SORRY - i have to rant about this. I don't want to start a fight- and I'm not going to generalize about all BSN or ADN programs. They have to be evaluated individually on their own merits but....... The constant arguement over ADN vs BSN is driving me crazy!!!! People act like I've really got a choice- like I can just walk out and "get" either one. ya right.
I am a 36yo pre-nursing student at a CC (in greater OKC metro). I have a previous BS in a science. I still have pre-reqs to do and support course to finish just to be competitive. & believe me- competition is HIGH- even for the lowly ADN Last semester there were 300 applicants for 50 spots. I have loved all my instructors, been impressed with the level of instruction, and feel prepared.
I have never seen an ad for a job that said "ADN need not apply"- all they ask for is the RN current license- yes, I understand that the BSN may be needed to go into higher mangement etc.
NOW, why I'm not doing the BSN. Here in OKC we have a few BSN programs at state & private universities, and even a few BS to BSN accelerated. The tuition ranges from $20,000 to over $50,000. Having loans from a previous degree & a husband that makes a good salary- I don't qualify for financial aid. SO....if anyone expects me to get that degree- hand over the $$$$$$, please. Also, the BSN programs don't accept many students- the smaller universities have only 20-50/ year and the larger major university accepts around 120/year. &That particular program had over 700 applicants last year!!!! YA I can just walk in and "get" my BSN- hahahahah
BTW- compare NCLEX pass rates
major university- 83% my CC - 87%
university#2 - 57% cc#2 - 87%
university #3 - 50% cc#3 - 82%
now, tell me- would I really want to go to a program that only 50% passed?? what good is a BSN if I can't pass boards? I realize there are many factors to it, but come on....50%!
Let me give you an eye opening fact---if OKC (local metro areas) went to "all BSN" this year and did away with ADN--they would lose 248 new nurses! (that's how many passed boards from 3 major ccs last year) WOW- you think we're short on nurses now- try cutting out all those new grads.
I'm just frustrated with the whole discussion. Like I've said, people act like all of us have EVERY option available, or that we can afford it, or that these programs are just waiting for me to come and "get" my degree.
At least around here- all the ADN/ASD are very professional, highly technical, and very competitive. There are no "waiting lists". You have to apply every semester, meet basic requirements, then compete with GPA, preference points, etc. NONE of them simply put you on a list for meeting the requirements.
It may be different in your neck of the woods, but that how it sits here.
Everyone has to make their own choice, evaluate their own needs and the programs available. I'm done- I feel better - thanks for listening:rolleyes:
What I have heard around the grapevine, and from different people that do not even know eachother is that the local hospitals rather higher a ASN graduate from the CC than a BSN graduate at the University colleges because the CC is more hands.
That's what I have read and been told. However, I went to turn in my transfer form to try to get into a specialty unit(ICU). The second question out of the Nsg manager's mouth was "where did I go to school?" The reason she ask is because I have only been a nurse for 6 months and the position requires a couple of years experience. She accepted my form because I have a BSN which will make up for the experience. So hey, regardless of what people want to believe, higher education helps you move ahead a lot quicker.
A BSN helped in your case, however one could argue that a BSN from "XYZ University" could really be awful, and a ADN from "ZYX Community College" in the same city may have a better reputation.
So, in some instances it matters what degree, in others, it matters about the reputation of the nursing program.
I believe the hospitals in the community know which programs are turning out really good nurses over all, and which aren't....ADN or BSN alike.
Even still, my plan is to get my ADN and then my BSN. (In the Spring '06 semester, I'll be taking 2 of my last 4 core classes for my RN-BSN bridge, and hopefully have the other 2 finished before I start my ADN program.)
So, if education makes a better nurse, I'll have 4 years of NURSING CLASSES when I'm finished! (2 years of ADN nursing classes and 2 years of BSN nursing classes!)
