Is it really illegal to require BSN(NJ)?

[mamaxmaria]

I'm currently working towards my ADN at a 2 year nursing school. I'm a PCT in an ICU and a nurse asked me if i was going to work there when i finished school, and said she was sure my nurse manager would hire me. My hospital became magnet a few years back and since then job postings for RN's have required BSN.

I was under the impression that my hospital would no longer hire ADN nurses since we became magnet. But we asked another RN on the unit who is on the UPC if it was hospital policy that RN's must have BSN, she said no it was not hospital policy and that it was illegal to require nurses to have BSN. I thought this was strange....

I know as Magnet, we require a certain percentage of BSN's like 75 or 80%

is this true? when I finish school could be manger hire me if she really wanted to?

We have a few ADN's on the unit who were hire the same week we became magnet...

Is it illegal to require new hires to have a BSN, which is what she said?

or is illegal to require ADN's to obtain a BSN to keep there job, which would make more sense?

[DoGoodThenGo]

It may not apply in this situation, but there is a legal standard used by both federal and state couts/governments to determine if the requirements for a position including exams harm a particluar group, thus discriminate against a protected class.Known as "disparate impact" it has been used as a tool by many groups in court to force changes in how a company or whatever hires everything from law enforcement to firemen and so forth.If all professional RNs licensed within a state are the same under the law, a hospital is going to have to find some creative way to enforce a "BSN only " hiring policy. What they can say is "BSN preferred", but to exclude diploma and or ADN graduates in favour of four year is simply inviting members of the later group to sue (sooner or later) in court if they feel harmed.This is the whole problem with every single state's practice act that treats all RNs as " nurse is a nurse is a nurse". Aside from several extra years of study there isn't one thing different about a BSN grad on paper as far as her/his license in concerned. Even ag so called "magnet hospitals" you still find a blend of RNs with different education levels (ADN, dilompa and BSN). For a hospital to out right state it will only hire one type of graduate over another in print and practice is going to require more than some oft quoted study to back up that decision.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

New Jersey is just preparing for the future.

http://www.njsna.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=380

By requiring education to be higher than the minimum is common for health care professions. Hospitals are advertising for the DPT in Physical Therapy although not all states have increased their licensing to that level. Respiratory Therapy was hiring A.S. degreed therapists long before it was required and now are only wanting Registered instead of certified. Speech and OT also started listed the Masters degree. Employers may want a Masters degree for PAs even though their state does not require it...now but may in the near future. Nurse Practitioner positions are now including the Doctorate in their listings.

Trying to encourage staff members to go back to school to get a BSN or whatever degree is a lot more difficult even with tuition reimbursement once that employee has the job and believes they are good enough or better than those with more education and training. Of course there are professions such as RT and PT that placed a little education requirement in their hiring agreement that the employees will increase their education as licensing increased regardless of the state grandfathering exception.

That legislation has been proposed for years and hasn't moved forward at all. Personally, I think any previous undergrand degree gives the other education needed to be well-rounded.

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

Too funny. NJ (and NY) have many residents leaving their states due to increased taxation and housing costs. This may add fuel to the fire for their nurses (and other healthcare professionals) to leave. Keep it up NJ and someone will have to turn out the lights when everyone leaves!

[Mrs. SnowStormRN, RN]

Too funny. NJ (and NY) have many residents leaving their states due to increased taxation and housing costs. This may add fuel to the fire for their nurses (and other healthcare professionals) to leave. Keep it up NJ and someone will have to turn out the lights when everyone leaves!

These NJ reality shows will keep them alive. LoL!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Goin' astray here:

Hospitals try and attract good nurses by attaining "Magnet" status. They spend hours and hours and tons and tons of money to get this. But, the truth is, if they took that time and money and staffed units appropriately, gave us the equipment we need to do our jobs safely (both for us and the patient), and paid well...well, that's all the magnet you need. You'll attract more experienced nurses than you could ever need. Then you just pick the cream that rises to the top.

So freakin' easy.

Personally, (as if you couldn't tell) I think magnet is mostly BS.

Yep, at the same time they're spending mucho dinero on achieving Magnet, they're trying to get 100% "compliance" with employee giving to donate to the hospital. Sorry, but as long as the hospital's priorities are skewed and they're spending money on Magnet instead of better staffing and supplies, they aren't getting any of my paycheck!

As to OP: Illegal? No. Talk to manager to find out if you're awesome enough to be a negative on their BSN percentage for Magnet. If they have plenty of BSNs already, they may not care, but if they're on the edge, that might be a deciding factor.