I am taking classes towards my BSN because like other nurses with a diploma or ADN I am being "forced" to return to school for my BSN. I have had my ADN for 9 years. My question is HOW is statistics, critical inquiry, and the other classes going to make me a better nurse? Isn't hands on training the best way to learn? I feel like they are requiring BSN now and in 10 years want MSN so that we wont need doctors working on the floors, because nurses will do their own orders!!
I am 42 y/o and rally don't want to do this, but I have a minimum of 23 years left of working and had to be forced to stay where I am due to not having a BSN. Sure they say we may be "grandfathered" in, but that limits us to stay put.
Anyone have any input on this, as to what am I going to learn getting my BSN and why the requirement now?
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I didn't want to get my BSN, either. But I learned quickly that I wouldn't be able to get a job without it.
So true. The area in which I live has started to display a preference for BSN-educated nurses over the past few years, so I might as well be proactive and earn the degree to remain employable.
Also, more education never hurts. In fact, the sense of accomplishment can be quite invigorating.
I went to school with the last group of Diploma RNs to graduate here in my part of Canada. These days a bachelor's degree is the entry to practice requirement for a registered nurse.
No one got demoted, no one was forced to go back to school. If you were an RN on Friday, you were still an RN on Monday after the change went into effect, you still got paid one whole dollar less per hour than your counterparts with degrees, you were still less desirable for certain positions (mostly managerial and educational). The world did not crumble and no one lost one iota of status.
I feel like if you have a two tier system, with people sharing the same job title, responsibilities and function, but having two different levels of education you are setting the system up for strife. Yes, employers will probably vote with their dollars and prefer people with the higher level of education. You can argue that all you like, but it isn't going to change. A standardized entry to practice cuts down some of the bickering as far as I can tell.
For the most part I don't know what level of preparation my coworkers (at least those who graduated in my year or before) received, and I don't really care. It isn't a thing where I work because the issue is a done deal, no one has anything to gain by worrying about it.
Actually,in the Usa,there are 2 tiers of nursing:
Lpn
Rn
That is it.
All RN's take the same test,so i am not sure how that is a different tier.
I wonder what the ANA means by technical nurse?
i guess i am confused; i always thought lpn's were considered technical nurses since they do not have a degree but a certificate?
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
i always thought lpn's were considered technical nurses since they do not have a degree but a certificate?
Not all LPNs have certificates. Some LPNs have earned the associate of applied science (AAS) degree in practical nursing. This degree path is not that uncommon in the Midwest and Intermountain West.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I wonder why anyone would get the AAS degree in practical nursing when they can get the AAS in nursing(Rn)
in the same amount of time?
Perhaps all the RN programs in a person's area had prohibitive waiting lists and/or lotteries, while the practical nursing program might have been admitting people on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Are those who are enrolled in a RN to BSN getting jobs?
It depends on geographic location. In some rural areas, ADNs have no trouble getting acute care positions. In other highly desire able populated locales, even BSN's are having problems finding any kind of employment at all. Some facilities will hire you as an ADN but you have to agree to get your BSN within 3 years (for example).
I just finished an RN to BSN completion program. I would say all my classmates were either in decent positions they had held several years (hired in when hospitals not as demanding) or they were in in less acute positions (SNF, LTAC, HHC) and anxiously trying to finish BSN so they could apply for acute care positions.
Are those who are enrolled in a RN to BSN getting jobs?
I had no trouble getting a job as an ADN in a "rural" area (500 bed regional medical center in city of population 50,000.) I also had little trouble (3 months) getting a job as an ADN in Nashville. Both of these were about three years ago.
Let me add that the situations of my classmates (as described a couple if posts up) is not what I see in my nursing environment.
My unit (NICU) still hires a couple of new grad ADNs each year. They used to hire a much higher proportion and now we hire many more experienced nurses (all educational backgrounds. The caveat is that newly hired ADNs must agree to finish their BSNs within 3 years of hire or I guess we let them go.
SE_BSN_RN, BSN
805 Posts
If you already have a RN, it will take you 12-18 months to get a BSN. So......why NOT?? Because you are 42 and don't want to? That's it?
I didn't want to get my BSN, either. But I learned quickly that I wouldn't be able to get a job without it.