advantages of BSN vs. ADN

Niki79 · Dec 31, 2004

According to my chemistry professor, ADNs are more likely to kill a patient than BSNs...so I guess my patients are in BIG trouble :chuckle

Would this be Dr. Rod at BC?

zenman · Dec 31, 2004

and, just a couple of words of advice: first, don't assume that people who haven't completed their nursing education are 'uneducated'. with the vast number of people entering nursing as a second, third, fourth career, there are plenty of people- myself included- coming into the field as well-educated adults.

Anyone, in my opinion, who cannot recognize the value of education is "uneducated" regardless of how many careers they have or whether they have finished nursing school or not.

second, if you are truly trying to enlighten the poster (or anyone else), a condescending tone is the fastest way to alienate someone.

I think they may be beyond enlightenment, therefore I speak as I will. Course I do have a problem and little patience with "dumb."

zenman · Dec 31, 2004

Ok, I have a solution. Let nurses who only want to take nursing courses do so. Leave out all the useless crap. Let's do the same for engineers, lawyers, teachers, etc.. We can call you "trade school graduates." The ones who value and can even comprehend the value of education...we'll call you...let's see..."professionals." :rotfl:

rn/writer, RN · Dec 31, 2004

I graduated from an excellent ADN program ten years ago. I was 39 and had six kids, ranging in age from 9 to 21. Had I been ten or fifteen years younger (with fewer children), I might have gone after the BSN, but now--whew!--I have too much else going on to even think about going back to school. I do like to study and pursue CEUs whenever I can. I read a ton on my own and tend to go through short-term obsessions till I've acquired a working knowledge regarding a particular subject. Then I move on to the next one. This system seems to be working pretty well. I can't think of a time when the lack of a BSN degree has held me back.

That said, a BSN is the stepping-stone to any kind of federal public health opportunity (state requirements vary). You also need a BSN if you are considering advanced practice options or upper-level management.

The really great thing is, you don't have to decide now and that is one of the most amazing aspects of a nursing career. What other professional field lets you start working with as little as one year of schooling and then allows you to progress as far and as fast as time, finances, and personal choices permit? When I was first thinking about going back to school, I briefly considered social work or counselling. After I found out that a masters degree in either of those was considered just barely a notch above entry level (with crummy pay to match), I screamed and ran headlong into the ADN program and I've never looked back.

Cheers,

Miranda

katiebugg · Dec 31, 2004

I graduated from an excellent ADN program ten years ago. I was 39 and had six kids, ranging in age from 9 to 21. Had I been ten or fifteen years younger (with fewer children), I might have gone after the BSN, but now--whew!--I have too much else going on to even think about going back to school. I do like to study and pursue CEUs whenever I can. I read a ton on my own and tend to go through short-term obsessions till I've acquired a working knowledge regarding a particular subject. Then I move on to the next one. This system seems to be working pretty well. I can't think of a time when the lack of a BSN degree has held me back.
That said, a BSN is the stepping-stone to any kind of federal public health opportunity (state requirements vary). You also need a BSN if you are considering advanced practice options or upper-level management.
The really great thing is, you don't have to decide now and that is one of the most amazing aspects of a nursing career. What other professional field lets you start working with as little as one year of schooling and then allows you to progress as far and as fast as time, finances, and personal choices permit? When I was first thinking about going back to school, I briefly considered social work or counselling. After I found out that a masters degree in either of those was considered just barely a notch above entry level (with crummy pay to match), I screamed and ran headlong into the ADN program and I've never looked back.
Cheers,
Miranda

Thank you rn/writer,

I am 41 with 5 boys, ages 10-22. I just got accepted into an ADN program which I begin next month. I have found all of this imput very valuable. I will wait and see how I feel about the BSN thing later...right now, I need to concentrate on the ADN...thanks for the encouragement for all of you.

katie

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2004

Thank you rn/writer,
I am 41 with 5 boys, ages 10-22. I just got accepted into an ADN program which I begin next month. I have found all of this imput very valuable. I will wait and see how I feel about the BSN thing later...right now, I need to concentrate on the ADN...thanks for the encouragement for all of you.
katie

Good luck to you. As you can see there's a wide ranging opinion on both sides. I think this thread was quite mild compared to some others I've seen in the past.

I did the ADN because it was cheap and it was accessible (the BSN program being 2 hours away). 15 years later I'm doing the BSN. Always keep your mind open, depending on your own personal goals for yourself.

rn/writer, RN · Dec 31, 2004

Ok, I have a solution. Let nurses who only want to take nursing courses do so. Leave out all the useless crap. Let's do the same for engineers, lawyers, teachers, etc.. We can call you "trade school graduates." The ones who value and can even comprehend the value of education...we'll call you...let's see..."professionals." :rotfl:

Wow. I hope this is just good-natured ribbing masqerading as educational snobbery.

Being professional is an attitude and a code of conduct, not the unearned province of those with a particular title.

