Lpn & asn are are being phased out.

Published

I live in the midwest and I've been seeing that schools have discontinued the LPN and ASN programs. Will the entry level for a nurse be BSN or MSN??? What will happen to nurses that only has an ASN?? I'm more concerned about people that are okay with just being an ASN and not wanting to go to school for 4 years(like myself) & knowing you'll never pay off your student loans.:no: Can somebody tell me why???

I'm in school right now and waiting to hear back if I am accepted into the ASN program. There are several hospitals in my area, and as far as I know only one will not hire ASN prepared nurses. But the schools are going strong. Being just an ASN sounds like a pretty decent idea to me...I mean ou only go to school for half the time and in my area, the hospitals pay both BSN and ASN nurses the exact same starting salary. Sounds like a sweet gig. I have plans to find a job and then transfer over to a local university where I will then begin working on my BSN. From there, the same school has a BSN to NP track that I'm pretty dead set on riding all the way. But if people want to remain ASNs, there's plenty of jobs available.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
In my area "bsn preferred" means "bsn required" and that's all the hospitals

Must be a local glut of nurses in your area. None of my ADN students have had a problem getting an acute care hospital job after graduation. They usually have several to choose from in fact.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
While I don't think phasing out, such as in firing, LPNs and ADNs, is the proper way to go about things, I do feel that making the BSN the new minimum standard entry to the profession is a good way to go. Nurses cry out for respect and a seat at the table, and yet, one can become a nurse in less than 16 months.

It doesn't take anywhere near 16 months to take a person of the street and turn them into a newly minted RN. There are a number of 12 month BSN programs in my region for people who already have a degree in something else.

I do find a little irony when complaining that one can become an ADN RN in "only" 16 months, when they are churning out new BSNs in only 12.

That said I don't know of any 16 month ADN programs.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
It is this type of crap that is so saddening for our profession. Nursing, again, is the only "profession" that puts down other members for having an appropriately-leveled education to legitimately be called a profession. A Bachelors degree is more than fluff and pomp. You DO learn more than an ADN and you DO have a more well-rounded college education.

Maybe, but it certainly goes directly against my person experience and that of my RN friends who went on to get BSNs.

I found the BSN (RN to BSN) to be absurdly easy, not informative, and the level of discourse to be embarrassing low.

Mine was a waste of time. Lucky for me it was free and I was able to do most of the work on paid time. I'm worse off for having it. While I was earning my BSN I had to miss out on other educational opportunities that would have been beneficial to my practice and my patients.

This is NOT calling ADN/LPNs stupid or less capable. I have no idea why so many ADN/LPN nurses are adamantly against getting a Bachelors degree. It can only help nursing as a whole.

I disagree. I think what makes nursing special is our ability to relate to patients and this ability comes from our diversity.

The associates degree nursing programs are how most men, minorities and second career people enter nursing.

In my opinion the WORST thing that could happen to nursing would be if we became like medicine or pharmacy, that is kids from relatively affluent back grounds who go from high school, to college to professional program to practice.

Has anyone tried University of West Florida? They are a public state school in Pensacola, FL. They offer a 100% online RN-BSN. No clinicals or classroom visits. One year...$8-$9K total. AP Affiliate - UWFNURSING[h=1]RN to BSN[/h]


Finish in as few as 12 months | 7-week courses

$282.13 per credit hour | Total Program Cost: $9,028

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Indoctrinated opinion? This is just where our society is going. Higher education levels command higher respect in general. No lawyer, doctor (medical or "real" Ph.D. Doctor), engineer, other profession advocates for less education to work in their circles.

Nobody is advocating for less education to work in nursing. Nobody is saying we should come up with a new path to RN that requires less education than currently allowed, it's the opposite. Certain people are saying that we need to expand the level of non nursing education required to become an RN.

I find the profession you listed to be ironic. There are at least two different degree levels for physicians, bachelors and doctorate, and two different doctorate paths to physician practice. Yet medicine doesn't seem to care at all. Requirement to become a lawyer vary widely and in some states don't even require a law degree. Yes it seems that only nursing is very concerned about how we are perceived in relation to our education.

