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

I'm sure there are other programs out there, but my point remains the same - my gpa from when I was a kid in college is lower than what accelerated BSN & grad programs want. So, if ADN and diploma programs were not available, I would not be starting my nursing career.

Plus, having a BSN qualifies you for management???? Please. I can't tell you how many fresh MBAs I saw in the corporate world that couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag. Not all, but more than a few.

I don't understand why nursing should not raise the educational standards just so people who made mistakes in the past are allowed to enter the profession. If ADN and diploma programs were not available, you would have to do it the more difficult way. You would have to go back to school and take general education courses over again to raise your GPA. People pursuing other professions that do have high standards do this everyday. That is why there are post-bac programs designed for people who are trying to do just that.

I am not directing this at you personally, and I understand why you are choosing this option: it's available. But I really don't understand the mentality of so many pursuing nursing. Everyone is looking for the easy way out. When I read some of the posts of these forums, it is just embarrassing: What is the easiest/quickest way to become a nurse and what online program requires no real clinicals? That seems to be the theme of the day. Maybe it's just a reflection of our society though.

The most valuable things in life usually are not easily achieved.

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Specializes in med surg.

I really do not understand how it is going to increase the perception of nurses as professionals if we grandfather in people. What other profession does this? NONE!

I went from NA to LPN to RN to BSN and each step along the way I grew in knowledge and experience. Yes, I did my BSN online but many of the nurses who did it on the ground stated they thought my assignments were harder and were amazed at the content and told me the professional growth they witnessed in me.

It gave me a whole new perspective into Leadership and Managment and the finacial aspect of running a facility as well as research and the importance of it in nursing.

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I wanted to clarify my above post before people take it out of context. I was not suggesting that the poster is taking the easy way out by attending the ADN program over the BSN. I believe that ADN and diploma programs are challenging in their own right. And if I were in that poster's situation and the ADN was available, I would probably choose that route. However, I don't believe that it is a reason to keep our profession stagnate.

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Actually, several professions have grandfathered in people. My mother got her BA in speech therapy -- her license was good after they changed the requirement to a Master's.

HealthyRN -- I definitely see your point. But what do you think of Accelerated BSN programs? I was accepted to two of them, but I actually decided to go with the diploma instead because I felt rather strongly -- after looking at the clinical time and NCLEX pass rates of the ABSN programs -- that I would emerge with a BSN, but less skilled as a nurse. You speak negatively about people wanting to take short cuts ... isn't a BSN in 12-15 months the biggest shortcut? I actually decided to take 24 full months of school, including an externship, and get the diploma instead; I will have almost three times as much clinical experience as with an ABSN degree. I could've been an (accelerated) BSN, RN or a BA, RN; I chose the BA, RN option because I actually believe I will be a better nurse for it (in my area, there are many ABSN programs, but they consistently have the lowest NCLEX pass rates in the state and often seem to be in danger of losing their accreditation because of it). I also plan on getting my MSN, and not having the BSN will make this a bit more complicated (I'll have to take a few extra bridge classes), but again, I thought it was important to put more than 12-15 months of school into my nursing education.

Obviously, this varies from person to person and from school to school. This is just my personal experience.

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Where did you get your information? In the US, a person has to graduate from an accredited law school in order to sit for the bar exam. That means one must obtain a Juris Doctorate in order to sit for the bar exam.

Let me ask you this, would you want a person with a 6th grade education teaching your children? Would it be "okay" with you if they just studied a bunch of facts and were able to pass some test to get certified or would you want that person to be educated?

I took the NCLEX and I'm here to tell you that the majority of high school graduates could study and pass that exam...no problemo! Maybe we should just let anyone without any educational preparation take the NCLEX and if they can pass it, then they can practice as a registered nurse! While you're at it, let's just go ahead and make the United States a third world country!

You are mistaken. In many states, Washington State being one of them, a person can do what is called, "read for the law", and essentially be tutored by a licensed attorney to learn the law. It is a very structured program and you are allowed to sit for the Washington State Bar exam. It is known as, "Rule 6", in the Washington State Bar. It is on their website. Look it up. I know several attorneys who became attorneys this way. They were all former paralegals. That does make it alot easier.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
I don't understand why nursing should not raise the educational standards just so people who made mistakes in the past are allowed to enter the profession. If ADN and diploma programs were not available, you would have to do it the more difficult way. You would have to go back to school and take general education courses over again to raise your GPA. People pursuing other professions that do have high standards do this everyday. That is why there are post-bac programs designed for people who are trying to do just that.

I am not directing this at you personally, and I understand why you are choosing this option: it's available. But I really don't understand the mentality of so many pursuing nursing. Everyone is looking for the easy way out. When I read some of the posts of these forums, it is just embarrassing: What is the easiest/quickest way to become a nurse and what online program requires no real clinicals? That seems to be the theme of the day. Maybe it's just a reflection of our society though.

The most valuable things in life usually are not easily achieved.

good post. agree with you completely.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I really do not understand how it is going to increase the perception of nurses as professionals if we grandfather in people. What other profession does this? NONE.

*** You are very mistaken. They all do. WHen medical school became a 4 year program they didn't take away the midical lisences of all those who had gone for much shorter time. Sam is tru for pharm. Now that you have to get a Pharm.D it doesn't mean that all the people with BS or less currently licensed as pharmasists lose their lisence.

Simply increasing the entry point to a BSN will do nothing at all to increase the preception of nurses as professionals.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I went from NA to LPN to RN to BSN and each step along the way I grew in knowledge and experience. .

*** I don't get your point. Are you or are you not in favor of removing the path you took to being an RN, BSN for others?

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*** You are very mistaken. They all do. WHen medical school became a 4 year program they didn't take away the midical lisences of all those who had gone for much shorter time. Sam is tru for pharm. Now that you have to get a Pharm.D it doesn't mean that all the people with BS or less currently licensed as pharmasists lose their lisence.

Simply increasing the entry point to a BSN will do nothing at all to increase the preception of nurses as professionals.

The regulatory body of nursing in Canada for years was attempting to get all nurses to go back to school for their BSN and was unsuccesful. Contrary to the US, in Canada the employer is the government and therefore funding to get your BSN completed is not really done like it is done in the US. So their solution to the problem was to stop ADN type programs (called diploma in Canada but not like the diploma in the US). In British Columbia that happened in 2003 already and Ontario has a BSN only requirement as well and other provinces are slowly also requiring it. It could start to happen in the US also but might be more complicated to enforce with difficulty with getting educators, few nursing school spots as it is etc... And it takes longer to get a student to graduate with a 4 year degree as opposed to a 2+ ADN degree. I am taking advantage of tuition reimbursement and am working on my BSN and have found the classes to very applicable to clinical practice and don't understand why so many nurses don't just look at it as an opportunity to broaden their thinking. And writing papers and doing research gets easier with time since that is the biggest part of the post ADN education.

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I am an ADN working slowly on a BSN program. Hospitals are pushing for nurses to get the BSN but the hospitals in my area do not have very good tuition reimbursment. If they want people to obtain the BSN then it would be nice to have a little more help in doing so....

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).
Where did you get your information? In the US, a person has to graduate from an accredited law school in order to sit for the bar exam. That means one must obtain a Juris Doctorate in order to sit for the bar exam.

Let me ask you this, would you want a person with a 6th grade education teaching your children? Would it be "okay" with you if they just studied a bunch of facts and were able to pass some test to get certified or would you want that person to be educated?

I took the NCLEX and I'm here to tell you that the majority of high school graduates could study and pass that exam...no problemo! Maybe we should just let anyone without any educational preparation take the NCLEX and if they can pass it, then they can practice as a registered nurse! While you're at it, let's just go ahead and make the United States a third world country!

Depending on your ethnicity, insurance, and location, we are already a 3rd world country when it comes to healthcare.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).
I am an ADN working slowly on a BSN program. Hospitals are pushing for nurses to get the BSN but the hospitals in my area do not have very good tuition reimbursment. If they want people to obtain the BSN then it would be nice to have a little more help in doing so....

Trust me, hospitals could care less what degree you have, unless they are pretending to want to be magnetized.

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