MSN vs BSN in PHN

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What are the additional responsibilities and pay of a MSN PHN.

Why have you or haven't you gotten your MSN?

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There is nothing in public health nursing that requires more education than that of an ASN. I have looked at and talked to many in public health. I am also married to a wonderful RN/PHN. PHN is an attached lable, not a license.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
What are the additional responsibilities and pay of a MSN PHN.

Why have you or haven't you gotten your MSN?

here in illinois you cannot get a job as a phn without at least a bsn. most of the jobs would like you to have a masters for the really competitive jobs. i am interested in phn in the future also and my phn proffessor emailed me information about how to get certified and so forth. some people confuse home health nursing with phn. yes, it is a component of it but you don't need a bsn to do home health. if you want to work for any public health department here or if you want to work for say the center for disease control, a bsn is necessary. you can search information on line about this and it will tell you more details.

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To get upper level jobs or jobs with places like the CDC, NIH, UN, or WHO, I believe a master's degree in nursing or public health is necessary. I know that if you don't have a nursing degree and go into public health, a master's is absolutely necessary.

For local health department PHN jobs, the pay tends to go up with experience and education.

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Specializes in cardiology, oncology, telephone triage.

"here in illinois you cannot get a job as a phn without at least a bsn"

that's not entirely true. i worked at a health department in IL and although the other nurse in my dept and I both had BSN degrees, many nurses in the other sections did not. i'm not sure what part of IL you are in... Chicago may be different from downstate. I'm sure aquiring a position in a large city has the potential to be much more competitive.

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That is not true about the BSN to be a PHN. I have my BSN, and I am the only nurse in my division at our health department that has one. It's "preferred", but if you are flexible and have a true love and calling for public health, that goes a long way, too. I am a public health nurse in Illinois.

SRKnurse

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Specializes in Correctional / Med-Surg..

In California PHN is an actual certification obtained through the Board of Registered nursing. To get a PHN certification you must graduate from a BSN program that includes a community health rotation and meets the requirements set by the BRN for this certification. You have to fill a separate application from the RN license, and verification of education is done through the BSN school. It not until then, that in California a person is able to use the tittle and work as a PHN.

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education and experience tend to dictate pay as a phn. in the states that i've worked in as a phn, the bsn is "preferred" for typical entry-level phn positions. to take on more supervisory positions such as clinical nursing director, program coordinator, or county nurse manager, etc. then an msn or mph is "preferred". however, i think experience and passion for phn count for a lot in the hiring process. many of the nurses i see in those positions do not have an msn or mph, only the bsn. i'm currently about to graduate with an mph. i may or may not get the msn. i'm still considering it. it may be overkill at this point, and i'm not sure if i really need it considering my future career goals.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
There is nothing in public health nursing that requires more education than that of an ASN. I have looked at and talked to many in public health. I am also married to a wonderful RN/PHN. PHN is an attached lable, not a license.

In some states it is. In California a PHN is a license, I have a license number for it and everything. A bachelors is required for entry level; and one must graduate from a bachelorette school that has a community health nursing course which has specific requirements and rotations. There are some positions out of the hospital for LVNs and ADN nurses like home health; but a PNH license is required for a public health nurse job.

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There is nothing in public health nursing that requires more education than that of an ASN. I have looked at and talked to many in public health.

Interesting viewpoint, since ASN programs do not contain any didactic or clinical content in public health/community health nursing, while all BSN programs do. While many people with less than a BSN do manage to get jobs in public health departments (particularly in areas where there is not a large pool of candidates and agencies cannot afford to be picky), the position of the larger nursing community is that a BSN is the appropriate minimum educational preparation for public health nursing.

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Specializes in Home Care.

I'm a new LPN and have just got a 6 month contract with our county health department to do flu shots at the clinic.

I'm excited, I'm interested in PHN for my nursing career.

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no one mentioned pay.....

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