Is it true that a BSN will be mandatory soon?

Published

An instructor of mine (I'm in another state) stated that she recently went to a national educators conference and that they were saying that within the next several years in NY it would be mandatory to have your BSN. Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks

This is a perfect example of nursing eating it's young. The eggheads in the ivory tower have been torturing themselves for YEARS with the thoughts of all the incompetent ADN's running around, endangering lives. Too bad. I think they should just get over it and stick to the important issues. Like how to get more nurses, period. How to keep them. How to get hospitals to pay them what they deserve and mandating a fair patient load.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.
Most Canadian provinces I think make new graduates take a BSN. If you have had an RN for many years you will probably be grandfathered in.

Canada did this 3-5 years ago. I agree with just about everyone else in this discussion, making all ADN/Diploma nurses go back to school for their BSN is just not feasible, and will just add to the nursing shortage. However, Canada made it a new regulatory requirement, that all newly licensed nurses after a certain year (2002?) HAD to have a BSN/BScN. Everyone before that was grandfathered in.

Of course, whatever state you live in has to be able to fulfill their new requirements and have the universities or collaborative programs to produce these nurses. Otherwise, the change just would never fly.

It is ridiculous to assume that because of your ADN/Diploma program you are less valuable and knowledgeable than a BSN nurse. However, why is it such a bad idea to encourage increased education for the new workforce? Physiotherapists where I live mostly need to have a Masters Degree to begin practicing. More education may result in more respect for nurses....that sounds pretty good to me!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
.....................With so many nurses retiring and so many others quitting to pursue other careers, who will they hire to take care of the patients after they get done revoking and suspending all those licenses?

Why, they will hire the members of that state's Board of Nursing, of course! ;)

As one who is considering going for the BSN, I am not doing it because it would be guaranteed to make me a better nurse and/or manager, nor would it guarantee me better earning potential.

Gee, considering those things, why am I considering it?????? :confused:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It is so sad to hear many of the comments about "if I had to go back to school, it would not in nursing" GET OUT!:smackingf Why are you still in it if you don't want to see it grow?. . . I was a LPN, Diploma RN, BSN, and now in graduate school. I see the need for theory and research. That is what keeps us from moving backward and stagnating. I think the Diploma and ADN's should be grandfathered in, but I would love to have the minimal education requirement for a nurse to be the BSN. It will help us to be recognized as a profession and as professionals. It is funny that we hold a higher standard for just about all other professions except nursing. Would you like your brain surgeon to take a fast-track and become a doctor to practice on you or your loved ones? Let's raise the standard. I can't imagine doing anything other nursing. . . I am and will always be a nurse. I don't think getting a BSN will make anyone a better nurse, but it opens avenues in your mind to see our profession in a different light. I am one of the fortunate ones that found out my purpose in life at an early age. I have been in the healthcare profession for 18 years and I love it more each day, because this is who and what I am. :nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hello,

I am a pre nursing school student and I am looking for a ASD RN program right now. I am 25 years old married with no children ( want to have children soon) so time is everything to me going for my ASN first then finish up and get my BSN. I think this would be a very bad idea to make all RN become BSN within a 10 years. This would be a major problem but in my state this means that it would reduce the nursing programs more then 60% because none of the community college would offer RN programs. There is also a huge stortage in my state with RN all ready. All of all of the post I read in this thread no one metion that this would hurt the medical field. All of the baby boomers are aging and most of them would be retired by the next 10 to 15 years. At the end we all have to take the same state broads.;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I graduated from LPN school in 1983 they were talking about doing away with LPN's. The "new LPN" would need an associate degree and an RN would need her bachelor's degree. Here it is 23 years later and we are still talking about the same thing. I have gone back to school and have become a RN with an associate degree, returned again and received a BS; however, did not want nursing, I wanted to be able to move in another direction so I have a BS in Psych with a minor in nursing. I took all the BSN classes but only took the teaching exam and not the other two parts of the clinical. Since I am back in school for my MS in Community Health Services along with a MS in wellness promotion and slid in my elective slot a MS certificate in gerontology. I am taking my last two classes now to complete my MS and am hoping to give myself the Christmas gift of finishing my classes....I then have to do a internship so by spring I will totally be finished. Why did I not get a BSN or MSN......well truthfully I feel like this......when I got out of school I loved nursing, even enough to go back for my RN. Things then slid down hill. Nurses are overworked, salaries are a joke, and worst of all (since all of us can take being overworked and underpaid...we are all use to that) we are taken advantaged of. Believe me I understand that we will never be paid like other fields are paid but we need to get real. I believe that some of us have gotten real and are leaving the profession. I have a sister who works in the sales business in a hotel and makes base $60,000 with no college, I have a stepbrother who works for a Barnes & Nobles reviewing. He has a bach. degree and just started with a salary of $124,000. My stepdaughter just graduated with a bach degree in marketing. Her first job is with an insurance company but not doing marketing she is in the underwriting dept and can transfer if a marketing position opens...she started 4 months ago with $45,000 no experience.

