What do you get from BSN?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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For those of you with BSN's, what is it you get from your BSN that you do not get from an ADN, that is better for your individual patients?

I have my ADN, intend to get my BSN (and always did intend to, but needed to start earning money sooner than that). I understand how the extra education is useful for department/unit management skills and such. But many say that BSN is important to nursing for the patients' sakes, and I am trying to discover why. Please be more specific than "critical thinking skills" and the like.

Thanks!

DC, ED NOC RN ADN

Abbreviations R Us :)

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
I was a CNA then become a LPN then RN then last BSN. From lpn to RN was a breeze.RN to BSN is a killer!! Very hard to me. I saw it as a different world. It's very little difference between lpn and RN for as knowledge..I will say the lpn's here in MS are much more prepaired after school.remember. The A in ADN stands for "associate". Which means "introduction" to nursing

Huh??Can you show me a definition of "associate" that includes the word "introduction"?

The A in ADN stands for "associate". Which means "introduction" to nursing

Yeah, you just made that up.

And, a bonus of Romeo's institution, wonderful mastery of the English language.

Sunnycali, I am ALL THAT (except bilingual) so, I've already met the requirements, I think I'll test out since I already have another degree. Yeah for me!!!!!

There's nowhere that states you need a BSN, but if you want to advanced your career in a nursing specialty i.e., CRNA, ARNP, DNP, etc you will need a BSN and/or you'll see other advancement opportunities that may say "BSN required."

Specializes in geriatrics.

Aside from the various studies...to be honest, a BSN equals a lot more theory and useless electives. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed nursing school, and I graduated with honours. However, realistically, in the real world of nursing, we all would have benefited from more clinical time, instead of electives such as geography. Interesting, but, really, I could care less. Where I am from, the BSN is now the minimum requirement for all RNs, as of 2005. There are no more 2 year programs. If you enter a 2 year program in 0ntario, it is the RPN/LVN designation.

You had to take geography? ;):confused:

What did I get from my BSN? I got a job away from the bedside, which I WAS ready for after 9 years.

I'm a big fan of education and agree that taking a myriad of classes is good for making us more well-rounded and open to the fact that it is a big wide glorious world out there.

As to all the papers I wrote? Well, being able to write a paper in APA format didn't really give me any life skill I could use right now but I did enjoy all the research. :up:

steph

Specializes in geriatrics.

Lol spidey's mom, yes I took geography. Twice, since it was the only course(s) that fit with my schedule. We also took psych, which I liked. But I wanted something where I could get an A without breaking a sweat. Why kill myself, and detract from my nursing assignments? So the electives were politics and film (we watched movies :)), urban geography, and geography of food. Most of the geography of food classes I skipped to do extra time in the OR.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I find that BSN grads are (usually) easier to work with and teach when it comes to making evidence-based practice changes ... understanding the nursing scientific literature ... providing input into the development of new policies and procedures, etc. The BSN's have taken the research and theory courses that provide a stronger foundation for these aspects of professional practice.

The ADN's can do the skills, follow the policies, etc. just fine. But they often struggle with doing the work of reading and interpreting the research upon which policies etc. are based.

Of course those distinctions are not universal. There are some ADN's who have education in other fields that gave them research-related skills. And there are BSN's who went to poor quality programs and/or slept through their research and theory classes, etc. and don't have that knowledge. There are plenty of individual exceptions. But if I compare 100 ADN's to 100 BSN's in my practice, the BSN's come out ahead in this area. Assuming that their personalities, work ethic, etc. are the same (Let's face it, someone with any level of education can be lazy or a jacka**) ... the BSN's are more prepared to serve on committees, provide input into practice changes, etc. and engage in these higher level clinical responsibilities.

That makes them stronger staff nurses overall -- because we need staff nurses to be involved in the decision-making about practice issues. Staff nurses need to be represented by people with strong voices at the table. And the ADN's usually don't have that strong voice as they struggle with making judgments about the research evidence ... or considering the public health implications of decisions ... etc.

For those of you with BSN's, what is it you get from your BSN that you do not get from an ADN, that is better for your individual patients?

I have my ADN, intend to get my BSN (and always did intend to, but needed to start earning money sooner than that). I understand how the extra education is useful for department/unit management skills and such. But many say that BSN is important to nursing for the patients' sakes, and I am trying to discover why. Please be more specific than "critical thinking skills" and the like.

Thanks!

DC, ED NOC RN ADN

Abbreviations R Us :)

For me personally- opportunities.

How can you say the difference if you were'nt an ASN first then a BSN arent they the ones who can really tell you what the difference is eveyone else is just telling you what they think it is

How can you say the difference if you were'nt an ASN first then a BSN arent they the ones who can really tell you what the difference is eveyone else is just telling you what they think it is

From conversations with friends, I'd say that the experience of doing a BSN program from the start, is a very different experience from getting and ADN, and then doing an RN-BSN program.

So, folks who got their ASN first and then got a BSN would only have one perspective.

I'd say that instructors of both programs or preceptors who had students from both programs would have a valuable perspective on this issue.

BSN nurses have spent more time in indoctrination, so their thinking is more programed toward the current teaching in regard to interpersonal relations and political correctness. they are therefore less blunt when dealing with people. sometimes, in todays workplace, what is not said is more important than what is said.

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:yeah:

LOL Thanks, I need to share that with friends....something is very wrong if I'm the "less blunt" version of a nurse :D

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