"To BSN or Not to BSN That is the question." Should BSN be minimal requirement?

Oh'Ello, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

Teachers are doing better than nurses, IMHO. They have a defined pension, life-time health care and about 8 months a year. No shift work. Accepted as a profession requiring a master's. No comparison to nursing. I think police work would be a better comparison. They have positions which require different levels of education but one can enter the group with an associates. After that, opportunities depend on education. Lots of shift work, lots of stress.

I didn't compare nurses to teachers as professionals. I used them as an example of how education inflation hasn't exactly made them millionaires.

AlwaysLearning247, BSN · Jul 15, 2015

In my opinion I think its important that every nurse gets a BSN eventually. I don't think it should be the minimal requirement. I have my associates and I am in an RN-BSN program now. We all hold the same license and do the same nursing classes/study the same materials. The BSN portion is just a lot of writing and research. All the research may help in a leadership position. I think experience on the floor is better than sitting behind a computer/books writing research papers, just my two cents.

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 15, 2015

It's an interesting idea on the face of it, but I've never heard anybody explain how that would work. How would we alter ADN curriculum from what it is now? How would it work to have half as many RN's as we have now? Would we extend BSN programs to 3 years or shorten ADN programs to 1 year? What would their clinical roles be? etc.

LPN programs typically take a year or so (or the one here does) so a year of prerequisites could be done pretty easily to make it an associates.

If BSN became the norm for RN's then that's what people who want to be RN's would do....if they want to do step by step then associates/LPN then move on to BSN/RN.

I don't have the answers really lol. It's just what kind of makes sense to me. As you go up each degree level you get more responsibility and job duties. I'm not sure what you meant by shorten BSN's to 3 years cause it took me a solid 4 years. And associates degrees are typically 2 years so not sure why you ask if we'd shorten it to 1 year....

I may be misunderstanding you though. I do that sometimes. (Oops)

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 15, 2015

To add: I also think LPN's should be used to their full abilities rather than pack mules for the med cart or calling in scripts at a doctors office.

If given the opportunity to gain the right experience they can be prepared for about anything.

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

In my area the largest hospital system went BSN only in 2011 (or 2012). Because there are 100 schools on every corner and 1 year BS to BSN programs everywhere they are still flooded with applicants. Who cares what the BON says if I graduate and cannot find a job ? I had a DON tell me that she was moving to an all RN staff because it was great for marketing. She runs a LTC and her FLOOR staff is 75% RN 2 years later. This was unheard of in LTC just a few years ago. I think employers will institute the BSN req long before the BON will.

hope3456, ASN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

In my area the largest hospital system went BSN only in 2011 (or 2012). Because there are 100 schools on every corner and 1 year BS to BSN programs everywhere they are still flooded with applicants. Who cares what the BON says if I graduate and cannot find a job ? I had a DON tell me that she was moving to an all RN staff because it was great for marketing. She runs a LTC and her FLOOR staff is 75% RN 2 years later. This was unheard of in LTC just a few years ago. I think employers will institute the BSN req long before the BON will.

My employer could care less if I have a BSN. My manager does not have hers.

I think it will depend a lot on your geographic location as to what employers requirements will be, as has been stated before in this thread. Educational "requirements" are also largely subject to change.

If you are in a saturated area, such as you are describing, employers can be as picky as they want. In some cities even BSNs claim they have trouble finding even a nsg home job. But in some rural areas, you will find that ADNs have no problems securing acute care employment.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Jul 15, 2015

No, they're not millionaires. Just saying that theyare doing better than nurses. Teaching jobs are covered because their practitioners don't quit in droves like nurses. Teaching is a more stable career because the benefits are attractive enough for people to stay until retirement.

hope3456, ASN, RN · Jul 16, 2015

If given the opportunity to gain the right experience they can be prepared for about anything.

RNs and BSNs run into the same problem - it's not all about education.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 16, 2015

I graduated in England in 1992 with a diploma. We were the second to last ever diploma class before nursing became a university degree in the UK. I came to America in 2003 with that diploma and managed to get hired to several ICUs. The last ICU I was in changed their policy just a couple years ago and will no longer hire nurses without a BSN, and much of my hospital is following suit. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any acute care job in my state without a BSN. I'm mainly talking ICU, stepdown and places like OR, PACU and similar specialties. I'm very glad I did mine and I could see the way things were headed which was what prompted me to get mine. I absolutely agree that a BSN should be an entry requirement. If we are ever to achieve true professional standing and the respect we so crave, we have no choice but to do so.

PT's are required to have a doctorate as entry level, PAs and NPs a Master's. If we don't adopt this soon we will always be viewed as servants and hand-maidens, and, as I found out recently, entered in the hospital budget on a par with housekeeping. We need to drag ourselves kicking and screaming into the 21st century and aim for our professional standing to be as high as we can get it. If floating, calling off, and being given unsafe assignments is ever to end, we have to do this. There is no such thing as a nursing shortage and employers can pick and choose. Of course they're going to hire BSN educated nurses if they have the choice. Protect your professional future and bite the bullet for your own financial security. We have schools churning out ADN nurses at an alarming rate, and most of those new grads will have a hard time getting a job. The same with NPs who go to online schools. Do the best for yourself and aim high, and the hospitals will have no choice but to up their ante also.

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 16, 2015

If given the opportunity to gain the right experience they can be prepared for about anything.

RNs and BSNs run into the same problem - it's not all about education.

Yes. So much of nursing is being able to apply the knowledge you have to gain real life experience.

AlphaM · Jul 16, 2015

There are states in the eastern part of the US, who are actively debating whether to require a BSN as a minimal requirement to become an RN. If this becomes law, should currently licensed RNs be "grandfathered in?"
While I hold a BS in Nursing, I personally do not agree with mandating a change. I have seen nurses: the good, the bad, and the ugly who are diploma grads, 2 year college grads and 4+ year grads.
What do you think?

Sigh.....

AutumnApple · Jul 19, 2015

Sigh.....

Lmao

So few words, yet so much said.

I've noticed most of my posts are lengthy, very wordy. I need to come up with a catch phrase.

Hmmmm.....something that involves an apple.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away". For those who fight with the docs........

" It only takes one bad apple........."

No, never mind, forget it.