Across Ohio, and the nation, the drive is on to require a BSN to secure...or continue...employment in acute and critical care settings. While the research data shows improved outcomes in these settings with a high level of BSN staffing, there are problems with this push. Some systems are giving experienced ADN's as few as two years to secure their BSN, yet these healthcare systems are failing to meet the commitment expected of these ADN's with a commitment to these experienced ADN's in securing their BSN. Tuition reimbursement plans consistently fail to meet the cost currently incurred in returning to school.
I saw the hand-writing on the wall, and secured my BSN before it became mandated. But my employers tuition reimbursement plan at work covered, at best, half the cost of one semester. This lack financial commitment to the educational advancement of experienced ADN's leaves these nurses angry and upset..feeling hospital administration are trying to get something for nothing, perhaps in order to let attrition thin the ranks of ADN's in acute and critical care settings. This attrition will, in turn, allow healthcare systems to hire in new grad BSN's at a lower starting salary than the experienced ADN's they will be replacing.
Until nurses stop being doormats, start acting like the professionals we are, and demanding the respect and benefits that derive from that professional status...nothing will change.
What it has to do with anything is that the cost has at least tripled since then on nearly any school, and all of this "capstone" crap that they force people to do wasn't having the effect of adding a year or more of excess onto any bachelor's program. I got a bachelor's in the late 90's and they still weren't marketing and selling the way they do now, and it didn't cost near as much. So for you to say "it isn't a big deal" really isn't relevant when you did a BSN completion in the early 90's. Oh, and my school "estimated" it would cost 12K to get an ASN at their school. It was 15K. People who live paycheck to paycheck cannot tolerate inaccurate "estimates."
Not to mention it IS a financial burden to a floor nurse who is working three 12's, not necessarily the 12's of their own choosing, to try and schedule these classes at a brick-and-mortar where your feeling is that it is still so reasonable. Oh sure, their supervisors might initially say they'll be flexible with scheduling, but when push comes to shove and they're short staffed yet again, they'll fill in the holes on the schedule however it benefits them, and if you miss class or an exam oh well. Or if you have to miss work, oh well I guess you get disciplined again. It's awfully financially burdensome to lose your job over schooling.
I'm not trying to argue with anyone about this. Do it or don't do it (get a BSN) -- it's all the same to me, and it's your choice to make. I just don't get all the whining about it.
How is it you can hire in as qualified licensed nurse and many years later you are now required to get a BSN or lose your job and no tuition reimbursement? How did you suddenly become incompetent for lack of the right initials after your name? DZADZEY said it well, get rid of the high cost experienced nurse. Our VP of nursing "assured" me he would grandfather us ADNs in, I really don't trust that assurance, especially after seeing our hard working experienced LPNs be demoted to nurse aides and unit clerks.
I would say when they tell you that you must get your BSN or lose your job, after they hired you to do that job, there is some responsibility on their part to assist. Our hospital gives 5,000 a year tuition reimbursement because they require it in x amount of years or you are fired. Who knows in this economy how long that will continue. dzadzey is right, nurses are doormats and we let the educational elite dictate to us in our practices.
What happened was Hospitals requiring it after they have hired you in as a competent nurse at the bedside, it's like changing the rules after they've been stated. Again dzadzey said it well in the above quote.
Hey I've been practicing 30 years, I have an RN license to practice! I do bedside nursing, in our day the BSN was for management, now they want a MSN or doctorate for management. If they don't want ADNs then shut the schools down, that will decrease the surplus population of RNs for sure!
toomuchbaloney
16,062 Posts
We are an evidenced based profession.
Please cite evidence that a BSN is necessary to practice safely and capably as an entry level registered nurse.