Any RN Mamas Out There...

I have 4 young ladies in my family who are now RNs in the past 2 years. All in the same major city.

2 of them went with the associates thru a junior college. Both struggled to find jobs. For one, it took 9 months to find an auxiallary-hospital job. For the other, it was more than 12 months & ended up in a nursing home.

The other 2 RNs went thru our state university for a bachelors. One had a job prior to graduation. The other had one prior to taking her boards. Both of them ended up in award-winning hospitals. I truly believe going the distance on this career pays off in both short & long term. (Both of these young ladies are planning on pursuing Masters, too! & will receive assistance their jobs with the tuition fees. )

One more bit of advice: accept any & all job/work study opportunities during your educational process. Every little bit helps on that final resume!

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Hello,

Two years ago and before I would have told you to get your ADN. Now more and more hospitals are looking to hire only BSN. If you are in an area that is hiring ADNs, I would still be cautious about going for the ADN because at anytime they may change the policy and go to BSN preferred. I have done LPN, ADN, and just completed an RN to BSN program in the past year. When I was completing my ADN schools were known for producing more knowledgable-ready to work- nurses than BSN programs. That may have changed - I have no idea now. Now I don't see how it is possible for hospitals to go strictly BSN becuase there are too many ADN programs out there plus on a national level the demand for nurses is going up. Each area is different though. They maybe doing recruitment from other countries. I'm not sure if Filipino programs are ADN or BSN. So my advise is to go ahead and get your BSN if you can, however if you can only get your ADN then do it. Don't pass up one just because you can't get the other. It maybe harder to find a job but not impossible.

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Whether you get an Associates or Bachelors, both degrees take the same licensing exam and thus will have the same job responsiblities.

A bachelors is supposed to make it easier to transition into management; however, most facilities require an advanced degree for management positions, unless you're promoted from within the facility..

A BSN makes you more marketable to hospitals that need to achieve or maintain their magnet status.

There are many political theories about which degree is better for the profession as a whole. If you're interested in that side of things, visit almost any nursing forum and you'll find many and varied discussions on the topic. (www.allnurses.com is a pretty good one.)

As hospitals are pressed to economize more and more, one way they'll do so is to reduce, as much as possible, nursing staff. Nurses are one of the most expensive parts of a hospital. Therefore, when it comes to hiring, they are going to hire the most experienced they can get for the cheapest wages, and barring any experience, they'll hire the most education they can get for the cheapest wages.

If you have the time and the money, I think you should pursue a BSN. If you don't, then an ASN is perfectly acceptable. Most of your education will come from on the job training anyways, and there are a myriad of bridge programs avaible.

-- AngieO'Plasty, BSN

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It depends on the state and the regulations for the hospitals and doctors offices in your state.
Where I am (Oregon) I need to get my Bachelors. If I just stop with an Associates I will end up as a Registered Nursing Assistant or a Certified Nurses Assistant.
Most times the CNAs and the RNAs do the "scut" work. They wash the bed pans, do the sponge baths, file paper work, draw blood, administer enimas, things like that.

If you want a chance to do more than the basics of Nursing, actually assist the doctor, possibly be in the operating room, the Bachelors degree is the way to go.

I am going after my Associates and then once I am working in a hospital and have help paying for school from the hospital, I will be going after my Bachelors of Science in Biology.
That will allow me to be an RN in the OR or in the Morgue, which is where i really wan o be.

Good luck on your career :)

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What kind of area do you live in rural or city? I work in a hospital and they are going for their magnet status which can only be accomplished if a certain amount of the RN carry BSN's. Also now to be a charge nurse or unit supervisor you need your BSN. You can get your RN of course then just start working and then go to school part time to get your BSN which is a common thing. RN gets you in the door work 6 months and then the hospital will usually help you with tuition. Well good luck. I wish I had the financial ability to do that as well.

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Know this:

Associates of Nursing : leads to (RN or ASRN, but no one calls it that):
- 2 years of prereqs
- 1 lag year (common in most states because of the shortage of instructors)
- 2 years of nursing school

Bachelors of Science Nursing : leads to (BSRN):
- 2 year associate degree (or fresh & soph)
- 1 lag year (if transferring from a CC to a University)
- 2 years of nursing school

SAME AMOUNT OF TIME.

An associates sounds "faster" because it's a "2 year degree". But with the biology 1, bio 2, chem-1, inorganic chem, organic chem (3 quarters each o-chem & ino-chem), microbiology A&P 1, A&P2, Developmental Psychology, Nutrition, Ethics, & Stats (prereqs) PLUS the History, English, Math, & Art required for your associates... it's only ONE QUARTER faster.... IF AND ONLY IF you start out in a community college for your first 2 years. If you start at a university, it's a year faster to get your BSRN because you don't have the lag year IF you get accepted.

((It requires top marks to get into any nursing school. UW school of nursing has over 6,000 applicants for under 100 slots last time I checked. It may be worse now. Most community colleges have 5x the number of applicants than the have spots.))

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I am an RN with my associates degree. Some hospitals do offer a slight pay increase (9 yrs ago it was about a quarter) for your bachelor's. If you decide to get your associates, a lot of hospitals will pay for you to go back and bridge to get your bachelors. That usually takes about a year. My hospital does not offer a pay increase, and they will take experience rather than a bachelors degree for mgmt positions. Hope this helps!! Good luck

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I am RN with an associates degree. I supervise many BSN's and can honestly say that they are the same or if not less in their abilities as any Associates degrees nurse. As for jobs, I have applied for jobs requesting BSN and have always secured the job. I believe in nursing it is all about the capabilities. I hope this helps.

