Why is BSN required for CRNA?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

I'm working on my RN and plan to go to CRNA school. I've noticed that a few CRNA schools will allow you to have a bachelors in other science areas, as long as you are an RN. But the best school seem to require a BSN. Why is that? Why is an easy, relatively useless, easy to obtain degree required over something like a bachelors in chemistry?

I'm late to the party but I have pretty strong opinions on this subject, so I'm going to respond. I feel at least semi-qualified to opine, as I have both a BSN and a bachelor's degree in chemistry. I too had plans to go to CRNA school until I became a PACU nurse and realized just how much I despise having to be on call.

Despite not being a CRNA, I am a nurse in the perioperative setting and work very closely with both CRNAs and anesthesiologists. I feel like they would both agree with me when I say that neither a chemistry degree nor a BSN are going to be especially helpful in nurse anesthesia school. What is taught in organic chemistry and p-chem are far more in-depth concepts than what a CRNA needs to know to perform his/her job. What I learned in my RN-BSN program not only is far less in-depth, but an entirely different subject matter than what one needs to know to be successful in the intraoperative/postoperative setting. Perhaps the commenters who mentioned the required critical care experience for anesthesia school have a point. I'm sure in some areas of the country, a BSN is a requirement for an entry-level nursing job, but not in all areas. I got a job in cardiac critical care with a large Nashville hospital as an ADN-prepared nurse before I completed my RN-BSN program.

I have to agree with the assessment that my RN-BSN program was far easier than my chemistry degree. My RN-BSN program consisted of writing papers on topics not relevant to the practice of bedside nursing in the perioperative environment. Sadly, it seemed the professors cared more about my references being in the correct order and commas being in the correct place than the actual quality of the content. I could easily bang out a paper a couple of hours before it was due, whereas with my chemistry degree, it required hours of study each day.

Nobody should be made to feel less than because of the degree they chose to obtain and everyone should be proud of their hard work, but the simple fact is that at least conceptually, some areas of study are more difficult than others (e.g. STEM). As far as the BSN being a "useless" degree, that depends on several factors including location and future career goals. Someone who wants to move up in nursing management will probably not find a BSN to be useless. For me, however, the RN-BSN has in fact been both easy and useless.

7 minutes ago, LouDogg said:

I think that if you pursued your CRNA goals, you would not have found your BSN useless--especially if it was a program entrance requirement. You would also have more insight here as to which degree was more useful.

But that goes back to your statement about the usefulness of an education being dependent on career goals. The BSN is also a better prep for a DNP education which is now mandatory. And guess what, the DNP general courses in a CRNA program are not about anesthesia--just nursing theory.

Compared to a BSN, I would assume the Chem degree was much harder. I hate chem, so I may be biased about that one, but if you do not enjoy a subject, it can be grueling.

BSN was easy? If you call writing hundreds of papers, Staying awake countless nights writing multiple 50-page care plans and then attending clinical in the morning, simultaneous heavy assignments, constant exams, etc.---- I don't see how that's easy. But I suppose that depends on where you get your education. I hear about many schools that just churn out degrees and are not concerned with offering a sub-par education (e.g., all those complaints that their APA format was more important than the content of their papers). That doesn't happen at Cal State universities, that's for sure, and they are far from "easy" to get through--but I do understand not all programs are created equal.

Also, there are plenty of CRNA jobs that do not require being on call, that seems to be a strange reason not to pursue your goals. 

Thanks, but around my area, most CRNAs have to take call. Those that don't usually work at ambulatory surgery centers but those jobs are very few and far between. I'm happy with where I'm at, so no regrets about not going the CRNA route.

Perhaps you are correct regarding the BSN being useful in anesthesia school. One of the anesthesiologists I work with is a director/professor at the local school, so I will ask his opinion. They have indeed switched to the DNAP degree and yet according to their website, their admission requirement is still "Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing or related Science (if not in Nursing, must have additional 15 semester hours of biophysical sciences above Nursing Degree)."

Specializes in Critical Care.

Eh nursing is much easier than chem. It’s not even close. Premeds whine about organic chem, and ochem is nothing upside the difficulty of Pchem.

Specializes in SRNA, ICU and Emergency Mursing.
9 minutes ago, ArmyRntoMD said:

Eh nursing is much easier than chem. It’s not even close.

I would agree with that... Easier than a astrophysics degree too... lol. That's actually exactly what I said.

But that wasn't really part of the original question/topic/discussion, which was debating a more relevant prerequisite degree for a CRNA program.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I was just agreeing with you. I would argue that as far as getting a job, a nursing degree is more useful though. You won’t really see figures like this with a bachelors in chem as far as I know

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Specializes in SRNA, ICU and Emergency Mursing.

Ok um..... on a side note, you have a keen sense for interjecting with irrelevant information/comments...
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What thread are you posting in? That has nothing to do with this topic...

