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Rex, You seem to have misconstrued my whole argument. Say you work on an intensive cardic ward, and patient's are calling you to help them go to the restroom, or perhaps to pick thier tray up after a meal. It would be nice to accomodate every patient's needs in a timely and orderly manner, but as one nurse caring for 4-6 patients at a time, you simply cannot. I tend to prefer safe care. If this means that I cannot pick up a tray or get ice for someone immediately then I feel I have made the more proper judgement. I said nothing about ADN or Diploma nurses giving any less care. I did however say that again, in order to establish ourselves as a profession, we must act professional. I believe this would mean nurses not walking around with tons of jewerly on or heavily scented perfumes also, but I see this everday as well. Most profession, and you may research this fact, have at least a Bachelor's degree as an entry level requirement. Thier will always be nurses who are ADN's that out perfom BSN's and vice versa, but the point again is that we need an established minimum requirement and not a mix of fruitsalad blended as one. There are at least two states to my knowledge that have already established the BSN as a minimum reqirement.

I found it so interesting that nurses could clash so hard against one another over the entry-level nursing degree topic. However, I believe thier is some validity to making a BSN the minimum requirement. In order to be considered a true profession, a recognized standard must be mandated. Nursing cannot have 2 year AD programs and 3 year diploma programs, if we can ever call our self a profession. Look around you at work...Are you performing bath duties for patients, carrying in meal trays, and emptying trashcans all while trying to care for 5 or 6 patients. I bet the answer to this question is yes for alot of the readers. Nurses are suppose to do houskeeping duties and be considered a true profession. All of my friends who graduated college outside of the field of nursing do not have to empty trash cans with thier 4-year degrees. The mainstream medical community laughs at us as unequals...We are not paid like a true profession, but are expected to keep up with more new modalities everyday and changes in healthcare. A current longitudinal study of nursing salaries indicated that nursing salaries when compared to other health careers fell a negative 135 % from 1990-2000. So, if nursing ever wants to gain respect and call itself a true profession, we must band together, form unions, and even strike if needed. Finally, not for who is better rights.....but a BSN must be established as the entry level to gain academic integrity.