Tuition Reimbursement to get a BSN &Continuing Education question!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I've heard a few people say, "Wait until you get your ADN and get a job before you go back to school to get your BSN."

I was just wondering how easy it is to find hospitals or other health care instituions that are willing to reimburse you (full or partial) for furthering your education.

Also, a few years ago, I was taking a Psychology of Women class, and there was a current nurse in my class and said she had to take so many credit hours in a certain time frame. Does the instituion you work for make the policy on if and when you need to take additional classes? And can they be whatever you want them to be or do they have to be nursing related? (I was just thinking eventually you'd run out of nursing related courses, especially if you are from a small town, small college etc.)

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Most hospitals in my area do tuition reimbursement. Some will reimburse you for an unlimited number of credits; some have very limited reimbursement. The thing is, very few hospitals in my area hire ADNs.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I second outrunningzombies. In fact, hospitals in my area require BSN's and even then, there's 250 applicants for 25 jobs.

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My work requires that it be in an area pertaining to the medical field and advance you in your current position. Also, you have to commit to taking so many credits and a finishing date. You can't just take one credit here and then 6 months later another credit. Also, they will not cover your doctorate. They will loan/reimburse $3,000 a calendar year.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Do you guys live in big cities or smaller cities?

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I live in a large city with a disproportionatly large number of hospitals.

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nothing, but nothing, is getting cheaper. if you can swing it, take your bsn program right now, as fast as you can, be done with it. school is hard. working as a nurse is hard. it is very hard going to school and working as a new grad. and around here (medium-suburban) the places that will pay for tuition are getting fewer and fewer.

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The hospital I work at offers tuition reimbursement. It is a private hospital. If you have an ADN, you may have to be willing to work in a community or county hopsital (less posh of an environment) but these hospitals hire the most ADNs and you should be able to pursue your BSN and get reimbursement.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

Hiring ADNs is a very regional thing, from what I've seen on the AN forums. It's probably a function of the quality of the programs in your area in addition to availability of nurses. (Several floors at one hospital I've done clinicals at have told me they prefer students from my ADN program vs the local BSN program -- we're better prepared and more willing to get our hands dirty.) The best thing to do is call a few of the facilities you think you'd like to apply to and ask their HR departments if they hire ADN new-grads.

Also, all of the hospitals in my area offer tuition reimbursement up to a certain dollar amount per year for relevant courses (including getting your BSN). This is something that is easily found on the facility's website under "jobs" or "work here" or similar. Again, it's going to differ from one region of the country to another, and from one facility to another. Just because it happens in my area doesn't mean it will always be available.

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it's not necessarily the company you work for making you take ceus (continuing education) but the state board who licenses you. i live in florida, so this is what fl law says:

ce requirements for rns:

[color=#333333]all florida-licensed rns are now in a 24-month renewal cycle and must complete 24 hours of appropriate continuing education during each renewal period. one (1) contact hour is required for each calendar month of the licensure cycle, including two (2) hours on prevention of medical errors. hiv/aids is now a one-time, 1-hour ce requirement to be completed prior to the first renewal. domestic violence ce is now a 2-hour requirement every third renewal.[color=#333333]

as far as i know most us states require ceus to renew your nursing license. i could be wrong, haven't researched them all. :)

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You will also want to look at the tuition reimbursement rates. In these times of budget tightening, employee tuition benefits is one area that I have seen decreased.

For example, one local hospital used to provide $3000/year. Now they provide only $1500/year. Since the cost of tuition at the instate public BSN program is around $300 credit, this means that it would take 5 years to pay for a BSN. It would take even longer at one of the for-profit online programs.

The larger health systems have better tuition benefits, but they are also the employers least likely to hire ADNs in my region.

In conclusion, if you have the option to pursue a BSN initially, DO IT!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Thanks, everyone! You gave me a lot to think about and some great advice!

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