What are the pros of getting your BSN?

[mcorrao77]

...and anyway, things like IV starts and catheter insertions are psychomotor skills that can and will be learned and refined as you begin your practice. I'd rather see students come out knowing how to prioritize, critically think, organize their time, and with a strong knowledge of disease processes and how to manage the patient's care, as well as with significant leadership skills. Those skills will help them survive in the crazy world of hospital nursing. While it's important to have basic skills, it's not necessary to have performed every clinical skill while in school, those opportunities will come along. I think too often we judge how "good" a nurse is based on motor skill performance rather than on her ability to coordinate and manage the care of patients. That may be why we are often viewed by others as technicians rather than professionals. Just my opinion. :)

EXACTLY!! I am so sick of people saying that the BSN student does not know how to perform nursing skills. I would rather take Patho I & II, pharm, research classes, leadership classes, and a whole other array of classes to have the knowledge base to perform these tasks instead of just doing it. I want to have a understanding of why I'm doing it!

BSN graduate in August 2005!!! August 12 to be exact! haha. (and counting)

[browsing]

Is the BSN learning experience that different from the ASN?

And why is the second yr in the ASN program harder than the first?

[rosendalemj]

University study is AMAZING! We get the best of everything. Including instruction, concern for US, the students. It was worth all the agony and effort to attain the grades to be accepted to study

.

Is the BSN learning experience that different from the ASN?

And why is the second yr in the ASN program harder than the first?

[pricklypear]

Is the BSN learning experience that different from the ASN?

And why is the second yr in the ASN program harder than the first?

Browsing...

I think the only difference is the variety of education you receive, and the way the programs are set up. I have friends who graduated from ASN programs and they have described it to me as more of a block program. 1 long lecture covering different aspects of theory combined with clinical skills - all specialties being mixed in with short clinical rotations in each.

My program was more college traditional. With a different class, and instructor for each specialty. We did 1-2 areas a semester. For instance, we would have 1 big theory class (like OB) with 3 days of clinical a week. Also that semester we would have a research class, statistics, etc. Then all the usual humanities and extra classes thrown in. I enjoyed my program, and feel like I received a well rounded and completely adequate education. I felt as well prepared clinically as my friends did from their ASN program.

As I said before, you will be well prepared with either option - make your decision based on your own personality, what you can afford, etc...

[lashauncute]

To be honest, even if u dont plan on doin MSN. BSN is the better degree to have for the simple reason that it gives more options. U are going to meet upon competition in the hospital, so I would encourage u to do BSN, it isnt mush longer, once uget ADN, go to accelerated BSN. Trust me. Ull be more attractive to recruiters etc.

[browsing]

can you give me a link to schools that offer accel. bsn in southern california? how long does that take?

[rach_nc_03]

Just wanted to add to the topic....

I am a pre-nursing student here in NC, and as far as pay rate ADN v. BSN, there is NO difference. Since I am only 24 years old, I KNOW that I want to go to grad school one day, so the best option for me is to get my BSN. Why not? I feel like I am too young to limit myself....

I am almost done with pre-req's, as it stands now, it's going to take the same amount of time for me to get my ADN, as BSN. In my opinion, it makes sense for me to go for the higher degree, since it will take the same amount of time. With that said, in hindsight, if I had known out of highschool I wanted to be a nurse, then I probably would have gone the ADN, and pursued the BSN later. As an individual, I like options....So if the BSN provides me with many different options, then that is where I am headed. It all just depends on where you are in life.....

I'm a new grad in NC. two things to point out:

as this poster said, *no* difference in pay here. period. And pay increases don't take the ADN/BSN thing into account; however, if you go on to get additional certifications (CCRN, for instance), you'll be able to 'advance up the clinical ladder'...promotions, essentially.

some hospital positions are listed as 'bsn preferred'...but not many. more often, they list 1-2 years' experience preferred. public health and teaching are two areas requiring a BSN- the teaching, I understand; with public health, though, I always assumed it was because there's a public health class in BSN programs, and not in any ADN programs I know of.

as for getting a BSN to have the batchelor's degree, personally I'm with Timothy (sorry, can't remember how to spell your screen name!). As someone who's been working for 15 years in other fields, unless your 4-year degree is in something like business or social work, it's not going to be an automatic 'in' for most fields. I can't tell you how many of my friends ended up going back for master's or doctorates because they were waiting tables with their BA and BS degrees. My fiancee has a degree in philosophy and worked as a barista/waiter for eight years before finally joining the army to acquire some marketable job skills. If I were considering nursing school and had no prior college credits, I'd probably get my ADN, then take classes part-time toward a different batchelor's degree, if I wanted a sort of insurance-policy degree behind my name.

