What Is The Deal With All The Highly Educated & Professionals Becoming RNs?

[PMFB-RN]

So I pretty much always have nursing students with me. I have senior BSN students who are doing a critical care class (six 12 hours shifts), ADN students from 2 different programs doing their preceptorships (eight 12 hour shifts), ABSN students doing clinical (six 12 hour shifts), and direct entry MSN students who shadow me for a shift. In addition I come into contact with a variety of other students who are being taught by my RN co-workers. My hospital also has a "student nurse technician" program where they hire nursing students to do CNA type work. So I regularly talk to 5-10 nursing students a week and nearly always have a student with me each shift.

What I am so shocked about is the level of education of these students who are in nursing school. I can't even remember the last time I had a ADN student who didn't already have a bachelors degree with me. Of course the MSN and ABSN students already have bachelors degrees, but what is surprising to me is that so many are already professionals in others areas. I had a student who already has a bachelors and masters in architecture and worked for a well known local firm, I have had lawyers, police officers, scads of teachers, and a few engineers among others. Even a guy who is an MD in Russia.

Why do all of these people want to be nurses? Have any of you experienced this?

Back when I was in nursing school there were plenty of 2nd career types in my class but they tended to be factory workers, truck drivers, farmers, military vets who were moving up to become RNs. A few had bachelors degrees but not like now.

I actually find it frightening and a little sad. Frightening cause I suspect this is a symptom of a very bad economy and terrible job market. Sad cause I know so many of the will struggle to find work after making huge sacrifices to get through nursing school.

Some of them are SHOCKED when I tell them it's a tough job market out there for RNs and they will have to work hard and keep on their toes to find any job. Some simply refuse to believe me (nearly all the direct entry MSN students, ironic since they will struggle in our local market more than the others). Others already have this figured out and are already bitter about it.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I am interviewing nurses right now and I would never ever ask why they became a nurse. And I would love some of these 2nd career types with all their other experience.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

I do agree with the general consensus that the nursing shortage is a myth, but I maintain that nursing is a smart bet for those looking for job security and great pay relative to $$ investment education-wise. New grad nurses still have a much easier time than new grads in most other fields.

And the pay is great relative to the amount of school required to enter the profession. One can become a LPN with a year of school and make $45-50k easy. One can become a RN with an associates and can enter the world of the upper middle class fairly easily. How many other professions can say this? I know social workers and librarians and researchers who have way more education yet make way less money. How many people with MBAs wind up in crappy white collar jobs in a cubicle with mediocre salaries?

I think nursing is still a very smart choice for someone looking to change careers. Maybe they won't end up with the exciting nurse job they see the TV nurses on the medical dramas doing, but there are lucrative jobs out there.

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Just what do you call "upper middle class"?

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

In no way are they being prepared to be all alone doing home care without an experienced nurse around to teach them to do basic nursing skills and critical thinking.

This!

What is frightening, is that some home health and hospice agencies are hiring new grads with no experience.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

True but the hospitals don't want them.... So where are new nurses supposed to work ? And then if they start out working LTC or home health it seems to make them even more unlikely to get hired in acute care. WTH??

[PMFB-RN, RN]

True but the hospitals don't want them.... So where are new nurses supposed to work ? And then if they start out working LTC or home health it seems to make them even more unlikely to get hired in acute care. WTH??

*** Right we need two things.

1. Many fewer seats in schools of nursing.

2. A revamp of nursing education to produce the kind of nurses needed.

Rather than all the ADN vs BSN and DNP as entry to APN we need an overhaul of basic nursing education it make it more relevant.

[RobynPSU]

I'm 29 and a soon to be second degree accelerated BSN student. I have a great job that makes just as much as the statistics say an average nurse makes. So why am I quitting a great job to be a nurse? Because I want more out of life. I want a job that is meaningful and helps people. I can't sit behind a computer and do what I do for another 40+ years just to make money. I work for a hospital now and have been fascinated by the clinical side for a really long time, longing to be a part of that world. It finally hit me one day, later in life than I would have liked, that I wanted to be a nurse. Yes, I am nervous about how hard it is going to be. Yes, I am nervous about getting a job. Yes, I'm going to be in a lot of debt when I'm done. I'm not becoming a nurse as a last resort or because it's a "secure and stable" job or because of a inaccurate "shortage." I know what I'm getting myself into, I have done my research and I choose to do it anyway because money isn't everything. I want to be a nurse because I think it will be exciting and challenging and important. I think the knowledge and skills I will learn are important things to know for life in general. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'll regret this decision, but I have to try, otherwise I'll spend the rest of my life on the billing side of healthcare wondering if I would have been happier on the clinical side. We're here for a short time to learn and to help each other and that is what I plan on doing as a nurse. It bothers me that you think it's "sad and frightening." You should be proud of what you do and that so many others want to do it too.

"Don't take life too seriously, you'll never make it out alive."

*** Right we need two things.

1. Many fewer seats in schools of nursing.

2. A revamp of nursing education to produce the kind of nurses needed.

Rather than all the ADN vs BSN and DNP as entry to APN we need an overhaul of basic nursing education it make it more relevant.

This!!.

Were I the nursing czar, nursing education *would* be a BSN program but would look nothing like what many of them currently do.

