University trained RN's or Hospital Trained, which would you prefer?

[AussieKylie]

I am really bummed out being at University doing my RN training. There are many like me who dont have much information retained in our brains to prepare us for the real life nursing world. We get minimal practicals and more theory, I dont think its a fair combination. I prefer if they bought back hospital training as what we get taught at Uni some of it is irrelevant and what is irrelevant is like a quick fly by and the need to thoroughly know it, is right then and there and we move on with the next lot of subjects and forget what is crucial. It really puzzles me. Plus I just finished one lot of practicals a couple weeks ago and when I returned to uni, I felt incompetent, depressed and not wanting to be there.

I guess it has to do with the teaching as well. There are not many good nursing teachers out there. When u do come across good ones, I feel that should be with us for the rest of the training.

Like to know what you all think out there

:)

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I don't see what everyone is freaking out about. The OP wasn't bashing any other program but her own !

Hi Z ... I believe the "freaking out" is in reference to post #2, which has been quoted several times, not the OP. :)

(I'm only speaking for myself, as one of the ones freaking out)

[z's playa]

Hi Z ... I believe the "freaking out" is in reference to post #2, which has been quoted several times, not the OP. :)

(I'm only speaking for myself, as one of the ones freaking out)

Ooooooh.... :chuckle Got it :)

Z

[SmilingBluEyes]

I want a competent nurse myself and really don't give a tinker's damn where they were educated. I don't even know where most of my coworkers were "trained"......I don't care. I just know who is competent, compassionate and has integrity. The rest is of no importance to me. It's not a "oneupmanship" thing for me, really. I have had the pleasure of working with amazing nurses from LPN to PhD.

[live4today, RN]

i want a competent nurse myself and really don't give a tinker's damn where they were educated. i don't even know where most of my coworkers were "trained"......i don't care. i just know who is competent, compassionate and has integrity. the rest is of no importance to me. it's not a "oneupmanship" thing for me, really. i have had the pleasure of working with amazing nurses from lpn to phd.

what she said! :)

deb...i laughed a hardy one when i read your ....."tinker's damn".... :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[mitchsmom]

I am not a nurse yet, but I'm with smilingblueyes.

About education, theoretically I believe that experiential learning is the best kind and that it should be utilized more in ALL fields of study. At the same time, I feel our society seems to be going in the opposite direction with education being stretched further and further with more and longer formal bookwork & off topic study being expected.

[SmilingBluEyes]

what she said! :)

deb...i laughed a hardy one when i read your ....."tinker's damn".... :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

rofl i remember my gramps saying that one....it worked. :rotfl:

[boofrn]

I second the "Wow!" Although I am not in a diploma program, I am in an ADN program. With the shortage of nurses in my state and around the nation, we don't necessarily need multiple degreeS behind our name. We need competent, caring, able and willing nurses that will care for our communities properly. If that can be achieved with a diploma or ADN, why not? Our ADN program is three years long. One year of core curriculum, two years of nursing curriculum. And we are sought after by employers just as the BSN grads are. That's not to say that a BSN is not desirable. It absolutely is. But for some, it is simply not practical at this time.

In my state, diploma programs are not abundant. There may be one or two in the state. But ADN programs are everywhere, and the hospitals are proud to hire us.

If you are happy being a bedside nurse and not advocating for nursing rights ADN and diploma degrees are perfect. Take a look at some of the surveys for on errors reported and near misses based on education level. Linda Aiken, PhD has written several.

I, personally feel, today the CNO of a large health care institution needs the doctoral degree to be the visionary, be able to set up and demonstrate the need for levels of nurses in various aspects of the institution, and to keep the pressure on regarding patient advocacy! I want my CNO to be the most articulate, knowledgeable, and able to debate any issue with the CEO, CFO, and Boards running the institution.

The MHA deals with all the issues and content and theories in the MBA but it applies them to the healthcare industry and looks specifically at political and ethical issues in healthcare!

On the other hand, the doctoral degree deals with all of these issues in much greater depth and detail as well as with having the CNO do research.

Professional degrees are the key and many states are advocating tuition assistance along with hospitals in going back and getting your degree.

check out your states bill on dealing with the nursing shortage and the federal govt.

[mitchsmom]

I would think hospitals would be forever happy to hire diploma and ADN's- the more education people have, the more money they are going to want to make. Why would they want that?

[twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN]

I will speak for the thousands of other students like myself who would have never been able to become nurses unless there was a hospital based program or community college who would accept them. THANK GOD FOR ADN AND DIPLOMA PROGRAMS!!!

A traditional 4 year institution would never have touched me unless I did at least 2 years in a community college. Therefore, I decided to get my ADN first before moving on to a BSN. There are many students like myself that wouldn't have become nurses unless this option was open for them, so I feel that the profession is better off having these programs available.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Yes twinmommy many ...more than 60% of first-time RN's enter with diploma or ADN degrees. You are so right.

[z's playa]

Yes twinmommy many ...more than 60% of first-time RN's enter with diploma or ADN degrees. You are so right.

Really? Most of us enter into University RN straight from highschool around here. Just an observation.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Well if you don't believe me, check the statistics. 60% is the number of RN's first entering practice with an ADN in the USA. The numbers are out there; I got mine from http://www.noadh.org ---- believe it or not, I am not making this up. :)