"I was told that if I wanted a BSN; with all the coursework I had completed already, it should only be a few upper level nursing courses. When I looked into it, I found that schools wanted anywhere from 10-15 courses at costs of $11,000 - $25,000. When I looked at curriculums, I saw courses such as Theories of Nursing, Sociology of Nursing, Leadership and Ethics. All of this was incorporated into my diploma program and nothing new that had no bearing on patient care, I didn't see the purpose of taking on another student loan debt at age 50 to write nonsense papers in APA format at a cost of up to $25,000. Now, if RN-BSN programs consisted of some upper level courses on topics such as; how to recognize early signs of sepsis, new wound care techniques, how to prevent the progression of heart disease and diabetes, how to treat and possibly prevent mental deterioration in the elderly or anything else that can actually be of benefit to people, that would be a different story." I am a diploma nursing school graduate circa 1973. Worked in nursing until last year when I took early retirement due to being riffed like all the old, top of the payscale nurses at all the local hospitals. I've put in numerous applications with not one call back. Why? They can hire a new, wet behind the ears BSN for less than they need to pay me for my experience. I went back to school right after graduation for my BSN. One class at a time while working full time. Got all those useless prelims out of the way (English, Am. Lit, etc). Applied to the local university for the BSN program (also where all my 99 credit hours and my 3.0 grade average resided) and was told my credits were too old! When did English grammar change? Is a semicolon no longer used? How the hell did these courses change? In addition, they would not offer any credit hours for my years of nursing experience (at the time I was the Director of Infection Control/Employee Health, a position I held for 19 years - I was riffed in 2008 when a merger occurred and most department managers in both facilities were turfed). This meant taking organic/inorganic chemistry, A&P, and all that crap over again. I was in my 50's! No to the BSN and accompanying debt. Oh, and the IC/EH position is now TWO separate positions (I did BOTH and worked 4 days a week) AND is STILL being advertised for 7 years later!
