getting a job with an ASN and a BA?

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 10, 2012

What a BA will do for your hiring chances...well, I was hired with an ADN and a BA. And I was also turned down from jobs because I don't (yet) have a BSN. The answer there is: who knows?

The fact is that no matter how much you (and I) want it to be so, ADN + BA does NOT = BSN. And the fact is that a lot more facilities are preferring to hire BSNs. Does this mean a non-BSN is automatically shut out of jobs? Not necessarily...a lot of it has to do with what you can bring to the interview table as well as where you are looking. But not having a BSN makes it tougher to find something nowadays. If it's a magnet facility or one trying for magnet status, your chances of getting picked up as a non-BSN really drop.

In addition, there really no way of telling what the job market will be like when you graduate a few years from now. Whatever you decide to do is going to involve taking a gamble on your part because who knows if the market will improve for new grads, BSN or otherwise?

I wish I had more concrete answers for you, but despite what doctors seem to expect from me, I didn't study clairvoyancy in school And I'm not trying to be flippant: there's just really no way of knowing what your chances of getting hired are going to be like down the road.

Best of luck whatever you do!

llg, PhD, RN · Feb 10, 2012

I do not live in Boston ... but in my area of the country ... the BA would not help. Most of the best positions available for new grads are BSN strongly preferred (or required).

PMFB-RN, RN · Feb 10, 2012

Here in the upper midwest:

BSN = BSN

ADN = ADN

ADN + BA = ADN

BTW I hope by the time you are ready to do NP or midwife there are still MSN programs available. They are disapearing fast.

happyinillinois · Feb 10, 2012

I am in the same boat as you. I had a B.A., went back to school for an ADN. I was able to land a great hospital job, but I was one of the very, very few. I think it was because I worked as an LPN during my last year of nursing school and my "maturity". I really sold myself during my interview, but it was hard to get the interview. Wanting to stay competitive, I enrolled in WGU online to complete my BSN. With a B.A. and ADN, I only needed 7 core nursing classes, and I hope to be done this summer. That said, if I had to do it all over again, I would've just gone the BSN route. At my community college, the ADN in really about a 3 1/2 year program with all the pre-req's required. This is AFTER the classes I had for by B.A. Some of it was the pre-reg for the pre-req's, some was in the way the classes were offered, (you can't take A&P II, until you take A&P I, so there goes a semester) The BSN would've been 4 years! My community college class was filled with people who already had B.A. and B.S. in other subjects, and has an excellent reputation. They loved us at clinicals, and always said my school had the best nursing students etc., and then graduation came around the same hospitals are now going for magnet status and will only hire BSN's to achieve magnet status without having to pay for additional education. It is the economy, and with so many applicants why not hire the one with a higher degree for the same $$? The majority of my classmates are working in nursing homes. The nursing homes pay very well, just be advised that is where you probably will work with an ADN in a major city. Yes, your BSN will cost more, but if you can't get a job without it, (and in Boston you probably can't) then you should just go for it!

leenak · Feb 10, 2012

As others have said, different areas are tough. I know someone who had a BA in psychology + ADN and it took her 9 months to get a part time job, full year for full time. On the other hand, I knew BSNs in my area who got a job upon graduation. Mileage may vary but it definitely seems BSNs are favored in my area.

ryanalice · Feb 11, 2012

Thanks for all of the responses so far. This is a tough decision!

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Feb 11, 2012

I have a BA and a diploma from a hospital based program. I've worked in a hospital, for the VNA despite all the job postings saying they wanted BSNs, and now run a very large skilled facility. I've thought about getting a BSN but now will probably get a Master's instead.I've never been told I wasn't hired because I didn't have a BSN.

PMFB-RN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

then graduation came around the same hospitals are now going for magnet status and will only hire BSN's to achieve magnet status without having to pay for additional education.

*** The irony here is that there is nothing at all about Magnet that requires or suggests that staff nurses need to have BSNs. Hospitals shooting for Magnet may choose to hire nurses with BSNs but it certainly is not related to their seeking Magnet. I suspect that the two go hand in hand as an indication of the mentaliety of managment in those hospitals.

I wouldn't worry about it though. In my area Magnet hospitals have aquired a well deserved reputation as not being good places to work, particularly among critical care & ER types

puroticorico, MSN, CNA, RN · Feb 11, 2012

I really feel it matters where you're looking for a job. For instance, here in Chicago, there are limited jobs due to all the nursing schools so even with a Masters of Nursing it's difficult to find a position (especially as a new grad)!

malaz · Jul 8, 2015

Hi @ryanalice, I would love an update! I also have a BA and am about to start the clinical phase of an ASN program. I hope to become a CNM or FNP after I get my RN. How are your job and grad school prospects looking? You must be (almost?) finished by now?

JaaaeyRN · Jul 10, 2015

I have M.Ed. and ADN.

I was turned down for a job because I do not have BSN.

I finally landed a job but it has nothing to do with my master.

My friend has been LPN for 4 years, graduated the same class with me (zero experience in nursing). She got a job at the same hospital I did. Pay is the same.

All in all, in this case, experience as LPN didn't help with the pay nor my M.Ed. would help me get a job as a nurse. I believe it I had BSN or MSN with M.Ed. that would look better if I want to teach.