Seems to me, that everyone should have to go the ADN, then RN-BSN route. :chair:
That's what I have read and been told. However, I went to turn in my transfer form to try to get into a specialty unit(ICU). The second question out of the Nsg manager's mouth was "where did I go to school?" The reason she ask is because I have only been a nurse for 6 months and the position requires a couple of years experience. She accepted my form because I have a BSN which will make up for the experience. So hey, regardless of what people want to believe, higher education helps you move ahead a lot quicker.
My $.02, for what it's worth (probably only two pennies, but still...):
I am going for an Accelerated BSN program ONLY because I have a bachelor's degree already, and with the waitlists for all of the 2-year programs around here (which all have an excellent reputation), I can get in and out with my RN license much quicker by doing the BSN route versus the ADN route. However, if that were not the case, if this was my 1st degree or if there were not waitlists so long, I would apply for anything I was qualified for (ADN, BSN, whatever) and base my decision on who actually accepted me, what I could afford, and what would end up being best for me and my family. I don't see anything inferior about being an ADN-trained nurse, and I would never treat any of my coworkers any differently if they had a different degree. RNs are RNs! :icon_hug:
My $.02, for what it's worth (probably only two pennies, but still...):
I am going for an accelerated BSN program ONLY because I have a bachelor's degree already, and with the waitlists for all of the 2-year programs around here (which all have an excellent reputation), I can get in and out with my RN license much quicker by doing the BSN route versus the ADN route. However, if that were not the case, if this was my 1st degree or if there were not waitlists so long, I would apply for anything I was qualified for (ADN, BSN, whatever) and base my decision on who actually accepted me, what I could afford, and what would end up being best for me and my family. I don't see anything inferior about being an ADN-trained nurse, and I would never treat any of my coworkers any differently if they had a different degree. RNs are RNs! :icon_hug:
In the real world this isn't a very pervasive debate.
It is relevant here because we discuss all aspects of nursing. And the ANA certainly won't let this dead horse die in peace.
I usually don't know which of my RN peers hold which degrees unless they tell me. And I certainly wouldn't base my evaluation of which peers I trust in an emergency on which degree they held: I DO base it on which are more experienced and knowledgeable. A BSN might, might give a slight advantage to a new nurse in that regard. But by a couple of years into nursing, it is how well a nurse adapts and correlates their body of experience that determines which nurses are better prepared going forward. . .
~faith,
Timothy.
It is here because this site is an outlet to discuss the total
Guys, I am currently on a 4 yr waiting list before I can even expect to start clinicals unless I can get on the merit list. Now, I am just as devoted to my dream as anyone else...but 4 yrs for a 2 yr ADN program? I don't even think Florence Nightingale would wait that long!!LOL
I think that if I were 17 instead of 37 it probably wouldn't phase me as much, but c'mon. I only have maybe five classes that I can take within the nursing major without being in clinicals (A&P, Nursing Across the Life Span, etc.), so if I play my cards right, I'm looking at a year to a year and a half. Then what? I figure in the 4 yrs I have to wait, I could get a degree in something else. And the money thing is also an issue for me also. I have a student loan aleady in the 6 digits, and no degree to show for it. I just wanted to say that you guys are not alone "in the struggle."
I know the feeling. I'm applying for my seat in the class of 2009 this year. By the time next spring arrives, I'll have ALL of my pre-requisites and co-requisites done. I'm 48. By the time I graduate I'll be 51, then on it will be for that BSN. I wonder how long THAT will take me? LOL
Most of the "main" ADN and BSN here in Oklahoma have on avg, similar pass rates for last year; I'm just listing the more popular NS everyone wants to get into:
OCCC 83% (ADN)
OSU-OKC 89% (ADN)
Rose 92% (ADN)
OU 92% (BSN)
UCO 91% (BSN)
I think they are all great schools, putting out great nurses and would have been happy to have gone to any of the others if I didn't get accepted where I am now! I completely agree with the OP. I basically went to where I could get accepted, which happens to be a BSN program. I would have just been happy to get into ANY program (ADN or BSN)! LOL Also know that all the big hospitals (Integris and Mercy, etc), if your short on money, will pay for your schooling...I know quite a few classmates who are doing that and there are advantages for sure besides the money part of it (more job choice when you graduate, extern choice, skills, help with goals, etc). I'm thinking about signing up next year myself because there are a lot of benefits to doing so.
