My supervisor told me tonight that HR was getting complaints from patients stating, "The BSN nurse gave better care than the non-BSN nurse." End result, only RN will go on namebadge.
I do not want to debate whether BSN nurses are better or worse. What I would like feedback on is:
1.) Can a hospital legally take away your title of RN, BSN or RN MSN, etc.?
2.) I personally feel that is a "slap" in the face and demoralizes nursing and education! Am I the only one who feels like this?
Interesting to see the responses, which confirm my own suppositions on the matter.
Someone posted an NLNAC link to data regarding evidenced-based research, concluding that patient outcomes are in fact positively effected by Nurses with a BSN education.
My suspicion here is that the higher level of "education" itself as opposed to the subject matter, is key here. I would expect an accrediting body to be biased in that regard.
My own level of education is quite advanced outside of my accelerated ADN training. To pursue anything further in Nursing would simply not bring a return on investment, and serve no other purpose than to perhaps convince others that I am capable of doing, what I am already capable of doing.
One needs to also account for something called "opportunity cost", the cost of doing one thing vs another. In my case the cost for an M.S. in Anesthesia (CRNA) would be nice neat 500K. Taking into account of course, loss of income, tuition, and continuing expenses, (IE mortgages, insurance, groceries, etc).
It's been my experience that this seeking of advanced Nursing degrees, is primarily a scramble to get away from the bedside, precisely where the shortage will continue to be.
I would recommend exercising restraint in a quest for credential collecting. Take that Anthropology course you always wanted instead.
That is a strange way to phrase it. Maybe you didn't mean it in this way, but to me, it smacks of insecurity. They aren't "legally taking away your title." The only ones who can do that is the BON, and that's a different thread altogether. The hospital is simply not displaying your title on a piece of plastic they make you wear. You know who and what you are. But if you need a badge to prove it to yourself, you have a whole different set of problems.
Well actually the BON can only take away your RN license. The only institution that can take away an education title i.e. ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, PhD ect. would be the awarding university. The only reason they would do that would be if it came to their attention you had committed plagiarism while obtaining the degree.
On the topic I really don't care either way. Wear it on your badge don't wear it on your badge . . . whatever, there are more important things to be worrying about. Frankly if your employer doesn't want you to have anything other than RN next to your name on your name tag, then have nothing other than RN next to your name on your name tag or find a new job.
At my hospital we have RN, BSN or ADN or MSN on our name tags - the highest degree is the only one listed. So if you have your MSN it just says, Jane Doe, RN, MSN.
I have my BSN and patients or families sometimes ask what it means and I tell them...and they'll ask, "so that is better than an ADN?" and I say, well, we all have to pass the same boards and the pass rates for ADN programs and BSN programs are pretty much identical! So, I'm proud of my BSN, but in the end, we're all RN's!
I have a PhD and by choice, all I have on my name tag is RN. I don' t worry about who thinks I'm smarter or more academically or clinically superior. I just do my best to keep my students in line and the patients safe! If I listed all my education and certifications they: 1) wouldn't fit on my name tag, 2) no one else would probably know what they stood for, and 3) no one would probably care!
Oh my...another ASN vs. BSN discussion huh? In my opinion, RN is RN...how many humanity classes one took to gain their BSN over ADN means little in the clinical arena. I've worked with a lot of new grads thru the last years and I've yet to see a BSN grad that is more clinically competent than an ASN grad. They are equal.
And this attitude that "I'm a BSN and that makes me a better nurse than that ASN..." doesn't win you any brownie points in my eyes. ASN's and BSN's take the EXACT SAME STATE BOARDS.
I agree. Additionally, the general public has no idea what BSN, ADN, CCRN, RNP, etc means. Using one's educational level is fine on resumes, presentations, clinical papers, etc . . . on the ID badge, F. Nightingale, RN is sufficient.
I have an ADN with various certifications. At my hospital, it seems acceptable to put whatever you like after your title. I am good with just RN. I worked hard for CCRN, but don't feel a need to display it. I don't mind a bit that some of my peers have a lot of letters after their titles. None of my patients seem to mind that I only display RN.
While I understand your frustration, I also understand the hospital policy.
However, if you want your patients to know, and they won't let you put it on your badge, maybe you could find creative ways to work it into conversation with patients. "That reminds me of back when I was in school, earning my bachelors in nursing".
I once worked with a NP who preferred to use every designation to which she was entitled. But a nametag wasn't enough - she had all of her initials embroidered onto the breast pocket of her custom lab coats (billed of course to her MD boss).
It seemed as if every time she so much as attended a seminar, she managed to find some letters to add to her name. She spent alot of time chauffering her lab coats back and forth from the seamstress. Last time I saw her, the embroidery had extended into the 3rd line. It was quite funny watching patients and other staff members discreetly craning their necks, trying to decipher the alphabet soup:lol2::lol2:
Why should your tag say BSN and mine just say RN because I don't have a BSN? I have a bachelor's in a different field... I just didn't choose to get a bachelor's the second time around. If the minimum credential in the field is an RN, then I don't see a problem with RN on the tag.
Because I earned my BSN and you didn't. Yes, the minimum credential is an RN; but I did not get the minimum. I have a friend that has his ASN with a BS in kinesiology and his name tag says "Joe RN B.S.-kinesiology"
Studies show that throwing a small bone will make people happy. Most BSN nurses do not make anymore than an ASN nurse, if having an extra title next to their name that they earned makes them happy why not give it to them? If the ASN nurse do not like it then they can go back to school and get theirs.
As I passed a door, I actually heard a family member tell the pt "I'm going to complain that you only got a LPN," referring to one of the best critical thinkers and most experienced nurses on our floor.
So I'm all for removing tags that let ignorant troublemakers "compare" one nurse with another on the totally bogus basis of alphabet soup.
Keep your trophy shelf at home, guys. A pt has the therapeutically beneficial right to totally trust her assigned nurse.
At one of my local area hospitals its required for the nurses to either get RN or LPN embroidered on their scrubs. Whats is wrong with wanting an RN over an LPN, some people might want an LPN over an RN. Not to mention in some states LPN's cannot do some skills that RN's can thus more people coming into the patient's room, especially at night. I could see where this could cause some confusion and anxiety to a patient. This is just a different view on the matter please don't flame me. I do not think any less of LPN's, I know several who can run circle's around RN's and vice versa.
:lol2:.thumb.gif.5406a59d44f5c666e8ff3ebac639497a.gif){kind=avatar}
metal_m0nk, BSN, RN
920 Posts
Great post.