ADNs take a number of psych courses, sociology, economics, and a host of other non-nursing courses in addition to the hard core science and nursing pre-reqs. When I graduated in '94, we ADNs had more clinical experience than our BSN counterparts but we didn't hold that against them. We also had teeny tiny student loans, comparatively speaking. (A lot of sour grapes grew out of that harsh reality.)

One more thing--the correct terminology is community college.

(In plaintive Rodney King tone) "Can't we all just get along?"

Miranda F.

zenman · Dec 31, 2004

Wow. I hope this is just good-natured ribbing masqerading as educational snobbery.
Being professional is an attitude and a code of conduct, not the unearned province of those with a particular title.
ADNs take a number of psych courses, sociology, economics, and a host of other non-nursing courses in addition to the hard core science and nursing pre-reqs.
Miranda F.

I'm not talking about ADN vs BSN. Just giving those that can't figure out the value of non-nursing courses a "Dr. Phil" kick in the butt! But, seeing the quality of any graduate now makes me too scared to get sick! Do you know that universities used to NOT have remedial courses to teach what high school was supposed to teach.

Justmeandmycat · Dec 31, 2004

According to my chemistry professor, ADNs are more likely to kill a patient than BSNs...so I guess my patients are in BIG trouble :chuckle

LPN, ADN, BSN, it doesn't matter. A student is a student and there will be days at clinical when you will be happy to get home and know that you didn't kill the patient OR the instructor.:rotfl:

Fun2, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2004

I'm not talking about ADN vs BSN. Just giving those that can't figure out the value of non-nursing courses a "Dr. Phil" kick in the butt! But, seeing the quality of any graduate now makes me too scared to get sick! Do you know that universities used to NOT have remedial courses to teach what high school was supposed to teach.

Apparently you liked school. Obviously many do not. That doesn't make them uneducated, and I think that is extremely rude of you to say. Your opinions matter, but not your name calling. Just because one doesn't want to take non-nursing courses doesn't mean he or she is trash. I'm just offended by your comment.

Filling the pockets of colleges does not make one professional. You can't use what you learned in history class to save a pt.'s life, and unless you teach history, or go to trial against it :uhoh3: , then why should you have to learn it after learning it through out your life in grade school, and high school????

Also, my mother is one of a very few females buyers in a big international helicopter company. She did not graduate from college, in fact only was able to take one class. However, she has been with this company for 20 (?) years, and she is the only buyer without a college education. Do you think because she is uneducated she is incompetent to do her job? Obviously she is very competent! Does that make her not a professional? Is she the only nonprofessional in the professional dept. because she doesn't have her BSN degree? I think not!

People like you that try to belittle others are the reason we all can't get along and act like adults. You are not better than anyone else ADN or BSN!

Oh, BTW...I've never even seen "Dr. Phil". :angryfire

hospitalstaph · Dec 31, 2004

Hi all,

This thread really has me thinking. I am currently going for my ADN and plan to finish my BSN after I start working. I had previously thought that going on for the BSN is an option that I may not take since what I really want is to work with the patients and not work in managment.

Now I am alittle worried. I am finding myself more and more worried that *not* gettting a BSN is not an option. And I do not mean that I could not find a job and make great money. But I do not want to be involved in these types of debates at work or have my abilities questioned by a co-worker. Is this happening in the real world out there or only here in the faceless nameless safety of the message boards?

I was recently shocked that a college recruiter (from a BSN university) told me that ADN's kill more people. I hope that this is not being taught to their current students! I would hate to work with one of their grads and have them think that I am uneducated and a danger to patients. I hear nursing friends in my area tell me over and over again that if you want to work bedside it doesn't matter but then I see these heated posts and wonder, "Do I need a BSN to be accepted by co-workers?"

Maybe the study should have been "How obtaining a BSN creates harmony at the nurses station":chuckle

Tracy

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 31, 2004

How does anyone here feel about a person getting her ADN and then going for a different bachelors/master's degree, such as say, human resources or wholistic programs such as Clayton College studies? These I find MUCH more "up my alley" and suited to my ever-changing goals as an RN. Is that (pursuing alternate paths of study) any less to be recognized as valuable education? Because the BSN programs I have run into (RN-BSN) do not at all serve my needs or desires for further education and future goals. I do not wish to be "indoctrinated" as I have experienced ----yes we got speeches that the "only professional RN's have a BSN" from several professors, and to me, it's a horrendous turn-off. The only classes I see helping me may be nursing research and stats....the rest, I cannot see doing a thing to help.

If that is "uneducated ignorance" , so you call---- it I see differently. I call it thinking my options thoroughly and critically and putting money where it's needed and will do the most for me. I just wish there were alternatives to pursuing higher education besides BSN to forge a path beyond bedside nursing. I can't find a program that I like, frankly. I wish to pursue another related discipline to couple w/my ADN. Is that so wrong? :imbar