I may be in a different situation because I have 120 hours of university credits from a BA program; besides research and community health, I've taken all of the coursework in a BSN program, and I was a professional researcher for several years. none of my classmates had any difficulty getting the job they wanted with an ADN, and a number of us are going into ER, ICU, etc.

as for management positions, most hospitals here are moving toward requiring an MSN. that brings up another point- there are a lot of RN-MSN bridge programs out there, which I plan to pursue when I find out where we're going to be living after next year. i would never do an RN-BSN program; there's no benefit to me whatsoever, as I can do the RN-MSN route in less time and have a much greater scope of practice.

[rach_nc_03]

There's a big difference in instuctors, classmates, learning environment, resources, everything is better regarding the learning experience at the BSN program I'm in.

Go for the program that is the hardest to get into; does the most screening of candidates before and not "weed out" during school.

I started in a diploma program. It was just OK regarding the actual learning experience. Decided it was not enough and applied to a BSN program and started completey over (after a year at diploma). There's no comparison. The BSN program is incredible. The acedemics are outstanding. The instructors are all PHD researchers, or MS critical care specialists, or MS critical care flight specialists, or heavily expeienced MS nurses working on Phd's, absolutly cutting edge instruction. And the instructors are carefully selected as to ability to teach as well. The two local diploma schools and two ADN programs are happy to have a warm body with at least a BSN, preferably a MS, and the willingness to show up to teach (no actual teaching ability required).

Also, many diploma and ADN programs try to weed out students they think can not pass the nclex. They do that due to the fact that they can't teach well and there's alot less screening/entry requirements. The BSN programs have tough entry requirements and the one I'm in does not try to weed anyone out!

Yea it makes a heck of a difference in the classroom experience. Want one of the horrible experences posted in these forums? Then make the initial mistake I did and choose a school based on some convienience such as location.

Alternatively, studying at the diploma school was exceptional preparation for university study. Glad I did a year there. I'm going to be incredibly well rounded in the basics. However, I'm astounded at how much the diploma program left out but then one really does not need to know all that to be a floor nurse. It's preparing a foundation for advanced learning and advanced practice.

good luck

Mike

Please don't make generalizations about what 'many diploma and adn programs' do. These things vary from program to program. All but one of my instructors (a part-time lecturer, at that) had MSN degrees or higher. All had practiced or were practicing in specialty care units at the best teaching and research hospitals in the state. My clinicals were in the same hospitals as BSN program clinicals in the area. My program had a rigorous screening process, and only students with very high admission test scores and high GPAs got in. A large number of my classmates were accepted into BSN programs, but chose our program instead, for a variety of reasons.

Any program, regardless of the type, will lose accreditation if their NCLEX pass rates are low for an extended period of time. In this area, ADN program pass rates are slightly higher than BSN rates. Sometimes, it's the reverse, but it's never terribly disparate.

I would hope that any new graduate nurse would think twice before making sweeping generalizations about the low quality of one type of nursing education program....no matter which type of program you're denigrating, a graduate of such a program will be within earshot, as all three types of training prepare registered nurses.

[rosendalemj]

One should not forsake the benefits of a BSN program, such as high quality instruction, if he/she has the qualifications to be accepted to study.

Otherwise take the path of study, which is available. It all leads to RN. There after, study for an advanced practice role is easier if you are already a BSN.

[Schatzi24, BSN, RN]

Hey there,

In my state, NC, they are trying to make the ADN degree a technical degree, to where CNA's would no longer be needed, and the BSN is the true nurse that they would hire. They are making it to where you would have to go the full four years in the beginning to get your BSN to be considered a professional nurse, and those that had their ADN would be grandfathered in, but would be required to get their BSN within a year or so. It really stinks how legislature likes to involve themselves in nursing, but in some ways it can be good for the patients to have more education behind that badge. I personally, do not like it...but we follow the rules that we are given...

[MIA-RN1, RN]

Hey there,

In my state, NC, they are trying to make the ADN degree a technical degree, to where CNA's would no longer be needed, and the BSN is the true nurse that they would hire. They are making it to where you would have to go the full four years in the beginning to get your BSN to be considered a professional nurse, and those that had their ADN would be grandfathered in, but would be required to get their BSN within a year or so. It really stinks how legislature likes to involve themselves in nursing, but in some ways it can be good for the patients to have more education behind that badge. I personally, do not like it...but we follow the rules that we are given...

they have been trying to do that in NY forever and its gotten so much flack that its more or less stalled. They would make all new RN's be BSN but whoever is already in school or already graduated w/ an ADN will be grandfathered in. They also first were saying that all current RN's would need to get a BSN within 10 years (or so I heard) but then they told us in school that no one would be required to return to schoo, the ADN or diploma grads would be able to practice, there just wouldn't be any more of those degrees produced. the nursing associations have been up in arms over this whole issue.