Obtaining a BSN

[dorkypanda]

I'm a little confused about the BSN when it comes to employment. Does it matter if you earn the BSN the traditional way by attending RN to BSN program in person or doing RN to BSN online? Are employers picky about who got their degrees online and therefore give preference to those who did it offline? To be on the safe side would it better to do RN to BSN in person ?

thank you!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

It matters only that you attended an accredited BSN program. I don't know of ANY employer who would rule-out an online grad. They are in the majority these days I suspect- the RN-to-BSN variety that is.

[llg, PhD, RN]

It usually does not matter. However, it might come into play if the comparison is between a school with a great reputation and one with a shoddy reputation. In most cases, the reputation of the school matters more than the method by which the content of the education was delivered.

[dorkypanda]

Thank you both for your clarifications.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I am beginning to hear the faint whisperings from employers about online degrees vs. those obtained from more traditional education, i.e., brick-and-mortar schools. The part about great schools confer the assumption that their graduates are good still applies, but more and more people with online degrees from for-profit schools have been at work for awhile...and they are more likely to have gaps in their education and to perform at a lower level, and employers are noticing this and becoming more discerning when they need to hire.

I hasten to add that this doesn't mean these nurses are bad people, or stupid ones. It means their program has let them down by telling them they have this great education, and spitting them out with a lot less than it should. I'm specifically thinking of the case management degree programs that don't tell their students about professional CM organizations and resources, whose students have never heard of the top texts and references for CM, and whose students take coursework in CM and life care planning from faculty who are not case managers, have no certification or education in case management, and who themselves have degrees in "healthcare administration" or something from sketchy programs.

These students think they'll be snapped up as case managers or life care planners, but one look at their work product and the hiring managers or potential clients won't even give them the time of day. It's not their fault, but they did not learn it.

I'm seeing this in the legal world, where someone with an online degree from a sketchy (though accredited) school is not as credible as someone with a (for lack of a better word) real degree comes with some credibility built-in.