Is the RN--->BSN push a clever way to get older nurses out of the way

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

Published

As in certain "Baby Boomers" who wont retire? Wont we NEED a faster RN producing mechanism (hello again, ADN programs!) in order to provide enough nurses to care for this huge group of people due to retire soon?? Just wondering...

There are so many great comments and much valuable insight on this thread. This is why I love AN!!! I was wondering why there are three programs (ADN, BSN, & Diploma) designed around preparing for the same NCLEX and licensure. My suspicions were that the new (at least it's new to me, in my area) "BNS Preferred" mantra had some sociological underpinning. It's about something more than a study paid for by the AACN. Many of us are all getting exploited by universities with increased costs of attendance that don't correlate with economic inflation. I'm glad that so many posters reminded me that being able to attend a Bachelor's or Master's program is becoming financially out of reach for more people, leading the way to greater "class" disparity.

I will give you an example of how things are around where I live: When I began my ADN program, the starting rate of pay for new grad RNs was $25/hr. Now, three years later it's $18/hr. at that same hospital. But the cost of gas/food/insurance/utilities, etc. has gone up!

Maybe life was great as a nurse (or many other professions) before, but now the cost of college attendance is SO HIGH that we HAVE to work in poor conditions (that's assuming we want a job & I do) and have -0- bargaining power. I had to take out student loans (even to attend a public college) that I have to pay back. When I go back to school again, unless I by some miracle find a well-paying RN job, I will take out more. I hope that I land a full time job that pays a decent wage, but I haven't had much luck with that so far. Right now, I make $18/hr. in a facility that has me working seven 4 hour shifts per pay period and $21/hr. at a SNF where I am a PRN staff RN.

Have the colleges and the hospitals teamed up in a way which will provide them with a grand supply of cheap labor? Do you realize that all of us are "working class" in the eyes of the people who own these schools and hospitals? Doesn't it benefit them greatly to cause divisiveness amongst our group?? And the "better patient outcomes" thing. Ok, great. Do the powers that be really care about that, or is do their interests lie more in the monetary realm of things?

InflationData: Education Inflation

The Rise in College Tuition and Student Loans-Becker - The Becker-Posner Blog

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/education/21costs.html?_r=0

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Citations for this assertion, please. Note, opinions do not constitute data. All reputable studies (the ones from UPenn come to mind) are paragons of scientific and statistical rigor, and that includes sampling and sample sizes.

Currently in the Nursing News forum, a thread titled: New Study Shows Nurse Education Level, Case Load, Affect Patient Mortality. You will see the main argument against the study's conclusions, made by a single contributor here on AN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Can I ask how many years of experience you have as a nurse?

To say that nurses know more than doctors is just a bit over the top. Do we know more about the patient? Of course we do, because we spend the most time with them. However, to say a normal staff nurse is smarter than an MD is a bit presumptuous. I'm not saying I'm ignorant. I can be in a conversation or read a summary and know pretty much what the diagnosis "might" be. But to say I'm smarter than an MD is simply not the truth.

I am not a nurse yet but I have met nurses that sometimes the new MD residents go for advise. I wasn't implying that all nurses have more knowledge than a doctor , but that there may be a case in which the nurse has more experience that provides knowledge in a certain case. When you as the nurse know the overall state of a patient , the bigger picture helps to understand better what is going on, an sometimes a physician can provide a treatment that is not taking into consideration a complete view of the situation. For example "take these pills to loose weight" instead of seeing if there is other causes physically or mental that is causing the weight gain. Or when a patient complains of a certain pain, and the MD just prescribes a pill.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Currently in the Nursing News forum, a thread titled: New Study Shows Nurse Education Level, Case Load, Affect Patient Mortality. You will see the main argument against the study's conclusions, made by a single contributor here on AN.

The argument against the study in the thread you mentioned is not about the data.

Are you referring to the debate about extrapolating the results of the study past the authors' conclusion?

The data from that study is fairly solid and it supports the results from several other similarly powered studies from several countries including the US.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

"Baby Boomers who won't retire?" Am I unique in finding this statement offensive? We've seen posts here before ranting about "old dragon nurses who won't retire and get out of my way", and I'm wondering if this isn't similar.

The RN to BSN "push" has been going on for 40 years or so. It's nothing new.

But I wonder how many Baby Boomers can afford to retire -- my retirement savings took a huge hit!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

But I wonder how many Baby Boomers can afford to retire -- my retirement savings took a huge hit!

I once read a statistic indicating that one-third of Baby Boomers have zero retirement savings. So I assume the Boomers who have no money are going to continue working until they become seriously ill or drop dead.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I am not even sure how to respond to the statements that ADN nurses are less professional and from a "lower" working class and in the obtaining a BSN somehow refines ones "class".

I am rendered speechless and that is hard to do.

I started out about as "lower class" as it is possible to be -- no indoor plumbing or electricity in the 70s! I went from high school to BSN in five years, and I doubt any of that improved my "class". I was working too hard to care!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PCCN.
ISo I assume the Boomers who have no money are going to continue working until they become seriously ill or drop dead.

Yup.what choice will one have?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Yup.what choice will one have?

....and all subsequent generations will drop dead waiting around for a full time job with benefits.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
....and all subsequent generations will drop dead waiting around for a full time job with benefits.

To be fair, it's not the Baby Boomer generation's fault for the lack of good jobs in today's workforce.

We should be blaming the greedy CEOs, CFOs and corporate executives who sent millions of good jobs overseas via outsourcing. We should be blaming the powerful bankers and shady real estate appraisers who helped contribute to the subprime crisis and resultant financial meltdown that led to massive job losses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
To be fair, it's not the Baby Boomer generation's fault for the lack of good jobs in today's workforce.

We should be blaming the greedy CEOs, CFOs and corporate executives who sent millions of good jobs overseas via outsourcing. We should be blaming the powerful bankers and shady real estate appraisers who helped contribute to the subprime crisis and resultant financial meltdown that led to massive job losses.

I totally agree. Just stating my reality. No matter what our generation, or what point we are in our careers, the worst thing we can do is turn against one another bc that would lower our strength and value as a whole. It would be nice if we could ban togeather somehow --- as in actual nurses, not corporations who treat us like disposable trash.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
If these nurses are ALWAYS smarter than md's,

What are you talking about? Who said that?

And for the record, I'm not talking common sense that we know is lacking in BOTH professions, but educational background. A first year baby doc knows more than a first year ADN. I don't see them diagnosing and performing surgery in their first year out of nursing school

I thought this would be so obvious as to not need mentioning, but what a person knows is a very different thing than intelligence.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment