Is it true that a BSN will be mandatory soon?

AMYLMAC · Aug 14, 2008

I am a nurse with a BSN since 1975. We were debating the same issues then also. Although I have received higher pay at only one job( the VA system ) my degree has been invaluable. I was very fortunate to have gone right from H.S. to college to earn my BSN so I didn't have to juggle family,career and school. Hats off to those of you who do. I don't see how any state could make a BSN mandatory with as much need out there for nurses. We'll be talking about this for awhile.

ANPFNPGNP · Aug 14, 2008

the 2003 aiken study has shown to be flawed with many variables.
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i wasn't able to read the entire contents of the following article. if anyone can find a link to it, please post it. thanks!
new study confirms link between nurse education and mortality rates.(brief article)
from: nevada rnformation date: may 1, 2007 author: menzel, nancy nivison more results for: [color=#003399]nurse education mortality | [color=#660099]copyright information copyright 2007 nevada nurses association. this material is published under license from the publisher through the gale group, farmington hills, michigan. all inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the gale group.
in the january 2007 issue of the journal of advanced nursing, a new study validates the findings of dr. linda aiken and others that baccalaureate-prepared nurses have a positive impact on lowering mortality rates. a research team from the university of toronto and the institute for clinical evaluative sciences in ontario, canada, studied 46,993 patients admitted to the hospital with heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and blood poisoning. the authors found that: "hospitals with higher proportions of ...

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Aug 15, 2008

ANP; Could you provide a link to the source? If I can get the ISSN#, it'll make it easier to find the article in my database. Thanks!

FWIW- While I am a **huge** fan of Aiken's, some of the issues with her 2002 article (if I remember correctly) included a couple factors that were missing: staffing ratios, and technology used on the units. These may have had more of an effect on mortality rates than the nurses' education levels.

JD1106 · Aug 15, 2008

I hold a BA, MA and a JD, but my nursing degree - which is my most recent degree - is an ADN. I feel that I received a great nursing education and I was shocked to find out that the BSNs in my orientation class NEVER did rhythm strips in school. We spent a good portion of our final semester reading different strips. So, are those BSNs really any better than me and my fellow ADNs? And not for nothing, but my mom has a nursing diploma and she can run circles around any nurse. Those who have a BSN have definitely made quite an accomplishment - and I think it is great to encourage further education - but to mandate a BSN would be a shame.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Aug 15, 2008

I did rhythm strips in nursing school (BSN). I'm sure quality of education depends to a great degree on where one attends nursing school.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 15, 2008

I hold a BA, MA and a JD, but my nursing degree - which is my most recent degree - is an ADN. I feel that I received a great nursing education and I was shocked to find out that the BSNs in my orientation class NEVER did rhythm strips in school. We spent a good portion of our final semester reading different strips. So, are those BSNs really any better than me and my fellow ADNs? And not for nothing, but my mom has a nursing diploma and she can run circles around any nurse. Those who have a BSN have definitely made quite an accomplishment - and I think it is great to encourage further education - but to mandate a BSN would be a shame.

The schools around here, BSN/ADN don't spent a semester on rhythm strips. Most only just touch on it and let us learn on the job, or in separate advanced courses, all about rhythm strips. It's just too time consuming and complicated in my opinion. So it's not fair to judge a program on whether or not they learn strips. Most of the basic nursing education is fairly similar in ADN and BSN programs because we all take the same boards.

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Aug 15, 2008

I agree...I did rhythm strips in my LPN program. It didn't necessarily make me more prepared than the ASNs/BSNs in other areas.

JD1106 · Aug 15, 2008

The schools around here, BSN/ADN don't spent a semester on rhythm strips. Most only just touch on it and let us learn on the job, or in separate advanced courses, all about rhythm strips. It's just too time consuming and complicated in my opinion. So it's not fair to judge a program on whether or not they learn strips. Most of the basic nursing education is fairly similar in ADN and BSN programs because we all take the same boards.

I am not judging a program about whether or not they learn strips; however, I would expect that a nursing student at least has looked at a normal rhythm strip. This example was simply to illustrate that something that may be expected in all nursing programs - especially a bachelor's - is not necessarily so.

I did not try to offend anyone with my comments. I simply feel strongly that a diploma or ADN program should not be deemed so inferior to a BSN.

suzy253, RN · Aug 16, 2008

from: american nurses association.

update: a recent meta-analysis of research on nurse staffing and related variables (kane et al., 2007b) yielded the following conclusions:

the evidence to date indicates that inpatient mortality is 9 - 16% lower for each additional rn fte per patient day.
higher rn staffing was consistently associated with lower rates of hospital-acquired pneumonia
a decrease in rn/patient ratios from 1:3.3 to 1:1.6 reduced the odds of:

nosocomial sepsis by 43%
cardiac arrest by 34%
medical complications by 41%
respiratory failure by 60 %
unplanned extubation by 45%.

these findings provide stunning support for the importance of maintaining appropriate staffing levels.

note: staffing levels...not diploma vs associates vs. bachelors.

DianeMyra · Aug 17, 2008

I don't think it is worth it to continue studying nursing. I'd be better off studying cosmotology. My hairdresser makes more money than a nurse. $50 for a haircut. $130 for highlights...the materials cost $5.00 the time- not long.

Of course this does not include overhead; having been a hairdresser for over 20 years, I can attest that it is not quite this simple.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2008

I am not judging a program about whether or not they learn strips; however, I would expect that a nursing student at least has looked at a normal rhythm strip. This example was simply to illustrate that something that may be expected in all nursing programs - especially a bachelor's - is not necessarily so.
I did not try to offend anyone with my comments. I simply feel strongly that a diploma or ADN program should not be deemed so inferior to a BSN.

I sort see what your saying. Perhaps the one BSN school there is lacking, because it definitely is taught in the BSN program here, although not as intensive as your school. However, I wonder what the BSN program there spent their time one while you spent time learning rhythm strips. Perhaps they learned something more than you did. By the time students graduate and hit the floor a rhythm strip might be something they need more training one, even a basic normal one because it's a bit complicated and sometimes lost in the myriad of facts in the brain. :)

Certainly all programs everywhere can be nitpicked. You find students graduating that never started a foley, don't know the basics of fluid resuscitation (isotonic vs. hypertonic, etc.), don't know what a normal sodium level is, etc. regardless of whether it's a BSN or ADN program. There's just too much to know and learn.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Aug 19, 2008

You know, I got through nursing school w/o ever giving an IM injection. But I did wound care and caths out the wazoo. And several central line dressing changes. Some skills sets depend on where you do/did clinicals!

But most of what I do now is IM injections. :)