Why is BSN required for CRNA?

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?

[LouDogg, BSN, RN]

I guess I never attended a BSN program so I wouldn’t know... and I’m not a CRNA student, so i really don’t know.... oh wait, that was sarcasm. I am a DNP-Anesthesia student with a BSN.

If BSN didn’t have upper level or additional courses, the RN-BSN would not have had to come in and take upper-level nursing courses, but they did.. for leadership, and research, epidemiology and community health, with rotations, at the minimum.

Not sure what patho they took, but I was correct for the most part. If it’s the same patho class, ok, but makes no difference to the idea of my original statement.

BSN has more upper level courses pertinent to nursing, more didactic, and definitely more clinical experience than a chem degree. That’s my point. Like it or not, it’s true.

[Wuzzie]

11 minutes ago, LouDogg said:

BSN has more upper level courses pertinent to nursing, more didactic, and definitely more clinical experience than a chem degree. That’s my point. Like it or not, it’s true.

But you weren't talking about chemistry degrees. You were comparing BSN to ADN programs (which you never attended so you don't really know)and it's not a matter of me liking it or not you are still wrong. Do you need me to refer you to your post?

11 minutes ago, LouDogg said:

I guess I never attended a BSN program so I wouldn’t know... and I’m not a CRNA student, so i really don’t know.... oh wait, that was sarcasm. I am a DNP-Anesthesia student with a BSN.

No need to be snotty.

[LouDogg, BSN, RN]

12 hours ago, MunoRN said:

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.

I never said ADNs didn’t have care-plans. I was talking about the chem degree.

But obviously a shorter program will have less to do. And sure, I’ll retract my statement on the specific classes I mentioned, but it makes no difference to my point about more nursing education and upper level courses that are in a DNP not a ADN

At Cal State Long Beach, the RN-BSN students joined us in the last two semesters to complete their BSNs. They had exams, clinical, care plans just the same as we did.

However, many of the RN-BSN programs I see offered online (or private schools) will just hand you a degree once you pay the tuition—so I can see how that would be pointless (except for earned credential) and easy.

A BSN is a nursing degree, so obviously it’s more pertinent to a higher nursing degree.

You may think you didn’t learn anything in your BSN program, (maybe you went to a bad school and really didn’t, I don’t know) but a BSN education actually will help you with the continuation of nursing theory courses you’ll get pounded with in CRNA school. Furthermore, with that attitude you could say that learning your ABCs was pointless because you never say the whole alphabet in practical use, but it was in-fact a foundation to everything you earned after that.... ?

[LouDogg, BSN, RN]

I mean, you may think that Research class in the BSN was worthless... but guess what my first course was in the CRNA program....

Research

There is no hand-holding, so without a prior research class, from my BSN, I would have been completely lost when having to write Doctoral level research reviews....

I also had a chem course first semester of the program. Fortunately, there was NO need for upper level chem knowledge in the anesthesia program’s chem class...If you get into a program, you’ll have a better idea about what I mean.

[ArmyRntoMD, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, LouDogg said:

I guess I never attended a BSN program so I wouldn’t know... and I’m not a CRNA student, so i really don’t know.... oh wait, that was sarcasm. I am a DNP-Anesthesia student with a BSN.

If BSN didn’t have upper level or additional courses, the RN-BSN would not have had to come in and take upper-level nursing courses, but they did.. for leadership, and research, epidemiology and community health, with rotations, at the minimum.

Not sure what patho they took, but I was correct for the most part. If it’s the same patho class, ok, but makes no difference to the idea of my original statement.

BSN has more upper level courses pertinent to nursing, more didactic, and definitely more clinical experience than a chem degree. That’s my point. Like it or not, it’s true.

What rotations? I looked into 5 different programs and they were almost all exactly identical. 30 hours of coursework all online, in areas like disaster nursing, community nursing, nursing leadership, transition to professional nursing (what kind of nursing were we doing prior? Amateur? Lol), capstone project, etc.

We weren’t handed degrees but it was basically an English degree. What they were super concerned with was formatting and following APA. Once you learned what APA was, you were golden. Straight 100s.

[Wuzzie]

1 hour ago, LouDogg said:

I never said ADNs didn’t have care-plans. I was talking about the chem degree.

But obviously a shorter program will have less to do. And sure, I’ll retract my statement on the specific classes I mentioned, but it makes no difference to my point about more nursing education and upper level courses that are in a DNP not a ADN

Lou, I don't disagree with you regarding a good number of RN-BSN programs but man you are all over the place and it's hard to follow. You keep changing the programs you are talking about. You compared ADN to BSN and then claimed you were really talking about chem degrees vs BSN. Now you are tossing in that you were really talking about DNP vs ADN which is just...weird. I don't think anybody here thinks an ADN compares to a DNP. You're going to have to cut us some slack, we're just trying to figure out where you're coming from.

[klone, MSN, RN]

14 hours ago, ArmyRntoMD said:

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

This is gross, and really irrelevant to the conversation. Are you SERIOUSLY posting your pay stub here??

OMG, and now you're posting your transcripts?? You are ridiculous.

[klone, MSN, RN]

OMG, the egos in this thread...

[ArmyRntoMD, BSN, RN]

Not an ego. Lol. I’m not nearly where I desire to be. Eats at me every day, but the journey of a thousand miles...

[LouDogg, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Wuzzie said:

Lou, I don't disagree with you regarding a good number of RN-BSN programs but man you are all over the place and it's hard to follow. You keep changing the programs you are talking about. You compared ADN to BSN and then claimed you were really talking about chem degrees vs BSN. Now you are tossing in that you were really talking about DNP vs ADN which is just...weird. I don't think anybody here thinks an ADN compares to a DNP. You're going to have to cut us some slack, we're just trying to figure out where you're coming from.

Sorry, the RN MD guy had me all twisted going on tangents about his special class of research. And then you quoted me and I wasn’t sure what part of the conversation you were quoting. And I should not have mentioned Patho, that was incorrect.

The extra clinical, projects, courses I was referring to were community health, research, leadership, and nursing capstone—mine was gerontology. And the RN students had to do everything we had to (clinical, exams, etc). There was another, but I’ve been up for about 35 hours now and can’t remember.

But those aforementioned courses have been more pertinent to my first SRNA semester than anything else I’ve encountered this far.

And we just took the chem course, it has nothing upper level. I took LESS than college level chem, <101, as my RN prerequisite; and I got an A in the SRNA chem course. This is why I feel that a further nursing education, even if it’s “easier” than a chem degree, is more pertinent to a CRNA program.

This is an opinion question, that’s my opinion. And I’m in a pretty good position to comment on the topic at hand. But of course, you are welcome to your opinion as well. I don’t think upper-level chem would have been of any value to me, personally. I feel more prepared with the BSN.

[Wuzzie]

28 minutes ago, LouDogg said:

This is an opinion question, that’s my opinion. And I’m in a pretty good position to comment on the topic at hand. But of course, you are welcome to your opinion as well.

Of course you can have an opinion but you need to have the cred to back it up. I'm not sure you really know what is involved in an ADN program and you managed to poke the bear that is the long-standing argument of ADN vs BSN which is guaranteed to get a rise out of folks here. That being said, after the prerequisite humanities required in a BSN there is very little difference in the nursing education of ADN and BSN students. You cannot say one is better than the other, if that was the case there would be two different exams for the two different degrees. What you can say is that the BSN was better for you. On the floor you cannot tell the difference.

[ArmyRntoMD, BSN, RN]

You really can’t tell the difference on the floor between ADN and BSN to be honest.. it’s mostly social crap. Trying to groom people to be managers and a bunch of sociology bull.