Here I am a RN with a BS in psych/minor in nursing, MS certificate in gerontology, my school nurse certification and almost finished with my MS and making $40,000.....oh that was with a large raise this year. Maybe nurses are beginning to be tired of being taken advantaged of.....being the nature that nurses are I do not think that any of us want to have the big bucks because we do do this type of work for the satisfaction that we receive and we are dedicated....but like someone on here mentioned before, we deal with life and death situations all the time but do not get compensated for it. It is not like if we make a mistake we lose a business deal etc. If we make a mistake it could cost someone their life, affect a family's life, our life, our family's life etc. I believe we should be compensated for what we do. I frankly am tired of living paycheck to paycheck. Unless you have a spouse with a decent salary you can probably associate with this. Possibly nurses are beginning to realize this and want out of the profession. Those that are new to the profession will probably discover this down the road. I do not think it will take the new nurses of today that much time to see this. The nursing shortage has created a sense of security for those that want job security. I believe that this is why many are now going into nursing...hopefully they will have the stamina to last. Requiring everyone to have a BSN is crazy. I believe that many will leave nursing if that goes through. I cannot see how it will though because I think that nursing overall is in crisis right now. We all can remember how much work it took to get through nursing school or college in general. Many nurses may not have the time, the money, or their situations may not permit them to return to school. Hopefully everyone will be grandfathered, but what effect will this have on others choosing to go into the nursing profession?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'd be estatic if we had continueing education requirements across the states. If that were consistent between states, then there would be better support for advancing the level of education. Especially if they allowed CEU credits to be issued by the BSN programs. It would be a give and give...sort of.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
It is so sad to hear many of the comments about "if I had to go back to school, it would not in nursing" GET OUT!:smackingf Why are you still in it if you don't want to see it grow?

Telling people to leave the profession is generally not well received.

People stay in nursing because they find a way to make it work for them. Or they don't have the luxury of retraining if parts of the job are giving them grief. Maybe new management came in and turned a good facility into a torture chamber. Maybe years of physical strain have taken their toll and they can't find a position that will not make things worse. Who knows why someone would feel regret. And who knows if that regret is a long-term emotion or just a black cloud on a particularly bad day.

I guess I don't get the connection between being personally discouraged and not wanting to see the profession grow. I'll bet some of the nurses who feel demoralized would LOVE to see growth in nursing if it meant sane workloads and decent pay and proper respect for all levels of nursing.

. . .

I was a LPN, Diploma RN, BSN, and now in graduate school. I see the need for theory and research. That is what keeps us from moving backward and stagnating.

That's what keeps us as a profession from moving backward and stagnating, but many nurses do not want to go back to school for theory and research simply to continue in the jobs they now hold. Some nurses have the time, the finances, and the desire to pursue these areas and that's great. Leave the rest alone.

I think the Diploma and ADN's should be grandfathered in, but I would love to have the minimal education requirement for a nurse to be the BSN. It will help us to be recognized as a profession and as professionals.

Treating each other with more respect would help us in this area too. I have thought for a long time that other disciplines feel free to go after us when they see how vicious we are among our own ranks.

It is funny that we hold a higher standard for just about all other professions except nursing. Would you like your brain surgeon to take a fast-track and become a doctor to practice on you or your loved ones?

Specious argument. ADNs don't get "fast-tracked" in the sense of leaving out anything essential to bedside nursing.

Let's raise the standard. I can't imagine doing anything other nursing. . . I am and will always be a nurse. I don't think getting a BSN will make anyone a better nurse, but it opens avenues in your mind to see our profession in a different light. I am one of the fortunate ones that found out my purpose in life at an early age. I have been in the healthcare profession for 18 years and I love it more each day, because this is who and what I am. :nurse:

Not everyone has the benefit of your early enlightenment. Many ADN nurses cannot start their education until they are well into adulthood. Should we just tell them, sorry, we really need nurses, but we'll pass if you can't do the entire BSN right from the start. I'll wager there are plenty of ADNs who did go on for their BSN who might not have gone into nursing at all if they'd had to do it in one fell swoop.

