RN ADN

There must be more to this story. As you have 14 years of diverse experience,

what is bringing on your anger?

51 minutes ago, Rayacj said:

I’m supposed to feel less as a nurse because of my degree!!

Said whom?

Do your best to take good care of patients. That's all that matters. I'm almost certain that whatever other forms of recognition you might have in mind are of exceedingly little value. Taking the best care of patients that you can is what is worthy and real.

Don't worry about the rest of it.

It’s not anger but I’m just tired of being told I’m not a good enough nurse because my degree isn’t advanced enough. That doesn’t make since because I have so much clinical experience. Just because I didn’t pay for an advance degree in nursing doesn’t mean my nursing experience doesn't count. I see how nurses become practitioners but yet don’t know what they are doing because they don’t have enough clinical experience. 

Is it the hospital, management and missed opportunities that are making you feel this way? Or other nurses? I had my ADN for a while before going into a BSN program (I couldn't advance in the hospital without a BSN), and now at 14 years of nursing, I am going for my PMHNP. The difference between the BSN and ADN was just research and leadership. I didn't feel it enhanced my nursing skills except for nursing theory and understanding research better. Not worth the 10 years of student loans! Hospitals want magnet status, and BSN is the minimum to obtain that. Which is not fair to all of the amazing diploma and ADN nurses. It is unfair, but just know your patients value your experience and that's what is important.

It's time for you to define your life's journey. What kind of nursing do you really want? At the bedside? or at a desk? Is there another interest for you outside of nursing? I like the comment from GingerRN above about magnet status. Advanced degrees demonstrate commitment to the medical establishment, but they usually enforce debt-servitude, as well. In a perverse way, your ADN affords a lot more freedom. Before you succumb to this advanced degree pressure, define where You want to be 5 or 10 years from now. Maybe you will need a BSN just for job security, but maybe your hospital accepts "outlier"degrees, as well (psych, physiology, computer programing, business, sociology, child development, etc.). I felt the same pressure through the years, but 'muddled' through with an ASN RN and loved it--I found out early I was happiest at the bedside.

On 11/30/2020 at 8:29 PM, Rayacj said:

I see how nurses become practitioners but yet don’t know what they are doing because they don’t have enough clinical experience. 

This part of your response is very much on point. I am concerned that accepting everyone into Nurse Practitioner programs with little discernment dilutes the profession. Significant experience should be a minimum requirement before acceptance into an NP Program. 

As for your frustrations, I hate that someone is making you feel less worthy with your current degree. Sometimes there is too much focus on the letters behind our names and this misguided focus can cause people to miss the forest for the trees. Someone with a BSN or MSN may get automatic blind favoritism. Don’t hire or promote someone strictly because of those letters. Hire the person with the best experience and personality for the job. Seems simple but unfortunately, that’s not always how it works.