I'd model it off of my engineering education at one of the country's best engineering schools. It would include a much more rigorous math and science foundation and would have students in labs and clinicals from the second week of school... learn by doing. Each student would be required to have gone through first aid, CNA, and EMT prior to starting the program... or else would do these classes in their first semester along with an intro to nursing class.

My nursing program would have much less emphasis on writing papers (outside of the required writing classes) and much more emphasis on hard science and patient assessment.

Traditional lectures would be replaced by scenarios and testing would primarily be scenario based. We'd certainly include atypical situations where students were required to 'make due' with what they had available.

We'd spend a bit of time on NCLEX style prep under the belief that most students, if properly prepared through the foundational material, could pass the test. Perhaps in the final semester, we'd offer an intensive NCLEX prep course but probably we'd push that out to the community.

It would be all about adult learning... no hand-holding.

To help these nurses think of themselves as 'hard science' folks, we'd get rid of that stupid APA format (we're not psychologists) and use the same style requirements as do the medical journals (and even many of the *good* nursing journals).

While holding it to nominally a 4-year program, we'd recognize that some students might not be able to handle the pace and would have a 5-year structure, as well.

In my model, every graduate would be able to do basic college math and basic college chemistry.

Some of the texts might even be medical texts (thinking of Guyton, specifically).

I'd be pushing toward a model wherein RNs aren't spending much time on ADLs and the puff 'n buff but on higher skilled activities. This isn't because I devalue ADLs (believe me, I can brush teeth and wipe butts with the best of 'em) but simply because increasing complexity and acuity should require experts to monitor and intervene. I would staff with RNs for the 'hard nursing' stuff and CNAs for the ADL stuff.

[VANurse2010]

I think some of these people who are entering the profession to help people aren't particularly attuned to the realities of modern health care.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

This!!.

Were I the nursing czar, nursing education *would* be a BSN program but would look nothing like what many of them currently do.

I'd model it off of my engineering education at one of the country's best engineering schools. It would include a much more rigorous math and science foundation and would have students in labs and clinicals from the second week of school... learn by doing. Each student would be required to have gone through first aid, CNA, and EMT prior to starting the program... or else would do these classes in their first semester along with an intro to nursing class.

My nursing program would have much less emphasis on writing papers (outside of the required writing classes) and much more emphasis on hard science and patient assessment.

Traditional lectures would be replaced by scenarios and testing would primarily be scenario based. We'd certainly include atypical situations where students were required to 'make due' with what they had available.

We'd spend a bit of time on NCLEX style prep under the belief that most students, if properly prepared through the foundational material, could pass the test. Perhaps in the final semester, we'd offer an intensive NCLEX prep course but probably we'd push that out to the community.

It would be all about adult learning... no hand-holding.

To help these nurses think of themselves as 'hard science' folks, we'd get rid of that stupid APA format (we're not psychologists) and use the same style requirements as do the medical journals (and even many of the *good* nursing journals).

While holding it to nominally a 4-year program, we'd recognize that some students might not be able to handle the pace and would have a 5-year structure, as well.

In my model, every graduate would be able to do basic college math and basic college chemistry.

Some of the texts might even be medical texts (thinking of Guyton, specifically).

I'd be pushing toward a model wherein RNs aren't spending much time on ADLs and the puff 'n buff but on higher skilled activities. This isn't because I devalue ADLs (believe me, I can brush teeth and wipe butts with the best of 'em) but simply because increasing complexity and acuity should require experts to monitor and intervene. I would staff with RNs for the 'hard nursing' stuff and CNAs for the ADL stuff.

Exactly. I wish I had exactly this in my BSN program.

[Good Morning, Gil]

I'm one of those, as well, but I wouldn't call myself highly educated lol, just educated. I had a bachelor's degree in another field and decided to go for my RN. I pursued it primarily because I wanted to be a nurse, and saw how flexible the field can be, and the opportunities to go back and further my education if I chose. I did it, in part, for stability, but when I went back, the economy was not yet bad. The economy became bad while I was in school. So, the choice ended up being a solid one as the only people getting jobs seemed to be engineers, and nurses (and other healthcare professionals).

I chose nursing primarily because I wanted to improve the human condition, spend my life directly helping others, and the flexibility in being able to work PRN when I had a family just made sense for me. (Not many careers have the flexibility in being able to work PRN like nursing does). Not an easy job, but certainly worth doing. I sound idealistic, I guess, not saying it's an easy job. Just a job where you know you made a difference at the end of the day. Yes, even on the days where you feel like you're doing more running around fetching than anything else.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

In many ways I think we are looking at the issue from the wrong direction.

If we consider the following points true, and while some may dispute them, there is supporting evidence for each:

1. There is not a nursing shortage, in fact there is a surplus. New nurses are graduating faster then positions are opening.

2. Nursing and the health care system today, and looking toward the future, is different from nursing ten, twenty, and thirty years ago.

3. In aggregate, there is a benefit to the patient population to have new nurses with more education.

If you consider these (fairly factual) statements then there is a solution that addresses all three: slowing down the number of nurses entering new practice by increasing the base education level for the profession assuring new nurses are prepared for modern nursing and ultimately benefiting the entire patient population.

Is there a flaw in that perspective?