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I was replying to part of what you said about difficulty. And you also mentioned how “useful” a degree is. I was just agreeing with what you said

Specializes in Critical Care.
8 hours ago, LouDogg said:

I am not talking specifically about RN-BSN. I never attended an ADN program; I went straight to BSN.

In my opinion, the knowledge more helpful in a BSN program include--but are not limited to--courses in bachelor level research, public health, nursing leadership, Bachelor level epidemiology, Bachelor level pathophysiology, legal issues of nursing, longer periods in clinical rotations, more focused clinicals and didactics, being surrounded by educators that are/were practicing nurses, and an overall education that is-- simply put--pertinent to nursing and nursing theory.

A Chem degree will focus on upper level chemistry and higher math--neither of which are relevant to a CRNA program, and all lacking the aforementioned nursing career preparatory courses and mentorship. This is why nursing programs, in general, do not require high levels of chemistry prerequisites--they are not pertinent.

Obviously there is an element of chemistry in physiology, but not to the extent you would be studying in pursuit of a Chem degree. However, all of the BSN education will, in part, be applicable to a CRNA program/career.

To go back to the question that is the title of this thread:

I believe that the MDs, DNPs and other CRNAs that create the prerequisites for these programs feel the same way as I do, and that is why they prefer a BSN over a random Bachelor degree in chemistry or something else.

I also got by initial RN via a BSN degree, and I should point out that my views of ADN program education was in some ways similar to yours, but as I've learned since then, my understanding of ADN programs was wildly ignorant.

As an example, there is not "bachelor level pathophysiology", there is undergrad level pathophysiology and it's the same class whether you take it at a community college or university. This is why when pursuing a bachelor's degree you can take those first two years at either a community college or university, it makes no difference in practical terms which option a student chooses.

Specializes in Critical Care.
52 minutes ago, LouDogg said:

I think that if you pursued your CRNA goals, you would not have found your BSN useless--especially if it was a program entrance requirement. You would also have more insight here as to which degree was more useful.

But that goes back to your statement about the usefulness of an education being dependent on career goals.

Compared to a BSN, I would assume the Chem degree was much harder. I hate chem, so I may be biased about that one; but if you do not enjoy a subject, it can be grueling. But as you mentioned, the upper level chemistry courses are not necessary or particular relevant to the CRNA role (the point of this whole thread).

That being said, the BSN is also a better prep for a DNP education which is now mandatory. And *Spoiler Alert*, the DNP general courses in a CRNA program are not about anesthesia--just nursing theory.

BSN was easy? If you call writing hundreds of papers, Staying awake countless nights writing multiple 50-page care plans and then attending clinical in the morning, simultaneous heavy assignments, constant exams, etc.---- I don't see how that's easy. But I suppose that depends on where you get your education. I hear about many schools that just churn out degrees and are not concerned with offering a sub-par education (e.g., all those complaints that their APA format was more important than the content of their papers).

That doesn't happen at Cal State universities, that's for sure, and they are far from "easy" to get through--but I do understand not all programs are created equal. I do understand that I attended one of the more intense and difficult programs in the state, so my experience was probably different than most.

Also, there are plenty of CRNA jobs that do not require being on call, that seems to be a strange reason not to pursue your goals.

I don't understand how you've come under the impression that ADN programs don't involve care plans, clinicals, or exams.

The OP was questioning an RN-to-BSN program (ADN-to-BSN) program was seen as being more valuable than a Bachelor's in chemistry. RN-to-BSN programs don't include clinicals, care plans, or exams, because aside from typically around 12 credits of nutrition, community health, and management/leadership there are no consistent differences between the two programs.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Right. A diploma RN plus a chem degree seems more useful than a Rn to bsn because those programs literally teach you nothing but how to bs a paper.

Now yeah it’s obvious a BSN is more useful for anything nursing than a straight up chem degree and no nursing degree, but that’s common sense

My clinical instructor was harder than my clinical or class. Too much drama--a straight poop-stirrer. No wonder why she wasn't getting along with people. She didn't like it when I called her out right in front of her boss. She thought she was going to corner me. She underestimated me and abused her power as my authority. She thought she was going to cause me problems. It was her surprise. It was worth it. I'm sure she will hide from me when she sees me. True story. ?

Being a CNA, I can compare and contrast people. She was handful than a few of my difficult pts or residents. I don't want to add more about that conniving person. I hope she learned to play fairly. I'm not an expert; however, I can attest she had a borderline personality disorder.

15 hours ago, LouDogg said:

In my opinion, the knowledge more helpful in a BSN program include--but are not limited to--courses in bachelor level research, public health, nursing leadership, Bachelor level epidemiology, Bachelor level pathophysiology, legal issues of nursing, longer periods in clinical rotations, more focused clinicals and didactics, being surrounded by educators that are/were practicing nurses, and an overall education that is-- simply put--pertinent to nursing and nursing theory.

As Muno pointed out you really have a wildly incorrect assessment of ADN as well as BSN programs. Everything you said is just...wrong.

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