Is it true that a BSN will be mandatory soon?

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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

Totally absurd. The BSN has more theory than hands on. I am more experienced than any new grad BSN.

With the nursing shortage, I can't see this happening. Nurses are already unhappy.

I, for one, refuse to ever invest another dime in nursing. I am calling tomorrow to see about withdrawing funds from my retirement for medical transcriptionist and have some plans to do my own business. I will NOT invest any more in this field. I will invest to get away from it. I invested in LNC and plan to try to use it. I might do forensic or something else, but absolutely nothing to keep me in a hospital and a BSN isn't worth it to me if they are going to use it for hospital jobs.

Also, BSN's have more opportunities to get away from floor nursing. How many do you think will take advantage of that?

All the more reason for me to leave this field. I already owe for a loan that I don't want to pay because this career has broken me down. Yes, I made good money but it came with a high price to pay - my self esteem, dignity, emotions and health.

Bye Bye floor nursing!

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This is good news, I wish all states would require a BSN as entry into nursing.

Well, if they do, you'll be awfully lonely out there- 70% of RNs in the US have an AAS degree. I don't think you're going to want to work 80 hrs a week- you may have to if ADNs are done away with.

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Yeah, and to that I'd add: the "bosses" have a game plan; pit the workers against each other so they forget about organizing to protect and defend their common interest: the ability to advocate in the exclusive interests of patients. We have the same License: Registered Nurse. And, the same accountability under the law, whether our qualifying education was/is Hospital/Diploma school, ADN, BSN. :rolleyes:

It's been said that pride goeth before the fall. Beware the "bosses" who appeal to and feed the narcissist's selfish, hungry ego, by stirring the pot and brewing the "perfect storm." Only the paternalistic, corporate interests profit from the resultant chaos. They have an agenda to control, restrict, and redefine our practice to serve their corporate bottom line. The only remedy for the abuses heaped upon nurses and patients who fall prey to their covert "wolf in sheep's clothing" attack, is to organize and mobilize against it.

A house divided against itself will crumble and fall. Education is a good thing, with all due respect, but we have to be careful not to confuse the issues, and let the bosses hijack the debate. Just because someone has the opportunity and the ability to pursue additional education, doesn't make them a better person, or a better nurse. We have the same accountability under the law to provide competent nursing care, regardless of the path we took to licensure.:up:

Back to work, all right, with eyes wide open to the very real threats to our ability to advocate for our profession and our patients. Let's work on solutions:

http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/ratios/ratios_patient_safety.pdf

:up::yeah::yeah::bow:

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Just MAKE SURE that you see an actual article in a reliable source and not a rumor or even something an instructor said.

Alot of those claims prove to be rumors.

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If I thought earning a BSN would teach me anything practical or useful, I would be motivated to pursue it. I have looked into it at length, including speaking to a number of BSN, MSN, and PhD nurses.

I have come to the conclusion that what is taught in BSN programs is mostly fluff and theory. I have no desire at all to study even more tedious and useless stuff.

I don't have the patience.

All the BSNs I personally know have advised me against getting a BSN, and all have told me they personally feel it was not worth it for them.

The return does not come close to justifying the time, expense, and effort.

I would like to get a BS, but not in nursing.

To all who have earned a BSN and beyond- good for you.

Honestly, I just can't be bothered with it.

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"The BSN has more theory than hands on"

Ooops, Let me correct that. Just has MORE THEORY than ADN - not hands on - SO sorry.

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If I thought earning a BSN would teach me anything practical or useful, I would be motivated to pursue it. I have looked into it at length, including speaking to a number of BSN, MSN, and PhD nurses.

I have come to the conclusion that what is taught in BSN programs is mostly fluff and theory. I have no desire at all to study even more tedious and useless stuff.

I don't have the patience.

All the BSNs I personally know have advised me against getting a BSN, and all have told me they personally feel it was not worth it for them.

The return does not come close to justifying the time, expense, and effort.

I would like to get a BS, but not in nursing.

To all who have earned a BSN and beyond- good for you.

Honestly, I just can't be bothered with it.

The only thing "THEORY" does is put more money into the pockets of the nurses that are NOT in bedside care. After all, it is all those nurses that are into theory that are the reason for the shortage with all their "FLUFF" that they impose through JCAHO, administration and more.

I say we do away with all the "THEORY" jobs and let actual bedside nurses make the decisions. How about that for a rumor?

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I think it might be a good thing for the profession as a whole, to be seen by the rest of the world as a profession. But they should make it a 'from this point forward' and grandfather in the ADN's.

There are a TON of fabulous nurses out there, that know more than the prof's at any BSN school, that seriously should not be forced to go back to school if they don't want to.

