ADN's being pushed out

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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I work for a large Magnet hospital. As nursing becomes more popular, and nurses not in short supply, I have noticed something ominous has being going on lately. Several of our older and very seasoned ADN nurses are being fired. The excuses for firing are ridiculous. I have sadly seen some excellent nurses lose their jobs. I am wondering if they want to get rid of the ADNs so they can look "better" with an all BSN staff. Or perhaps they want rid of older nurses who have been there longer because they are higher on the pay scale. Either way, it is very scarey. I myself am BSN, and i am not ashamed to say that what I know does not hold a candle to these fired nurses. Any thoughts?

Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
They want nurses to gain advanced degrees then they don't want to pay wage compensation deserving of that advanced degree. I notice that is what the CEO's cry baby about when they defend their high salaries.

This is nothing more than a talking point for CEOs. They want to be able to tell the public that their nurses have the best training available (although that is debatable, IMO). It's like the CEOs who throw around the phrase "quality care", while doing everything they can to ensure that it is impossible for us to deliver it.

Playing a bit of devil's advocate here but if education isn't important to nursing why not replace nurses with certificate-level unlicensed personnel?

Boston, that is exactly what has been happening for a few years now. Where have you been hiding yourself?

Just had this conversation with a pharmacist who gave credence to what I've said all along. That this degree elevation is all just a dog and pony show. He told me a doctorate level pharmacist has no more pharmacy knowledge than a master's level pharmacist. Every healthcare profession has been trying to raise their statuses to being almost doctor-like in an effort to vie for a higher pay scale. It hasn't worked. They thought they would be able to bill insurance companies more for services performed by doctorate level PTs and OTs but insurance companies are paying the same for services rendered by PTs and OTS whether they have a master's or a doctorate. The only thing they cared about was that the person providing the services was licensed. I remember when Hahnemann University first changed its physical therapy program from an entry-level master's to a doctorate. It was still a three program but now you graduate with a doctorate instead of a master's.

Wake up nurses! You're being fed a lot of garbage by those who stand to benefit by having you run back to school. Those are mainly the colleges and universities, the loan lending companies and the healthcare facilities who now try to say that they provide better care because more of their nurses have BSNs by writing a few more papers in APA format on current nursing issues and because they paid thew ANA thousands or dollars for what just about all nurses say is a fake seal of approval called "Magnet Recognition".

And by the way, there is every indication that facilities will start using more certified med techs. These people don't care whether or not you took out a second mortgage on your house or tapped into your nest egg to pay for that BSN. If they can find a way to try to provide care more cheaply, they'll do it. School districts are already firing school nurses and having teachers and administrators dispense medications to students. Is is right, safe or legal? Who knows. Is it being done? Absolutely.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Avenging, how long have you been an RN?

avengingspirit1, if you truly believe you have fulfilled all the coursework for an RN-BSN, have you contacted a university/nursing program etc. to ask how someone in your position should proceed? If you have done so, did the nursing program concede that you had completed all the coursework for an RN-BSN? What was their response? If you weren't happy with the nursing program's response did you take your concerns to the highest levels of university administration?

avengingspirit1, I'm still hoping you will answer my question. I don't believe you have addressed this question previously.

Specializes in FNP, ONP.

So, Avengingspirit is going to put an article on The Smoking Gun and bring down nursing education all by him or herself simply because s/he doesn't want to bother getting a BSN. The righteous indignation in those posts is amusing. (LOVED the bit quoting Nursing Spectrum as if it were a credible source, loved it. Priceless.) I doubt the officials at Schools of Nursing at Yale, Penn, Duke, etc have detectives trying desperately trying to determine whom Avenging is so that s/he may be stopped/silenced. Nor are all the others shaking in their boots fearing this hard hitting exposé on the nursing education "scam."

Bruce almightly, some people are thick. It is an exquisitely simply proposition folks: complete your BSN/DNP/Master of Letters in advanced Dog Whispering or not. It is up to you, but for the love of all that is holy, quit whining about it. The decision and consequences are yours. Time to grow up, make a choice, and move on. Good grief.

It's always amazing that when someone disagrees with the propaganda academic elitists try to postulate, they call it whining. To be honest, do you really think I care about whether or not they can figure out who am? I have said the same things on other sites and have given my full name and soon they know who I am here also.

I don't have have to do this all by myself anymore. A major station is interested in the story because many others have started to realize that degree inflation is the biggest racket going today. And no, I don't think I'll go out and spend $20,000 for a BSN after earning a business degree and a 3 yr nursing diploma just to keep college professors employed in their fantasy world of academia so they can be spared the experience of having to work in the real world.

As I said before, if some people want to spend the rest of their lives earning alphabet letters after their name and probably having it paid for by the universities they work for, that's fine. But don't push it on the rest of us. Because now we're starting to push back.

At a time when all you hear on the news is the record amount of student loan debt along with record numbers of those defaulting on those loans, the so-called nursing leaders (I say that because they are not my leaders) want to push their higher degree agenda. Talk about being out of touch with reality!

To all academic elitists who I must say are the most venal, prevaricating bunch of people I have ever known to exist, enjoy those nice cushy positions for now. Soon you may be needing to polish up those resumes.

And the Aiken study that nursing leaders love to trumpet as being the Holy Grail of explanations as to why nursing should run back to four year schools; to believe that was not flawed or biased, now that's a reason to laugh.

I've been an RN for nine years now. Nowhere near as long as many of the great nurses who are still out there treating patients on the floor after 20 and 30 years. They have my utmost respect. After earning my degree in business, the more I learned about the corporate world. the less I wanted to be a part of it. I came to nursing to help people, not to increase shareholders wealth. I find it a shame that self-serving nursing elitists don't think that way.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Avengingspirit1 may be a little bit passionate in her attitude, but she makes some very good points that I think are worth considering. Change the entry into nursing if you wish, but leave all of us who jumped through the hoops and are experienced alone. If we choose to acquire further degrees because that is what we want to do then that is fine, but do not force it unless you want to pay for it.

I became an RN 20 years ago. I met all the requirements and have kept my license current. I should not have to do anything further.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Avengingspirit1 may be a little bit passionate in her attitude, but she makes some very good points that I think are worth considering. Change the entry into nursing if you wish, but leave all of us who jumped through the hoops and are experienced alone. If we choose to acquire further degrees because that is what we want to do then that is fine, but do not force it unless you want to pay for it.

I became an RN 20 years ago. I met all the requirements and have kept my license current. I should not have to do anything further.

Absolutely.

The BSN push should be a conversation about the future not the past.

However, only eight percent of hospitals in the USA employ magnet nurses. The four states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California offer the most magnet hospital. They represent roughly 20 percent of the hospitals using the magnet program. They also are the hospitals using the most magnet nursing practices. The study had included almost 100,000 registered nurses-guess that gives some of us time to finish the BSN-some universities actually offer ADN to Masters program after a few solid nursing years...so far, its still a workable situation...

Sorry for not responding sooner. After having various schools review my transcripts, depending on the individual school, I was told I would still need between 33-47 credits. When I asked why I would need to take courses that I already had, their answer was that "our program requires it". I was told that there was nothing anyone in administration could do.

Now I'll translate what they were really saying. "We won't make as much money by having you come in and take only the upper level nursing courses and giving you credit for what you've already done."

I am not a naive kid. I am 50 and have spoken to colleges professors who readily admitted it's a business and that padding degree requirements is just one of the many ways four year schools scam students. I just glad it's starting to get national attention now with pressure put on government to stop pumping globs of money into four year schools. Every time they do, schools raise tuition.

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