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.

Great question and this will always be a great question that will have varying opinions. I did not read all the answers and believe everybody has their opinion as to what they believe is right for them.

But until we band together as one professional organization to make things better for us and our patients, these sort of worries will always bring us down.

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If everyone does-sure.

I wouldn't want to be the ONLY one with Diploma, ADN, ASN, BSN, MSN, etc......behind my name. It should be all or none in a hospital setting-including the managers ;-)

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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!

No fluff in my BSN-it is a hospital-based program (graduated from it nearly 2 decades ago and it has only improved). Plenty of theory but tons of clinical time too. We hit the ground running as new grads-very well-prepared. It is a highly sought-after place to attend-small class sizes, great clinicals, and high NCLEX pass rates.

otessa

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I don't know any other profession where you would post the degree you earned. Utterly ridiculous. If you are an RN, that is your designated title, not ADN or BSN. How foolish would I look to put BS behind my name when in fact I am a CPA or JD or MD. RN's should be proud of that designation and hospitals that are adding BSN to nametags are trying to prove a point to the public saying they hire bachelors in nursing. And yes, that is a bit snobbish. What about if you earned a bachelors in another field but was an RN?

I have seen pharmacists place their degrees on their badge as well as physical therapists.....

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I have seen pharmacists place their degrees on their badge as well as physical therapists.....

I agree with this. If they can do it, why then nurses wont?

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

It is not snobbish to me. It is up to the nurse. Personally I wouldn't use it because it's not my extra liberal arts classes that made me that made me a better nurse, like it was stated before. Doctors, who get a little bit more pomp and circumstance, only put MD behind their names unless they are in some type of administrative position or a director etc.... The same, to me should apply to nurses. If the nurse is a DON, Administrator, or Charge Nurse the yes that title is necessary. To me, having RN behind my name would be my "badge of honor" I am a nurse who passed the NCLEX whether I was BSN prepared or ADN prepared. I have the situation where I can pursue a BSN or and ADn an I chose to pursue my ADN because thats what I wanted. If you want to get technical, would it be snobbish for an ADn nurse to put his/her title on their badge? I mean technically if you compare two students and one enters and ADN and the other a BSN the ADN nurse would become and actual licensed REgistered nurse 6moths to one year before the BSN student and could get better clinical experience and judgement before the BSN nurse even walks across the stage. Personally as long as the BSN nurse doesn't flaunt their "Superior Education" then I frankly don't care how many letters you want to put behind your name.

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

I'm sure no one bothered to inform those responding to this poll (that is 11 yrs old, I prefer newer polls and numbers) the the 2yr degree & 4 yr degree nurses take and pass/fail the same board exam. They also most likely do not understand that the majority of the classes added in to make it a BSN are general ed classes ie a 2nd humanities, 2nd english course, a few research classes, the meat of the core NURSING classes are not that much different, our program was difficult because our former director chose to use text books that were used by BSN programs in our area (they got a semester of patho, ours was combined with med/surg so extra work with extra exams) so our knowledge would be competitive with theirs.

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I'm sure no one bothered to inform those responding to this poll (that is 11 yrs old, I prefer newer polls and numbers) the the 2yr degree & 4 yr degree nurses take and pass/fail the same board exam. They also most likely do not understand that the majority of the classes added in to make it a BSN are general ed classes ie a 2nd humanities, 2nd english course, a few research classes, the meat of the core NURSING classes are not that much different, our program was difficult because our former director chose to use text books that were used by BSN programs in our area (they got a semester of patho, ours was combined with med/surg so extra work with extra exams) so our knowledge would be competitive with theirs.

Sorry, I'm really not trying to make this about ADN vs BSN.....but I hate the generalizations.

Most of my last year of my BS in nursing are in nursing classes. We needed 15 credits of upper level electives.....but the overwhelming majority of the 45 credits of my last year are nursing classes (earlier in the program we had two terms of patho, two terms of pharm)....really, not a lot of gen ed, and a lot of nursing classes.

Oh and we had three years of clinicals.....so yes, we graduate as clinically prepared as any other graduate (to dispel that other common myth).

Not all BSN programs are equal.

I'm sure you had a great ADN program....no one's trying to take that away from you. Why the need to depreciate the value of a BSN?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

General consensus regarding listing nursing credentils aftername:

A. List first: highest academic degree earned (once earned, rarely ever taken away unless academic fraud/incomplete credits)

B. Next list nursing license designation and any state required credentials (Need to maintain licensure, can be take away)

C.Then list national certifications (must maintain cert requiremnts, often held for limited period of time)

D List last: accademic awards or honors.

http://www.nursecredentialing.org/Certification.aspx

http://nsweb.nursingspectrum.com/Articles/CredentialsCF2003.htm

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

I'm not depreciating the value of a BSN, I plan to attain one myself, however, the general public is being fed the idea that ADN is inadequate, and an 11yr old poll just doesn't prove it to me.

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I'm not depreciating the value of a BSN, I plan to attain one myself, however, the general public is being fed the idea that ADN is inadequate, and an 11yr old poll just doesn't prove it to me.

Unless the there's evidence to support your assumptions (ie that the public was somehow mislead to believe that ADN RN's are inadequate) I think those are just that, you're assumptions.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.
Unless the there's evidence to support your assumptions (ie that the public was somehow mislead to believe that ADN RN's are inadequate) I think those are just that, you're assumptions.

why else would the poll state 2yrs of education vs. 4yrs of education without explaining the two? sure it's a 2 year degree with almost a year of pre-req's before you can apply for the 2 yrs of straight nursing classes. BSN's feel misunderstood by the ADN's and vice versa.

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