I'm in a BSN program myself, but that's because of the direction I want to go in the future. It certainly isn't because I'll be a better nurse than an ADN.

Yes, we want to be seen as a profession deserving of respect. But we are in the midst of a nursing/staffing shortage already (yes, I know, if they paid better, there wouldn't be such a shortage yada yada, but that doesn't change the fact that right now we need more nurses in the hospitals...today!) But if we cut out the ADN's, or force them back to school...not everyone is going to want to. The state would be cutting out a valuable resource. Make changes, fine. But by forcing the current ADN's to go back to school, we are implying they aren't good enough at the level they're at. Nonsense! Grandfather them in and let the next generation coming in be BSN's.

Oh! And where would all these RN's be getting their educations? There were over 300 applicants for 70 or so slots at our school last year. If we suddenly require all ADN's to go back to school, AND require that all new nurses be BSN's, where on earth are they going to go to school? The ADN programs wouldn't be able to 'upgrade', they're in junior colleges. And they turn out a larger percentage of the nurses. There simply aren't enough programs in the country to handle the current demand, let alone closing all the ADN programs.

It just doesn't seem feasible to me. Good idea but a logistical nightmare.

One of the reasons there are more BSN's is because there are MORE UNIVERSITIES.

HELLO>>>>>>> This is about someone making money.

It does NOT require more theory to make me a better bedside nurse. BSN's pay for more "FLUFF and PUFF."

Please tell me this is a typo.......>>>>> What is your rational? I had better training than many of the BSN programs that came to our unit.

"Originally Posted by SueBee RN-BSN

This is good news, I wish all states would require a BSN as entry into nursing."

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Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

As a student nurse and Health Care Administrator I have had to counsel many nurses on the advantages or disadvantages of obtaining their BSN or higher. It is a personal choice until state or federal requirments come into play....pure and simple. What you put into your career you will get out.

We all have our own biases about nursing education but must remember we all take the same NCLEX exam. Some nurses seem to be more "on the ball than others" this is in any profession. I do know alot of nurses are leaving the field and am not discouraged as a student nurse for this is what I choose to do.

I hire nurses all the time and have biases of NP vs PA. Most of the time I want NP for mutiple reasons. As far as AD or BSN the only time I need BSN is when the employment is supervisory, or a position in which HR has designated as BSN ie Infection Control, Wound Care, Workers Comp, Quality Assurance. Most nurses applying for positions are ADN licensed and know how to perform nursing duties within state guidelines. Another reason hospitals hire BSN is because they want to get that Magnet status and to do so a percentage of nurses must be BSN.

Remember any significant nurse license changes will take state legislature approval (see WA state nursing standards) they have approved a track for LPN's to become RN and ADN's to become BSN over a period of time with current nurses grandfathered in (meaning this is not mandatory for current nurses). This will not happen until 2010 thru 2015 and alot can happen between now and then. Most current employees will pay for this continuing education as well. I am sure other states have enacted similar nursing quality improvement tracks.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).
Perhaps it is not how you perceive it. I hope you see both sides of the coin; just because someone does not support mandatory BSN for a minimum requirement does not mean they do not see the value of education. I think that many of us can look beyond the education we received in the classroom and realize experience is quite the education in and of itself. I see beginning ADN and BSN students all the time on our floor--none appears to have an advantage over the other. They both just spent two years in nursing school.

Different paths to a common end are not necessarily bad.

"I only hope my schooling doesn't interfere with my education."

Mark Twain

The ideal, of course, is to have both in balance. That said, a formal education that neglects the reality in the work place (which includes labor conditions) is what...idealism?

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I've been hearing about this mandatory BSN thing for years and I seriously doubt it will ever happen. I admit, it would be nice if we all had the same standard educational background, be it a BSN or an MSN or whatever. But, I really do not see the relationship between having a BSN and being a good nurse. I have a BSN and although a lot of the research I did for my degree was interesting and educational, most of it had nothing at all to do with actual patient care. I will even go a step further and say that most of the BSN program is nothing but a seemingly endless series of research papers about nursing theory---a lot of which is ancient history and no longer relevant to modern healthcare practice. I've been working with RNs who were RNs from before I was even born. Many of them do not have a BSN degree but they still have more knowledge and much more of a practical background of experience than I do. When it comes to critical patient care, these people would waltz circles around me and my BSN degree.

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?

I guess they plan to "import" foreign BSNs for less money.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).
I guess they plan to "import" foreign BSNs for less money.

That, and the plan for some time has been to find a way to replace "high cost" RN's at the bedside.

This has been attempted in several states, and we have been lucky enough to beat it back.

If we do not assume control of our work environment, this risk will increase.

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