If a ten-year time limit were to be imposed, how many ADNS or diploma grads would go for the BSN? I'd be one who wouldn't, not because I don't value education, but because it would probably take at least half of that time to get the darn thing and I still would want to keep my present job or something similar for the ten or so years I'd still be working. If forced to pursue a degree that would not benefit me in my job focus, then much as I like what I do, I'd have to look at other alternatives.

This isn't just a theoretical discussion about "the profession." It's a lively debate that should never forget that nurses aren't just pawns on an ivory tower chess board, but real people who have been instrumental in making the health care system work for decades. Yeah, there's always room for improvement, but it needs to be accomplished in a way that is humane and makes sense for the largest number of people involved.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in critical care.

:balloons: I think it is a good idea................BSN should be a requirement

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you for your comments. I love to spark a good debate. I don't really think anything will come of a mandate for the BSN to be the entry level for RN's, mainly because of the mindset of "what's the use", the nursing shortage, or whatever. I can think of a hundred excusses not to go back to school, but I can also think of a million reasons why you need to go back. I think if people want to further their education. . . go for it, it not, don't go for it. To each it's own. You are safe. . . probably in this life time, this mandate will never come to pass. :smiley_ab

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am an RN with my Associates Degree, and I have been seriously thinking about going for my Bachelors RN. I can honestly say it has nothing to do with me being able to give my patients better care if I get my BSN, it would be to benefit me in the future for managing positions. No one who has posted on here has mentioned the most important people that would be affected here ( The Patients ) !!!!!!!! You know, the people who are the reason we nurses have jobs ! I think a bachelors degree would be awesome, but just not mandatory. Maybe if they offered more pay for it you would have more students going straight for the BSN instead of the ADRN. And I don't mean 50 cents to 1.00 dollar more either. Lets try maybe $10-15 dollars more an hour for having a BSN .....I would be 1st in line. .....But seriously.....priority is to the patients and they are more concerned about having someone who can safely take care of them ( passing boards is suppose to qualify a nurse for that ). For those who have BSN's or ADRN's congrats for all the hard work you have done to get where you are! Oh and one more thing......there was definately nothing fast-track about the ADRN program I graduated from, my program required a minimum grade of 78 for passing, and some BSN schools I know of has a 70-72 for passing.........God Bless

SMARTY_RN

Up Vote Up Vote ×
It does amaze me that the concept of a BSN is so misunderstood. Specializing at a baccalaureate level? Helps me to write papers? Doesn't have a benefit at my job? Ouch.

Then perhaps you can enlighten me.

I'm in a BSN program now and close to my wits end.

I have no idea why I'm here in the program, no idea what I'm going to do with a BSN that's any different than my ADN, and let me tell ya, it's been a long hard road.

I've seen comments from here that reduce BSN education to "A few fluff liberal arts classes" or "writing papers" yet my program does not reflect such dimissive descriptions of BSN education.

I truely wish it were a few fluff liberal arts classes or only a matter of writing papers. But it's not and I have to make the best of it.

When I was an LPN/LVN getting my RN, a multitude of tangible rewards were to be seen and I knew it, and it kept me going.

Better pay, better job opportunities, more independent scope of practice, all were to be seen for me as an RN than than crappy med/surg and LTC jobs as an LPN.

But where are the rewards for the ADN RN going back for the BSN?

More independent scope of practice?

No, as both ADN's and BSN's all practice under the same licensure level.

Better pay?

Hardly, the pay increase is insulting at best for the amount of time and hoop-jumping that goes on to complete a BSN program.

Better job opportunities?

Besides management or education (which frequently requires an MSN) where are the BSN job opportunities?

I'm only asking because I am running out of steam while swimming in public health, pathophys, and case management while I wonder why I'm even here doing this program with no desire to go to grad school or become a manager in any capacity.

I'm sorry, but you can't justify BSN minimum entry just to satisfy education snobs and the nursing elite.

I'm tired of hearing abstract reasons for BSN minimum entry like the old generic "technology is changing" or "other professions are doing or have done it" rhetoric.

I read a post from an LPN on this board a while back and I think it's so true:

If you graduated from a BSN program in 1976, your nursing education is now obsolete for the most part.

It is experience and hands on training that will give you the edge, not a BSN 20 or 30 years ago.

Give RN's a reason to go back and get a BSN besides threatening licensure pulls. You might actually get better results.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion