Needs HONEST answer, huge dillema!

targa · Jan 11, 2005

I hope I don't offend anyone by making the following comments and observations:

1. Go to the best school possible, even if you have to borrow for financial aid. If Harvard had a nursing school, and you were offered admittance, you'd be a fool not to go. The fact is that all professions, nursing included, are increasingly competitive these days. A degree from a "name" school will make you more attractive in the competition for the better jobs, and will increase your chances for entry into graduate programs. Why is this? The "name" schools have a reputation for a reason... they generally live up to their academic reputations in all disciplines (as measured by graduates who go on to complete advanced and professional degrees), and thus attract federal research monies, which attract better faculty, which design better curriculums, etc. The current nursing "shortage" will not last forever... a reversal of fortune will eventually come again. When it does, the nurse with the better credentials will be in a better position in the job market. Even if such reversal never comes about in your lifetime, superior preparation will equal superior job choice.

2. A university education will be more well-rounded and will contribute to your skills as a nurse. Anyone can learn how to inject a needle into a muscle. You, however, will be dealing with people... people who are ill, frightened, stressed, and sometimes struggling with their own mortality. And you'll be dealing with their families. You need to understand the human condition... and so, yes, you need to understand history, philosophy, religion, art, music, literature, anthropology, and political theory. You also need to be able to communicate well... and that means knowing how to spell "dilemma" and other common words. I don't mean to be harsh... but to succeed in any profession, you need to be able to speak and write competently, even superbly. People will judge you on that basis, trust me. If you can write well, you'll be five steps ahead of the competition. Now, I went to college before computers and word processors existed, and a single grammatical or spelling error in a paper was cause to lower a grade by a full point (from an "A" to a "B", for example). So maybe I'm out of touch with current standards, but I've worked long enough in the professional world to tell you that that's how it is... and I have two friends, both hospital administrators, who tell me that that's how it is for the upper echelons of nursing.

3. I think you're being a little unrealistic to say, at age 18, that out of the tens of thousands of hospitals in the USA, you want to work only at Stanford. Why Stanford? If you were older, I might say you watched too many episodes of "Medical Center" with Chad Everett. If you knew about the cost of living in the Palo Alto area, however, and the commute you will have in order to find affordable housing on your nursing salary, you'd likely change your mind in an instant. There are many superior hospitals... and they are likely to hire nurses who have superior training. What your résumé says will be important. I don't buy the proposition that an ADN-trained nurse and a BSN-trained nurse are on equal footings at the interview stage. I don't buy it because knowledgeable people in positions to hire tell me that the proposition is not true.

Again, it has not been my intent to offend; I'm simple trying to get a point across. The point is... you get what you pay for. That maxim is true in education as it is in every other corner of life. Good luck in whatever you decide.

targa · Jan 11, 2005

I am NOT suggesting that ADN programs do not prepare competent nurses. They surely do. I am saying that, all things being equal, a director of nursing with two résumés on his/her desk, one of an ADN-prepared candidate and one of a BSN-prepared candidate, will choose the BSN-prepared candidate. Of course, today, all things may not be equal; the DON might likely hire both.

I checked the web sites of a number of "big-name" medical centers; many of their job listings say "BSN preferred".

As for my suggestion that you attend a well-regarded university, consider this: where would you like your child to attend school? At XYZ Community College, or at (take your pick): Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Stanford, U Michigan, U Washington, Penn, UCLA, Duke, etc. ?

goodkittie395 · Jan 11, 2005

I hope I don't offend anyone by making the following comments and observations:
1. Go to the best school possible, even if you have to borrow for financial aid. If Harvard had a nursing school, and you were offered admittance, you'd be a fool not to go. The fact is that all professions, nursing included, are increasingly competitive these days. A degree from a "name" school will make you more attractive in the competition for the better jobs, and will increase your chances for entry into graduate programs. Why is this? The "name" schools have a reputation for a reason... they generally live up to their academic reputations in all disciplines (as measured by graduates who go on to complete advanced and professional degrees), and thus attract federal research monies, which attract better faculty, which design better curriculums, etc. The current nursing "shortage" will not last forever... a reversal of fortune will eventually come again. When it does, the nurse with the better credentials will be in a better position in the job market. Even if such reversal never comes about in your lifetime, superior preparation will equal superior job choice.
2. A university education will be more well-rounded and will contribute to your skills as a nurse. Anyone can learn how to inject a needle into a muscle. You, however, will be dealing with people... people who are ill, frightened, stressed, and sometimes struggling with their own mortality. And you'll be dealing with their families. You need to understand the human condition... and so, yes, you need to understand history, philosophy, religion, art, music, literature, anthropology, and political theory. You also need to be able to communicate well... and that means knowing how to spell "dilemma" and other common words. I don't mean to be harsh... but to succeed in any profession, you need to be able to speak and write competently, even superbly. People will judge you on that basis, trust me. If you can write well, you'll be five steps ahead of the competition. Now, I went to college before computers and word processors existed, and a single grammatical or spelling error in a paper was cause to lower a grade by a full point (from an "A" to a "B", for example). So maybe I'm out of touch with current standards, but I've worked long enough in the professional world to tell you that that's how it is... and I have two friends, both hospital administrators, who tell me that that's how it is for the upper echelons of nursing.
3. I think you're being a little unrealistic to say, at age 18, that out of the tens of thousands of hospitals in the USA, you want to work only at Stanford. Why Stanford? If you were older, I might say you watched too many episodes of "Medical Center" with Chad Everett. If you knew about the cost of living in the Palo Alto area, however, and the commute you will have in order to find affordable housing on your nursing salary, you'd likely change your mind in an instant. There are many superior hospitals... and they are likely to hire nurses who have superior training. What your résumé says will be important. I don't buy the proposition that an ADN-trained nurse and a BSN-trained nurse are on equal footings at the interview stage. I don't buy it because knowledgeable people in positions to hire tell me that the proposition is not true.
Again, it has not been my intent to offend; I'm simple trying to get a point across. The point is... you get what you pay for. That maxim is true in education as it is in every other corner of life. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Thank you. I Think you're right. And Stanford is just down the street from my house. I would be able to see it were it not for the larger buildings. I have always wanted to work there, and as a nurse. But whats this about my nursing salary? It's not a conflict of interest, but I was certain that I'd be able to support myself, and would be fairly well off. Anyways I think that I've made my decision on what school to go to. Thanks for the input.

Rambob · Jan 11, 2005

Anyways I think that I've made my decision on what school to go to. Thanks for the input.

Which one did you choose ?

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2005

OP, You have to decide what is right for you. The BSN can open more doors. The ADN can get you onto your career path quicker and with just as much clinical skill as the BSN.

Not addressing nursing specifically here. The experience of going away to university is priceless. Wish I had that opportunity when I was your age.