Will a foreign BSN graduate still be a BSN degree holder if he/she will take ADN?

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Greetings of peace! I'm a foreign BSN graduate from the Philippines and I applied for NCLEX here in California. Last February, I received a letter instructing me to take courses in Medical-Surgical, Obstetrics, and Psychiatric Nursing because of concurrency issue. I looked into accredited nursing schools and all of them informed me that I have to take their whole nursing program since the Medical-Surgical is integrated in the whole program. I want to know if going for the 2-year Associate's Degree in Nursing will do just fine to complete my aforementioned course deficiencies? Or do I need to take the whole 4-year BSN program? My concern is I am already holding a BSN degree in the Philippines (& when my transcripts were evaluated, the US academic equivalent is still BSN) but will I still be considered a degree holder of a BSN if I take the ADN program instead of the BSN once I have passed the NCLEX-RN here in California? Please give me some enlightenment on this matter so that I can decide what to do next. Thank you for your gracious assistance and prompt attention on this matter. God bless!

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You will still have your previous degree, regardless of what education you may complete in the future.

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I don't think so

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You will always hold your BSN. Nobody can take that away from you unless it is the institution that granted it in the first place. Now, to answer the question you posed: I would write a letter to the Board of Nursing and to the school (when you find one) to get an answer. However, I believe that you would be correct in putting down your BSN education level on your resume and on future job applications. You can list the added courses in a separate resume entry so that it is not confused with your BSN (Use a phrase similar to "Added coursework in Medical-Surgical Nursing from J&S Community College"). After all, if you were to return to the Philippines, you would still be regarded to have your BSN and the employer would not care what extra courses you were forced to take in the US. Be proud of your BSN!

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.

Tough call. You can take the ADN bec that is much shorter and significantly cheaper than a BSN. However, when you apply for work, will the recruiter/HR value your foreign BSN or your US educated ADN. I just don't know (personally BSN is a BSN). I hope an HR person chimes in.

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Hi to all! Thank you very much for your replies on this thread. I really appreciate those who took their time to answer. I just want to let everyone know that after months of waiting, one of the Licensing Analysts of the California Board of Registered Nursing has finally replied to the same question mentioned above. Here's her reply:

Good day,

If you complete an ADN program, you have been considered to have obtained an Associate's degree or certificate depending on what your school has determined. Your BSN degree would not be considered unless you ONLY complete the deficiencies.

If your question is can you complete the medical-surgical, obstetric, and psychiatric deficiencies at an ADN level, will you be considered a BSN graduate? The answer is yes ONLY if you do not complete the entire program again at the ADN level.

What she meant was that if you complete the deficiencies at the ADN level, you are still a BSN grad; but, if you complete the entire ADN program, the Board will consider you as an Associate's & not a Bachelor's any longer since you have obtained an Associate's degree or certificate. Truly, this is frustrating ‘cause most of the schools I inquired here in California wants me to take their whole 2yr and 4yr program, both public & private. Hope this thread helps other foreign BSN graduates to decide whether to study again or go another State. God bless…

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I think a better analogy of the CA BRN response is this:

Based on the board's assessment,

- your BSN from the Philippines is currently not equivalent to the BSN in California

- if you complete the deficient courses, your BSN from the Philippines will be equivalent to the BSN in California

- if you complete all the courses towards an ADN, you've now earned an ADN degree but your BSN from the Philippines is still not equivalent to the BSN in California (even though the deficient content was covered in the ADN).

That made my head spin a bit. Is it possible to just complete the deficient courses?

There is a thread here that states that there are schools in California that are now allowing IEN's to just enroll for the deficient courses. That thread can be found here.

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Specializes in ER.

A lot of hospitals word it as they require a BSN from a CCNE or ACEN accredited school.

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My school allows foreign nurses to take deficient courses. There was a nurse from Russia I believe signing up.

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Contact cal state San Bernardino. They have offered these classes separately to foreign trained nurses the last 2 summers.

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Hello, what is your status right now? did you end up going for the ADN program?

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Such bummer! If only we can outsmart them, enroll in ADN, then after finishing w/ MS & OB, drop the course í ½í¸œ but i know that's not as easy as it sound nor feasible or accredited.

I'm now considering doing the LVN-RN bridging program since it's a lot cheaper than the private schools that accepts our case.

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