate degree and

diploma levels make the majority of practice-related violations."

"According to a recent study published by Dr. Betty Rambur and her colleagues in the

July/August 2003 issue of Nursing Outlook, increasing the proportion of baccalaureate

prepared nurses in the registered nursing population may be essential to stabilizing the

nursing workforce. Nurses prepared at the BSN level were found to have higher levels of

job satisfaction which is key to nurse retention."

"Chief nurse officers (CNO) in university hospitals prefer to hire nurses who have

baccalaureate degrees, and nurse administrators recognize distinct differences in

competencies based on education. In a 2001 survey published in the Journal of Nursing

Administration, 72% of these directors identified differences in practice between BSN-

prepared nurses and those who have an associate degree or hospital diploma, citing

stronger critical thinking and leadership skills."

"Studies have also found that nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level have stronger

communication and problem-solving skills (Johnson, 1988) and a higher proficiency in

their ability to make nursing diagnoses and evaluate nursing interventions (Giger &

Davidhizar, 1990)."

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It seems as though some don't understand the difference in credentials and education. BSN does not equal credentials, it is a level of education. Credentails are such as PNP, CNS, MD, PA. This is just more evidence of why nursing is so convoluted. From the looks of this thread, the BSNs seem to be overly snobbish. I learned more form a LVN than I have learned from any other nurse. Amazingly enough, this poor old ADN managed to get his NP degree despite being the lessor educated of the bunch! As faras a BSN education goes, it added nothing other than financial woes to my practice and was a stepping stone to PNP. IMHO

I dont seem to get why are people on this board taking it personally. It doesn't matter who you learned more from,at the end of the day the lpn is still an lpn and the bsn is a bsn. Think about it. How can you tell me one year equals 4 years of education? Some people are making it seem that way. I know nurses that know more than doctors and the nurses have lesser degrees,but the doctor has earned the right to be called doctor. In this day and age of the internet,anyone can pull up information and read it.

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Reference please?

You missed the reference a few pages ago, attention to detail

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

you earned it, go for it! I hope to start either the BSN or bridge to MSN next year, the hospital I work for will put it on your badge if you ask them, I'm honestly not sure how many besides the supervisors and one of my co-workers possess a BSN or higher to tell the truth. I'm going to research the above article more, one thing I learned in research class is that for everything you find to support, someone else can find 2 that don't :D

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i got a BA in biology at 23, then my BSN at 30 in an accelerated second degree program, while also working full-time doing patient care. nursing school was absolutely dreadful, a nightmare. i still consider making it through at all an accomplishment.

when i worked in the hospital, many of the nurses had BSN RN on their badges. some of my mentors had this distinction on their badges, and some of my mentors were kick-a$s ADN's and LPN's! it's a university-affiliated hospital with a nursing school, so i'm wondering if this is why the BSN part was prevalent on badges.

the nurses i work with now have made me uncomfortable about having that distinction on my ID, so i don't. it's somewhere along the lines of "she thinks she's so smart," when in reality, i truly don't. there are many holes in my education, starting from elementary school! i am not a super-brain by any means. i don't like to draw attention to myself. it's not like i'm wielding my intellect (ha) around and attempting to make others feel less than. i just leave the BSN off. i am proud to have earned it, but placing it on my badge apparently might make my co-workers feel like i think i'm "better" than they are (when really i'm just kind of showing a battle scar, in my mind).

i think a lot of it is about the attitude. someone can be a total snooty pants, regardless of what the badge reads. when i see someone with a baffling number of credentials behind his/her name, i think, wow that person has been fortunate to have gone to school quite a bit! i feel envious that she/he has been able to do so, since i love learning as much as the next nurse. i also think, sheesh, what schools loans there must be! :) (oh, and i don't think going to school equals learning, but you get what i'm saying.)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

Someone upstream warned about this turning into an ADN vs. BSN debate, but I can't help putting my two cents in, especially because I've applied mittens to my fingers before on this subject.

Baccalaureate-educated nurses get theory courses. Fluff courses, if you will. Do I think they are fluff? Yeah, but I have a BA in English, so I like fluff! It comes with the liberal arts territory. Fluff, fluff, fluff!

They won't help me in my skills, but for those students open to it, they help me understand why people react the way they do. Seriously. It also helps me think beyond just A + B = C, especially when a situation isn't linear. And, what situation is?

Theory is just that...theory. But, it makes one think differently. More holistically. More apt to think in a way that takes in multiple perspectives.

And, by the way, what does someone think a PhD is? It is FLUFF!! It is research, theory, and a grueling dissertation that sucks the life right outta ya. It is thinking, thinking, thinking. Thinking is good because it can be applied!

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What would be the point to add your degree to your nametag if the only thing that the patient cares about is the title that you hold rather than the degree? If a patient looks at your badge, do you really think they are going to search out for those letters that differentiates between a bsn and an adn? If they noticed it would they ask what the difference is? The only reason that you have your education level on your badge is because the hospital wants you to be alienated from each other and your education level is on your badge only for other hospital workers - it's a common tactic of companies to subtly seperate and divide the workers and then let them work through it.

But, quite honestly, it's common fact that in many fields the higher you go with education in your field, the better you tend to be at your job. Of course this isn't true for everyone but it is true for most people; so it wouldn't be suprising that a hospital with more BSNs, would have a better a patient outcome.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
What would be the point to add your degree to your nametag if the only thing that the patient cares about is the title that you hold rather than the degree? If a patient looks at your badge, do you really think they are going to search out for those letters that differentiates between a bsn and an adn? If they noticed it would they ask what the difference is? The only reason that you have your education level on your badge is because the hospital wants you to be alienated from each other and your education level is on your badge only for other hospital workers - it's a common tactic of companies to subtly seperate and divide the workers and then let them work through it.

True to a point, especially where ADN vs. BSN is concerned. The alienation occurs intra- and inter-personally, though, even if the organization is promoting it. Other licensed levels? Not so much because practice is inarguably different, and no one can refute that logically.

But, quite honestly, it's common fact that in many fields the higher you go with education in your field, the better you tend to be at your job. Of course this isn't true for everyone but it is true for most people; so it wouldn't be suprising that a hospital with more BSNs, would have a better a patient outcome.

True also. Maybe that fluff does some good. ;)

(BTW, I know you weren't responding to my post, but your last paragraph especially supports it.)

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Specializes in Emergency, Administration.
What would be the point to add your degree to your nametag if the only thing that the patient cares about is the title that you hold rather than the degree? If a patient looks at your badge, do you really think they are going to search out for those letters that differentiates between a bsn and an adn?

Based on a nationwide Harris Poll conducted in June 1999, an overwhelming percentage of the public - 76% - believes that nurses should have four years of education or more past high school to perform their duties.

Seems the patients do care about our degrees :o

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