RN, ADN being obsolete

staple1027 · Nov 18, 2018

Oh, how people warned me that I would not be able to get a hospital job with an ASN. Put me in a bit of a panic. Turns out I had no problem getting a job. Not when I first graduated, nor any time since. My first nursing job was at a magnet hospital. I will say that I do have a BA in another field, but I doubt that has anything to do with it. I've never needed a BSN and therefore had no intention whatsoever of going into debt for it. The only reason I am taking classes toward it now is because my employer is paying for it 100%.
Oh, and I, too, remember being told that practical/vocational nursing would soon be a thing of the past. That was 30 years ago...

You should head out to PA, where each and every hospital has it plastered on their website careers section, BSN required. It does not matter if you have an alphabet full of letters, degrees, certs, designations behind one's name. If the magic BSN is missing, your application goes straight to a garbage bin. And now that more than half of the 7,000 Rns they are churning out every year are BSNs, many of those new grads are unemployed here as well. PA is the absolute worst state for nursing jobs, a saturated market with a glut of nurses so bad, that wages are less now than they were 20 years ago. It must depend on which state you are in. This entire state used to be a manufacturing state, fast forward, hence everything went overseas, and whats left became automated. What is left? Go to nursing school, be a bank teller, a teacher or a cashier at a retail outlet.

Rosina · Nov 18, 2018

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I love it !!! So true.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2018

It's really rather ridiculous that so many people insist that either A)You don't need a BSN! I have no trouble getting hired! They've been lying about this for decades! or B)You can't get a job without a BSN! You might as well apply at McDonald's!

Listen to the people who say over and over and over that the answer to the question is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR LOCATION.

Check the job listings in your area, and that will give you your answer.

staple1027 · Nov 18, 2018

It's really rather ridiculous that so many people insist that either A)You don't need a BSN! I have no trouble getting hired! They've been lying about this for decades! or B)You can't get a job without a BSN! You might as well apply at McDonald's!
Listen to the people who say over and over and over that the answer to the question is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR LOCATION.
Check the job listings in your area, and that will give you your answer.

The job listings are a major part of the problem here in northeast PA. If one went by the job listings, one would see dozens upon dozens of jobs, problem is they are listed by shell companies that do not actually exist, or exist in another state and spam the job ads, or they are listed by sponsored employers who have no jobs, but just want to use the job ads to see how many unemployed nurses there are, to keep an endless pile of fresh resumes on hand, so they can fire at will and grab the next sucker for a dollar an hour less than the last nurse. There is one giant hospital system around here that has had a hiring freeze in place for the last 2 years, but that does not stop them from posting bogus ads, knowing they are not hiring anyone. If one went by the job ads posted, you would think there is a nursing shortage. Sadly, this is what got me and hundreds of others about 20 years ago to take the plunge and head to nursing school. Do not get me started on the bogus "sign on bonuses" that are 100% false because no one ever collects them. I can honestly say that going into nursing was the biggest career mistake I made. Would have been better off 20 years ago taking the paycut instead of the layoff, and just building myself back up from the bottom.

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 18, 2018

It's really rather ridiculous that so many people insist that either A)You don't need a BSN! I have no trouble getting hired! They've been lying about this for decades! or B)You can't get a job without a BSN! You might as well apply at McDonald's!
Listen to the people who say over and over and over that the answer to the question is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR LOCATION.
Check the job listings in your area, and that will give you your answer.

AMEN!! When I lived in Denver, I absolutely believed we were being lied to regarding the "nursing shortage" and would advise every RN hopeful that you absolutely need to have your BSN if you hope to land an acute care job.

Having lived in other, much smaller communities, I have discovered that there is indeed a nursing shortage in MANY areas of the country, and as long as you're willing/able to relocate, I can guarantee that every new RN could find a job in. a heartbeat, even without the BSN.

johsonmichelle · Nov 18, 2018

AMEN!! When I lived in Denver, I absolutely believed we were being lied to regarding the "nursing shortage" and would advise every RN hopeful that you absolutely need to have your BSN if you hope to land an acute care job.
Having lived in other, much smaller communities, I have discovered that there is indeed a nursing shortage in MANY areas of the country, and as long as you're willing/able to relocate, I can guarantee that every new RN could find a job in. a heartbeat, even without the BSN.

It's very area dependent .Exactly, the nursing homes in my area , will a hire registered nurse on the spot , redardless of degree. My hospital is hiring nurses like crazy , most of them are new graduates nurses.

ocean.baby · Nov 18, 2018

I always envied the nurses I knew that graduated from the three year diploma programs. They were hands down the best nurses I have ever worked with.

LPNTORN704 · Nov 18, 2018

I think you have education pathways confused with what your final licensure would be. An RN is an RN is an RN. In other words, whether you are educated through a diploma program, ADN program, or BSN program, you take the very same NCLEX licensure exam leading to RN licensure.

Nah shes right..I'm not happy about it either.where I live they are getting rid of alot of adn programs which will take me longer to complete school.i prefer to do adn.then get my bsn while working as an adn.but nooo they're going completely bsn

Swellz · Nov 18, 2018

I drank the kool-aid and didn't do an ADN program because OMG I'LL NEVER GET A JOB. Well, no, I wouldn't have gotten my first job at the big inner city teaching hospital I ended up at, but I could have gotten a job in one of the surrounding suburban community hospitals, like a friend of mine did. Through travel nursing I've seen as others have that it is entirely area dependent.

All these schools are businesses. Of course they want you to think you need a BSN/MSN/DNP. If you want it and it is valuable to your career path, get whatever education you want. But don't let them tell you what you need without doing your own research and looking at cost vs benefit.

tamilynn · Nov 19, 2018

A BSN has become required in many jobs , so many postings say BSN REQUIRED .That is the challenge . It's highly unlikely that the Associate Degree nurses will be eliminated . Most ADN have 15-20 years experience and that is the market experience matters. There aren't enough nurses as it is . There is a federal study NIH referring to goal for all nurses to have a BSN. That's where the hype is coming from . Some jobs give you so many years to complete RN to BSN might be something to consider if your young in your career And it may open many more opportunities. Depends where you are in the country.

happygrandma3 · Nov 19, 2018

I would encourage anyone considering becoming an RN to plan to get the BSN. There are programs where you can get your ADN, take the boards and finish your BSN online while working. I do see BSNs becoming the minimum in the near future. Many hospitals also give partial tuition reimbursement. The BSN is required if you want to continue your education to be an advanced practice RN, such as NP, CRNA, etc.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2018

It's highly unlikely that the Associate Degree nurses will be eliminated . Most ADN have 15-20 years experience and that is the market experience matters. There aren't enough nurses as it is .

Where did you get the idea that most ADNs have "15-20 years experience"? That's certainly not true. ADNs are graduating every year in large numbers, so there are many ADNs with very little experience, just as every year there is a new crop of direct to BSN grads. In areas where ADNs are hired without problem, they do not go straight into BSN bridge programs, if ever, so they are practicing as new nurses in rather large numbers. Other places, they are given ample time to get the degree, so they do it gradually.

As to "not enough nurses as it is," also not true in many areas. Many new grads from both kinds of programs (and even experienced nurses)cannot find jobs in areas where there are nursing gluts.

As you went on to say, it just depends on the geographical area.