Is it true that a BSN will be mandatory soon?

neurorn6 · Sep 3, 2008

If you have been working in this field long enough, you soon learn that what really matters is the experience you bring to the table. We all start out as brand new, rather you have an LPN, ADN, BSN or MSN after your name. I currently work in KY, in an area with 5 different nursing programs. It's like a "puppy mill" for nurses. They bring this new nurses in, give them a few weeks orientation, convince them that they are the saviors of the units and then leave them to drown on night shift. Management promotes an attitude that any warm body will do. There is an old school rule of who you know not what you know. I don't want to sound like I'm one of those nurses that eats their young. I happen to love precepting new nurses. I love to see them grow in our profession. What I get angry about is the lack of understanding that administors and legislators and the general public has in regards to our role within the health care system. Would I love to have my BSN, absolutely, but that in and of itself will not make me a better nurse. Compassion, a willingness to learn, a commitment to my patients and their families is what makes me a better nurse. If an individual wants an advance degree, great, but don't push the rest of us aside. We are knowledgeable, experienced PROFESSIONALS. It is about time that we stopped the discussion and start standing up for our chosen profession. Bottom line, they can't do it without us. We need to stop the bickering about who has be better education and look at how we can promote our profession nationwide in a positive manner. Very simply I am a Professional Nurse, and no matter what letters I have after my name, I am here to care for my patients and support those within my chosen profession.

oakbourne · Sep 3, 2008

I agree with Neurorn6, I remember the days when LPNs were told to get their R.N. I think those days are gone. The nursing profession is in dire straits and they are happy to get LPNs. I know the Joint Commission has their rules, but everywhere I have been, LPNs are welcomed. As far as I am concerned we are too top heavy and or we have too many Indian Chiefs who haven't worked on the floor for eons and have no intentions of getting their hands dirty. When you become a nurse, everyone should do the dirty work. Get the DON on the floor for a couple of days a month so they know what is going on. Get your nurse manager out there and let her work also.

I know we need managers and DONs, but the day they believe they are better than a R.N. is the day they need to leave. We are all nurses and I believe Florence Nightingale would be shocked to see what has become of this profession.

jjjoy, LPN · Sep 3, 2008

The NCLEX should include more patho, pharmacology (drug to drug interactions is a biggie), anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, etc. Same thing for those NP exams. And get rid of those stupid nursing diagnoses...thank God we don't use those in advanced nursing!

I second that! If one doesn't need the concrete knowledge of patho, pharm, etc to be a licensed nurse, then why teach it? If one does need that concrete knowledge, then it should be tested directly! Critical thinking and problem-solving should also continue to be tested. And nursing diagnoses... I get where they come from and how they can be a useful tool, but as they are currently taught and used *most* places, they are extraneous.

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Sep 3, 2008

I'm with you both on those points. :smackingf

PMFB-RN, RN · Sep 4, 2008

Try getting into grad school with just your NCLEX.
Of course, a BSN carries more weight.

*** If a BSN was so important it would be required for grad school. There is no nursing advanced practice field, including CRNA, that requires a BSN, though some schools require it others don't.

PMFB-RN, RN · Sep 4, 2008

However, let's ALL take advanced pathophysiology and all those upper college level courses and then the playing field will be level for RN's.

*** A BSN after an nurses name give zero indication that advanced patho has been taken. None of the BSN programs I looked into required advanced patho and the program I chose certainly did not. As for those upper level college courses, just fluff and BS unrelated to nursing.

FA to CRNA2b · Sep 5, 2008

*** If a BSN was so important it would be required for grad school. There is no nursing advanced practice field, including CRNA, that requires a BSN, though some schools require it others don't.

I didn't say that a BSN was required for grad school. Any old bachelors and your RN license will suffice (maybe). I did say that you would not be able to get in with just passing the NCLEX. This is in response to the person who said that we are equal because we all have passed the NCLEX. I have utmost respect for all of my preceptors who taught me everything I know. Most of them have their ADNs or diplomas. Unfortunately, none of them would be able to get into grad school for any specialty--not that they necessarily want to.

PMFB-RN, RN · Sep 5, 2008

I didn't say that a BSN was required for grad school. Any old bachelors and your RN license will suffice (maybe). I did say that you would not be able to get in with just passing the NCLEX. This is in response to the person who said that we are equal because we all have passed the NCLEX. I have utmost respect for all of my preceptors who taught me everything I know. Most of them have their ADNs or diplomas. Unfortunately, none of them would be able to get into grad school for any specialty--not that they necessarily want to.

*** Why wouldn't they? CRNA is the only advanced specialty that requires a bachelors degree. Lots of NP and other MSN programs where no bachelors degree is needed or earned. ADN nurses go directly from ADN to MSN, usually with one semesters worth of bridge courses.

So you are quite incorrect. The only speciality they would need a bachelors degree would be for CRNA.

Altra, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2008

Lots of NP and other MSN programs where no bachelors degree is needed or earned. ADN nurses go directly from ADN to MSN, usually with one semesters worth of bridge courses.

Can you please provide a link to a college or university which confers an MSN in one semester to students who lack a bachelor's degree?

FA to CRNA2b · Sep 5, 2008

Can you please provide a link to a college or university which confers an MSN in one semester to students who lack a bachelor's degree?

I would like to know too. This would save lots of time! Why bother going to school for four full years if one can get the ADN in two years and do a bridge semester to MSN? Of course, I'm going to CRNA school and there are no shorts cuts. There's not even a debate about that.

jjjoy, LPN · Sep 5, 2008

Can you please provide a link to a college or university which confers an MSN in one semester to students who lack a bachelor's degree?

That's not what the person was saying. The bridge semester would presumably cover relevant BSN content needed for the MSN and not covered in all ADN programs. After that bridge semester, MSN coursework would begin. Total coursework for ADN-MSN would be bridge content + MSN content. Thus, it would take longer than just one semester for the ADN to earn an MSN. How such bridge coursework could all fit into one semester is a different question.

I have heard of ADN-MSN programs that do NOT confer a BSN along the way. Kinda strange but it does appear to happen.

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Sep 5, 2008

Maybe the poster meant you do 1 semester of bridge courses before you begin the master's level courses.

ETA- jjjoy & I must have been posting at the same time.

Great minds think alike. :chuckle