So, I have been accepted into TCU's nursing program and into El centro college of nursing in Dallas tx. I am having a hard time deciding which route will be better for me. TCU has been the school of my choice since day 1, i believe that it is a very competitive school and i was accepted as a transfer student ( which is really hard to get in nowadays since they first take their own students). I will earn a BSN with them and it will open me a lot of other doors. What i am not really looking for is the high private tuition they carry ( 14,000 per semester) i really have my heart in to this school, but im scared of the debt. On the other side i also got into el centro's program which leads to a ADN and its much cheaper. I've been doing some research that will give me strong conclusions and will help me decide which way to go, since I don't have that much time and i came across a lot of articles stating how many hospitals where switching to a magnet status, where they no longer hire new ADN, this makes me wonder if really there is such a shortage of nurses how is it that they are switching to this new reform, i mean if the shortage is real, they would hire an ADN without experience and train them their way. This leads me to think.. How real is this information? will ADN nurses really have a tough time finding a job, and if so, should that make an impact in my college decision, because i don't want to have to spend 4 semester and be unemployed for a while , while i go back for my BSN, while in TCU in 5 semesters i can graduate with my BSN and have absolutely no problem. Tough decision, please help me with your suggestions and opinions! it is greatly appreciated!!!
Here is what I found in my search. No where does it state that magnet hospitals = BSN only.
I'm starting to think there is not a direct correlation between BSN and Magnet status.
What is Magnet status and how's that whole thing going?
Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. A Magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to indicate nursing involvement in data collection and decision-making in patient care delivery. The idea is that Magnet nursing leaders value staff nurses, involve them in shaping research-based nursing practice, and encourage and reward them for advancing in nursing practice. Magnet hospitals are supposed to have open communication between nurses and other members of the health care team, and an appropriate personnel mix to attain the best patient outcomes and staff work environment. We encourage all nurses to learn more about the principles of Magnet certification, and to consider appropriate nursing certification programs for their hospitals. Learn more about Magnet status: eligibility for it, the benefits of it, hospitals that have achieved it, and hospitals that are seeking it on which the ANCC is seeking public comment.
We understand that some nurses are enthusiastic about the program and feel that it promotes the important practices outlined above. However, it is important to be aware that others, notably nursing unions, have been highly critical of the way the Magnet program has been implemented. Some critics, including the California Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, have argued that the Magnet program is primarily a hospital promotion tool that resembles the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in its seemingly incestuous relations with hospital management. Such critics have also asserted that there is little evidence that nurses at Magnet hospitals are really much better off than nurses elsewhere. Suzanne Gordon, in Nursing Against the Odds (2005), says that she regards the Magnet program as an important effort, but she too questions how well it really works, suggesting that many of its voluntary guidelines may offer only the illusion of nurse empowerment. The Center has heard many first-hand reports of some hospitals trumpeting their new Magnet status even as they proceed to betray some of the program's key principles.
To the extent the Magnet program is not effectively promoting its important nurse empowerment goals, we would like to see it strengthened. In general, we hope that all nurses will work for strong, effective nursing credentialing programs to address the nursing crisis and improve patient care.
Frankly, the Center has heard from a number of nurses who are unhappy with the changes at their hospitals since the award of magnet status, and we have not heard from many who are happy. One report was that the nurse who had led the drive for magnet status was fired soon after the hospital received it, and that the magnet reforms quickly began to unravel. Others have said that their hospitals reverted to short-staffing and excluding nurses from decision-making processes soon after receiving magnet certifications. Such reports support the claims that some hospitals are treating magnet status mainly as a promotional tool, and that the program is not effectively monitoring compliance.
Please forgive my ignorance but what states that magnet status = BSN.
I understand hospitals are now preferring more BSNs then ADN but how is it related to magnet status.
I thought magnet status was the meant to use more evidenced based practice.
Sorry again for my ignorance. Can someone please explain ? I'm going to google also.
This is my thinking on that.
When I was picking between a BSN program and an ADN program this is how the difference was described to me. The ADN program is more hands on and the focus is more tasks. The BSN program is more paper work because it is more research orientated and the focus is more on leadership and evidence based practice which is why a magnet hospital would want that instead
(...and for some reason I think administration feels that a BSN nurse is smarter. But you have to remember most of administration are not nurses and don't know any better. )
In my area, hospitals only hire ADN's if they have experience. New grads need the BSN to even get in the door. I do think, however, that some are still hiring new graduate ADNs - depends on the impression you make, who you know, how pushy you are to get the job, etc. Nothing is in concrete...yet!
If I had it to do again, I would get the BSN right up front. I think it is going to be necessary anyway, esp. in the future, so why not just get it over with? Now, as far as my personal feelings about the BSN, and whether or not it makes better nurses - NO! While more education can't hurt, it's just a whole lot more BULL, and more about making managers, etc. All the things most nurses DON'T want to do anyway. But, we gotta play "the man's" game, and it is better to have it than to not, especially as a new grad.
FYI: Texas BON has a goal of 80% of all hospital nurses with BSN by 2014. I would recommend the ADN but work on the BSN quickly. Once you are employed your employer may assist with tuition.
I am a nursing student who just finished my first year. I was accepted into BSN and ADN programs, and I ended up going with the ADN. The BSN programs I was accepted to would have required me to take out almost $50,000 worth of loans, which really scared me. I know that I may have a steady career when I graduate (hopefully, at least!) but nurses are by no means millionaires, and I can't imagine how long it would have taken me to repay those loans.
I have never regretted my decision - I am in a great program with great faculty and I feel like I am learning to be a great RN.
My advice for you as far as securing a job when you graduate would be to get a job in a hospital (or LTC, wherever you want to work) preferably before you start nursing school and definitely while you are in school. Not only will you learn a ton (I sometimes feel like I learn more observing at work than I do during slinicals) but you will have your foot in the door at a facility that can employ you when you are an RN. I have been at my hospital for two years. I was told by a nurse manager this past weekend that when they looked at new hires for this spring, they looked almost exclusively at people that were already employed in the hospital. Our hospital is magnet designated, and was the first in our area to receive it. They definitely still hire ADNs, I see them all the time on the floors and even in the ICUs. They have a great tuition assistance program, and I am planning on going straight into my BSN completion when I graduate.
Good luck with school! Both ways lead to an RN, which will be a wonderful and fulfilling career path for you. Applying to and getting accepted into nursing school is a horrible process! You are in!!! Enjoy the ride.
Let me chime in here and give you my 2 cents. First you don't indicate on whether you are willing to relocate to get your first job if need be. If are willing to relocate if needed to get your first job then definately go the ADN route first and I will give you the reasons why:
1. The tuition costs for the ADN program will be a fraction of what you are looking at paying for a private school.
2. You will be able to enter the work force 2 years sooner than your BSN counter parts. Assuming you graduate in 2 years and they graduate in 4. In this scenario you will be over a hundred grand ahead of your BSN counterparts before they graduate.
$25/hr x40hrs/week x52 weeks =$52,000 x 2 yars = $104,000
Also during that time you can be doing an ADN to BSN bridge program which a lot of hospitals will reimburse you for in part of full. Many of these bridge programs can be done in 1.5 to 2 years.
So at the end of it all you can have a BSN in the same time as your private school compadres, you will have 2 years of experience, minimal to no debt, and have potentially earned over a hundred grand. With those credentials you will be able to walk in to just about any hospital in the country and score the job you want, while your friends who are new grads from private school who many who are deeply in debt will have to take what they can get.
Do not, and I repeat DO NOT take out large school loans to become nurse. Truth of the matter in nursing it does not matter what school you go to after you score your first job. What matters is what you do after school.
Private nursing schools are not for people who have to borrow money. Private nursing schools are for students who have parents with the means to pay for it. Bottom line.
This is a rumor when I got out of school with my AD back in 1975... it's all about scores..gotta have those scores. Linked to their bonuses...how many "magnet" facilities have you been to and wondered how they got that status? Who did they pay off...
Nursing is a business and when nurse's start treating it like such (think BSN) then you will succeed better. But, to this date I see no better pay...
A BSN is definately the way to go. It makes you more competative in the nursing job market. Unfortunately it comes at a high price - debt! I would consider the ADN route and once you have your RN and working at a decent RN wage, take online classes at a state school to get your BNS. Its the cheapest way to go, plus it can be done on a part-time basis so that you can pay as you go without taking on more debt.
It is the school of your choice, if you can afford it, I'd go for it!
Also, consider what you want to do with your career. Are you going to work as a floor nurse your whole life, or you do you want to continue on in school to be a ARNP or a manager? You'll need a BSN then, so you might as well get it now.
That is true. I want my BSN, and I also want to go for my CRNA. For that I really need a BSN, but also CRNA school is rather expensive, so that is what afterall comes to mind.
)
NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN
3,959 Posts
Here is what I found in my search. No where does it state that magnet hospitals = BSN only.
I'm starting to think there is not a direct correlation between BSN and Magnet status.
What is Magnet status and how's that whole thing going?
Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. A Magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to indicate nursing involvement in data collection and decision-making in patient care delivery. The idea is that Magnet nursing leaders value staff nurses, involve them in shaping research-based nursing practice, and encourage and reward them for advancing in nursing practice. Magnet hospitals are supposed to have open communication between nurses and other members of the health care team, and an appropriate personnel mix to attain the best patient outcomes and staff work environment. We encourage all nurses to learn more about the principles of Magnet certification, and to consider appropriate nursing certification programs for their hospitals. Learn more about Magnet status: eligibility for it, the benefits of it, hospitals that have achieved it, and hospitals that are seeking it on which the ANCC is seeking public comment.
We understand that some nurses are enthusiastic about the program and feel that it promotes the important practices outlined above. However, it is important to be aware that others, notably nursing unions, have been highly critical of the way the Magnet program has been implemented. Some critics, including the California Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, have argued that the Magnet program is primarily a hospital promotion tool that resembles the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in its seemingly incestuous relations with hospital management. Such critics have also asserted that there is little evidence that nurses at Magnet hospitals are really much better off than nurses elsewhere. Suzanne Gordon, in Nursing Against the Odds (2005), says that she regards the Magnet program as an important effort, but she too questions how well it really works, suggesting that many of its voluntary guidelines may offer only the illusion of nurse empowerment. The Center has heard many first-hand reports of some hospitals trumpeting their new Magnet status even as they proceed to betray some of the program's key principles.
To the extent the Magnet program is not effectively promoting its important nurse empowerment goals, we would like to see it strengthened. In general, we hope that all nurses will work for strong, effective nursing credentialing programs to address the nursing crisis and improve patient care.
Frankly, the Center has heard from a number of nurses who are unhappy with the changes at their hospitals since the award of magnet status, and we have not heard from many who are happy. One report was that the nurse who had led the drive for magnet status was fired soon after the hospital received it, and that the magnet reforms quickly began to unravel. Others have said that their hospitals reverted to short-staffing and excluding nurses from decision-making processes soon after receiving magnet certifications. Such reports support the claims that some hospitals are treating magnet status mainly as a promotional tool, and that the program is not effectively monitoring compliance.