Is This True!!!!!!!!

Published

Hi nurses,

i keep hearing rumors that the ASN degree is going to be abolished or cancelled. how true is this and if its true whats going to happen to schools accredited by NLN with the associates degree.

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hey doggy, :paw:

these rumors have been around for yrs.

and it will take many more yrs to actually implement this.

i think some day, the bsn will be the minimum requirement.

all existing asn's would have to be grandfathered into the new requirements.

nothing to worry about now, for sure.

leslie

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Specializes in OB.

This rumor has been floating around for my entire nursing career - it's not going happen. Think about it - if the nursing shortage is this bad already, why would anyone want to make it worse and make it even more difficult/impossible for new people to enter the field.

I believe that some years ago there was one state which tried requiring a BSN - didn't last.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

I know my local nursing collage is doing away with the ASN program and are going BSN only.

Will they get rid of ASN nurses though? Not in my opinion.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

i've been hearing this for 33 years, i'm not worried in the least. it's the same i've been hearing for 33 about lpn's being phased out. it's not happening while were still young enough to work. :wink2:

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

This story's been around for a long, long, long, long, time. Will believe it when I see it actually happen and then grieve over it.

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I think it may happen eventually but we have much larger issues to deal with in nursing and healthcare in general before this should be addressed. Standardization of education is great but it's very difficult, many current nurses, students, educators, colleges and other programs would be adversely affected. If anything happens it won't be fast and will suffer a very large amount of scrutiny before being implemented. In other words, don't hold your breath or bite your nails over this one.

On a personal note I am very much in support of making the BSN degree the standard. I feel it would help unite nurses as a profession and give us a better image overall as a profession, since people for some reason look down on those without four year degrees. I don't understand or condone this idea but I do feel the different levels in nursing can be confusing and a source of discrepancy. Ultimately I think with a more cohesive identity we may prove to be more effective as force for change in policy and politics.

Just my 2c.

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some hospitals have attempted to introduce this but found it difficult to keep enough nurses to staff

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I believe that some years ago there was one state which tried requiring a BSN - didn't last.

I believe that state was South Dakota. Did they abolish the BSN requirement or is it still in place?

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

I believe nobody is going to abolish anything. There's too much of a need for nursing personnel in all fields.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
I believe that state was South Dakota. Did they abolish the BSN requirement or is it still in place?

I believe they abolished it, since it cut WAAAAY back on the available nurses in a state already hurting for them.

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And before they abolished the BSN as the entry into practice because "now they did not have enough nurses", how much effort did they put into encouraging nurses who have left nursing to come back to work. My guess, is none. It was easier to cave in to the hospitals and go back to the old entry into practice, than to tell the hospitals to (heavans to betsy!), SUBSTANTIONALLY INCREASE PAY, improve benefits, improve staffng ratios, and offer whatever it would take to entice nurses to come back to work.

But that would have cost the hospitals money. And they would have to concede that they actually NEEDED THE NURSES THAT THEY GAVE NOT AN IOTA OF CONCERN TO WHEN THEY LEFT IN DISGUST!!

When hospitals have to fight to RETAIN nurses (and wait four years for the next class to graduate), instead of discarding them like yesterdays newspaper, then nurses will have the upper hand. As it stands now, nursing will continue to be a revolving door career, with no respect and no control over its profession.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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