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I am a Diploma RN (three year program) which was a great program, turned out well prepared nurses, but those are obsolete now. After working with both ADN and BSN's, after a few years experience doesn't appear to be much different. However, look at the curriculum and see if the program is accredited, and how the grads perform on State Boards. Are they passing the first time they take the test?
After working with new grads, they all seem to have to get more "on the job" training, because they haven't had exposure to many everyday things. There are orientation/precepter programs in hospitals for new hires. There are many nurses out there who just squeaked by, took every break that was offered, did as little as possible to get through school, then when they get to the real world, they can't perform.
It is dedication and hard work, but during the clinical's (hands on nursing, direct patient care) participate in every learning opportunity that comes up, so when it is your turn, you will know how.
In my experience, I have seen new grads come out of school who do not know sterile technique, cannot start an IV, place an NG tube, put in a catheter, administer a tube feeding, give a simple douche or enema. Unbelievable what they can skip and go to being in charge of a floor, never having gotten their hands dirty.
There are over 98,000 people who die every year due to medical mistakes......nurses are on the frontline and need to know right from wrong, know when a Dr. is to be questioned, know when things aren't right.
Nursing is a constant learning, evolving process and lot's of personal growth. I think the best options are for BSN's and definitely if you desire any type of management, teaching or advancement in nursing, many of those now require Master's degree.
On the other hand, AD program's will get you into the workforce quicker and you can further your education while working.
Best wishes!!

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As a nurse in the Dallas area, I would HIGHLY advise you to go for the BSN. I know for a fact many hospitals in this area will choose to hire a BSN over an ADN. The hospital where I work will sometimes hire an ADN but only if s/he states intentions to bridge to BSN program over a certain amount of time.

As far as new nurses not knowing how to do basic skills, I don't necessarily find that to be true. The last two GN's that I preceptored (both were BSN) knew how to start IV's and insert Foley's, and, as a matter of fact, were pretty darn good at them. I started as a new nurse with an ADN, and I had to learn those skills on the job. Was the degree the difference or maybe nursing schools today are creating more opportunities for students to learn skills? I don't know.

Good luck!!

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I work in at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas. I know our hospital will not hire an ADN unless they went through their (the hospital's) program at El Centro. If they do hire them part of their contract is that they must have their BSN in 2 years. This is because we are a Magnet hospital. As I understand it Magnet wants all nurses to be BSN because there is a lot of emphasis on upper education (or something like that). Any ADN's alredy there were grandfathered in but if they leave (say to do travel nursing) they will not be rehired. I have trained many ADN's and BSN's. As far as skills, I can say some of my ADN's had more skill knowledge but ONLY if they had already been in the ER for their senior semester. It doesnt really matter. Everyone has to go through an internship in which the point is to learn your skills, charting...Nothing is like school. Your internship is time to learn what the real world is about.
I worked my way through nursing school. After your first semester you can apply for a Nurse Externship (at least at any texas health hospital) where you can start working as a tech that has the ability to do the skills you have already learned in school (except give meds). So I was a nurse extern for 3 semesters and by the time I graduated I had my IV's down. Texas Health will also pay for your tuition if you are in a clinical degree program. check it out at www.texashealth.org. Sorry if I sound like I am plugging for texas health, it is just where I started and I know them the best. If you can go for the BSN.
Good luck!!

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I have a BSN and if I could do it over again I would only get an associate's degree.

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Hi! I personally have my BSN, but there are many great nurses that I work with that just have their ADN. However I have noticed in the last few years that most of the nurses that have been hired either for jobs as nurses or as externs prior to graduating from their nursing program are BSN's. I think it depends alot on what field of nursing you want to go into, whether you may want to go into management at some point, what hospital your thinking of working at, and what options are available to you. Several of the CC in the area offer the ADN program and due to more flexibility with CC classes and programs it might be easier to work around your own schedule, however many more universities are coming up with better ways to fit classes around your schedule so if you want a BSN or would prefer a university atmosphere it's probably quite doable. Either program will take about the same amount of time depending on what pre-requisites you need to fulfill. If you can get a BSN I would go for it, but right now you'll find a mix of ADN and BSN nurses working at many of the hospitals so unless you have long term plans for advancing your career you'd be fine to go for an ADN. You can always go back and bridge the gap between the ADN and BSN program if financially or time wise you can't do a BSN. I definitely recommend taking advantage of all opportunities for externships or nurse tech positions/PCT positions at the hospitals to help hone your skills and get experience. They might be more willing to offer you a job there if your well known as a good worker as well. I did my externship at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital here in Dallas and was offered a position before I graduated. I've now worked here for 3 1/2 years as a full time RN. Hope this helps and good luck!

E.:)
P.S. Here's the requirements for the nursing program at Texas Woman's University (which is where I graduated from) several years ago: the basic pre-reqs included were 1 year of English, 1 year Texas/US Government, 1 year History, 1 semester of Chemistry, 1 year of A&P, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Dev. Psychology, Nutrition, Microbiology, an Arts class, and one or two others. I think Speech is now a requirement as well...then you apply to nursing school once you complete all your pre-reqs which means you'll probably have one semester of just easy classes or waiting around.

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I am getting my BSN. Oddly that will be quicker because they let me apply to that program while finishing my pre-reqs. NO lag time like the community college program, I also had over 50 credits already.
BUt i want to go to grad school and know i need the BS. I know a friend who just finihsed her rn and 30 days after passing her boards is working on a floor. BUt she has very strong family connections to the hospital.
if you can afford I would say go BSN.

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