Anyways, I completly agree with you. It is so hard to get into nursing school and most of us are going to where we can get accepted, and what we can afford. It's that plain and simple. I think most of us are just thrilled to have the opportunity to get in....I know plently of people who applied to 4 schools and didn't get in to any of them. That sucks.
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OK, the other subject (not directed towards the OP at all)
I'm a nursing student here in Oklahoma as well (BSN). I work in clinicals with students from OCCC, OSU-OKC, OCU, etc. and we all the do EXACT same stuff for about the same hours each week--sometimes we even have had the same patient...lol. I get so sick of the "ADNs get more clinicals hours than BSN", that is simply untrue plain and simple and is based on a lot of rumors ("I heard", "I keep hearing" "someone told me", etc). I've also had to correct quite a few misconceptions about ADN nurses in my BSN program as well (I have to remind them that we all pass the same NCLEX, that most of the nurses out there are ADN, duh). No matter if your an ADN or a BSN you still have A LOT to learn once you graduate.
I also think that every persons experience in school is very different. I have been giving injections (subQ and IM) since my first clinical day, but I know another classmate of mine who hasn't gotten that experience yet. What does that have to do with the program she is in? Nothing. It has to do with the nurse and the patient she was working with...so far they have all been PO meds or IV meds which we are not allowed to give yet (IV that is). I happen to get to work with a lot of diabetic patients so los of subq shots for me.
Some of us are able to get extra experience while in school which can make a big difference in skills and confidence when we graduate....like externships, aid positions, student flex team, etc and some people don't do that (maybe they simply don't have time). And that makes a big difference in your skills as a new nurse.
I started at a 4-year last month and left because the professors were so incredibly poor and we were 100% teaching ourselves all of the classes...I'm not paying for that for the next 3 years.
I'm going to the CC where I was at previously where they REALLY teach you and don't have a new BSN program that still has a ton of kinks in it.
I think either of them is awsome. If I get into the LVN program next summer, I will more than likely stop with the RN, mostly because of my age. I just want to get my nursing career started. If I dont get in, why waste time. I will start taking the pre-requisites for the BSN and maybe when I do get finished with RN, I will be motivated to go farther. Even if I didnt go farther, I am sure those pre-requisites would help me in nursing school. The more I learn the better.
When I finish with my nursing pre-reqs and am ready to do clinicals, can I apply to other nursing schools to do my clinicals? My start date is 2010, but I will be finished w/pre-reqs by fall of next year, spring of 2008 at the latest.
Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
I have a quick question:
When I finish with my nursing pre-reqs and am ready to do clinicals, can I apply to other nursing schools to do my clinicals? My start date is 2010, but I will be finished w/pre-reqs by fall of next year, spring of 2008 at the latest.
Of course you can apply to other schools, if you meet their requirements. Not all schools require the EXACT same classes as your school. Secondly, if the other schools require the classes you have taken, be sure that your classes actually transfer (some courses have expirations at some schools).
So, your best bet is to sit down with a counselor at other schools and go from there. You may be able to apply and be accepted to more then one school before 2010. Good luck!!!
Last semester there were 300 applicants for 50 spots. I have loved all my instructors, been impressed with the level of instruction, and feel prepared..thumb.gif.55aeaafdb61768ab641b1fab52f42961.gif){kind=avatar}
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icugirl33
107 Posts
That's what I have read and been told. However, I went to turn in my transfer form to try to get into a specialty unit(ICU). The second question out of the Nsg manager's mouth was "where did I go to school?" The reason she ask is because I have only been a nurse for 6 months and the position requires a couple of years experience. She accepted my form because I have a BSN which will make up for the experience. So hey, regardless of what people want to believe, higher education helps you move ahead a lot quicker.