Seasoned nurses education

AJJKRN · Feb 11, 2015

This is a very heated subject and has been discussed extensively! Using the search bar up in the corner you will be able to find many relevant discussions with the answers you seek. I personally started an RN to BSN program 6 months after passing the NCLEX (more so for job security). I'm not seasoned by far, I have just a little over 3 years, but IMHO the seasoned nurses should be grandfathered in instead of increasing debt at a time where they've already paid their dues to the profession!

firstinfamily, RN · Feb 11, 2015

I am a seasoned nurse of over 30 years. Thankfully, I had the foresight to continue my college career when I graduated with my ADN. I started working on my BSN about a month after I graduated from nursing school. It took me 4 years taking the bare minimum courses to qualify for full time tuition and while working full time. This was to keep me in student loans at the time. I do not regret going to college for a total of 6 years, I did put off getting my MSN until much later in my career and wish now I had done that earlier. Because of my goals and determination, sacrifices that I made early in my career, I am not being pursued by management to achieve any further degrees. I do feel that nurses who have been in the field 20 or more years should be grand-fathered in. I am also wondering if these educational requirements are due to hospitals seeking Magnet status as I know Magnet certification requires and rewards for higher educated nurses. If you are asking for advice, I would recommend you continue your education while you are in "college mode". Life gets complicated and if you put it off other "things" may get in the way. It may be stressful starting a new career and continuing your education but you could start out slow with the education taking non-nursing courses that are required for a BSN, take those first or take the basic nursing courses while you are learning a new career. Keep on keeping on!!

vokaybo · Feb 11, 2015

After 28 years with an Associate degree, I earned my BSN and now I am working on my Masters. I think it is very important to keep going and keep growing. I am 48 years old however. I don't think if I were 60 or over I would want to go back to school that close to retirement age. But who knows...I once worked with a nurse who was 80 years old and could outwork everyone around her. Education is one thing that can never be taken from you. You can lose just about everything in life but the knowledge you gain through education is yours to keep so it is never a bad thing to further your education. I wish I had done it sooner.

roser13, ASN, RN · Feb 11, 2015

Yes, discussions on this subject can be quite heated as you will see when you search for previous threads. However, this is nothing new. The "threat" if you will, of BSN becoming the minimal educational preparation for RN, has been around for years and years. I know I heard it twenty years ago while in school. So don't worry that it will soon become a reality.

elkpark · Feb 11, 2015

30 years ago, when I was in my hospital-based diploma program, the faculty there told us repeatedly that the diploma was an entry into practice, not a terminal degree, the BSN was the future of nursing, and we should plan on furthering our education at some point in the future. I entered a state uni BSN completion program several years later, when I wanted to attend graduate school.

"The handwriting has been on the wall" on this issue for a long time. I think it's v. disingenuous for any experienced RN to be saying these days that it's unreasonable to expect people to return to school for a BSN, and no one ever told them that the day might come that their diploma or ADN wasn't good enough anymore. Whether or not it ever becomes a requirement for licensure in any state, the reality is that professional opportunities are going to continue to shrink for those RNs with less than a baccalaureate education. I'm not saying I think that's right, or the best direction for nursing to be taking, but it is what it is.