Look through these forums, plenty of ADN/LPN nurses are bashing BSNs

Given that so many are calling for ADNs to not even be allowed to work as RNs (like the ANA says in their white paper), you might forgive the ADNs for being a little sensitive.

However, going forward, the BSN needs to be the standard entry with reflective pay.

In my opinion this would be disastrous for nursing. What makes nurse special and very different than the other health professions is our ability to relate to our patients. Its why we are so trusted by society.

We have this unique ability due to our diversity. Its the local community college ADN programs that offers the opportunity for so many diverse people to enter nursing.

I think BSN as standard for entry to practice would make nurses too much like medicine, unable to empathize or relate to our patients until many years into our practice.

Those of us who work in teaching hospitals can see this effect. Each year we get interns who don't relate to their patients, and it's only after many years of practice that they even begin to.

I went ADN and got through the NCLEX in 70 questions so....

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
The 2 year year degree nurses were grandfathered in, and it was a relatively smooth transition.

That's not how we are going about it here in the USA, hence why there is so much opposition to BSN as entry to practice.

If BSN as entry to practice was REALLY about patient safety then nursing would do as Canada did, and as pharmacy, physical therapy and others did by simply grandfathering in all of those who became qualified under the old requirements, and enforcing the new requirements as of "X" date.

What we are doing is guaranteed to create maxim opposition to BSN as entry to practice. Instead of simply grandfather in all those who met the old standard we are making them meet the new standard or face unemployment.

It's really about resentful people wanting to punish those who had the gall to practice as an RN without having made the sacrifices it took to attend a university BSN program.

Two large hospital systems in my area have gone BSN only. I never thought I would see that. If you are already employed fine, otherwise you are out of luck. I have been a nurse over 20 years and I have seen a shift. Because there are so many schools pumping out RN's monthly they can afford to enforce their policy. They have also ceased hiring LPN's at all and are moving the floor nurses out of acute care into their clinics and affiliated physician's offices. If I were entering nursing now I would just get the BSN and be done with it. I had an excellent run as an LPN working ER/MS/ICU and even travel nursing for years. That era is over and you are naive' if you refuse to see it. A few years ago you didn't need a Masters to be an NP and now...

If I had to do it today I would go bs to bsn. That wasn't available when I started the process to changed careers around 2007. My program was ideal with evenings and weekends since I had a full time job I could not quit, although I never had a day off,

Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.
What do you mean screwed over? I'm wondering what type of school you went to? Was it accredited? Maybe a for profit commercial which is why you have so much in student loans? That could be why you are not being considered. Plus, a prior degree means nothing in the nursing world. Nothing.

You our need to research your job market. I did that before attending school. My school was very inexpensive and I'm graduated debt free. My school is also one of the best. Several nurses on my unit asked me where I graduated from. I told them and all said, Oh students from so and so can get jobs anywhere. Good choice. Every person from my class had a job upon graduation. Actually, the entire region did. Two of my classmates got jobs at a huge hospital in Minnesota, and one in Georgia. So it's not limited to just my area.

Did you graduate before 2008?

I got an ASN from a Massachusetts community college in 2008, and I ended up in the same situation. I finally found my first nursing job after 10 months, a cancelled job, and a 250-mile move.

Thanks to the 2008 economic crash, the job market when I finished school was completely different from the job market when I started. Even classmates who already worked in hospitals and LTC had trouble finding jobs "Research" tends to lag several years behind what is actually happening in a field. Ask anyone studying to be a petroleum engineer.

Lots of 2008 nursing grads got burned in the economic crash. I'm sorry if that bothers you.

Did you graduate before 2008?

I got an ASN from a Massachusetts community college in 2008, and I ended up in the same situation. Thanks to the 2008 economic crash, the job market when I finished school was completely different from the job market when I started. "Research" tends to lag several years behind what is actually happening in a field. Ask anyone studying to be a petroleum engineer.

Lots of 2008 nursing grads got burned in the economic crash. I'm sorry if that bothers you.

Thank you . Yes it was a very quick change here. The hospital president at our pinning had the nerve to tell us to be "encouraged" because swine flu may "improve " the job market for nursings. Didn't mention they were also boing towards magnet status

Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I was replying to Nursegirl525.

+ Join the Discussion