Skip to main content

X Degree to BSN: The Next Step

You have an AD, Diploma, LPN, possibly even an NA degree.  Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to go back to school.  For 500 reasons I am sure you can name as to why you should not, I'm going to provide a few as to why you should..

To start,a BSN provides you with more job security than you currently have.  Whether it is a hospital or community setting, most non-clinical positions who like to hire nurses require a BSN.  That degree is more security for you in the long run than your current degree.  More income?  Depends on which level you're coming from.  In the long run, however, a BSN provides you with the most flexibility.

It doesn't matter if you do it online, in a classroom, or in some other format.  A BSN means more money, more job security, more career options in the long run than you can possibly imagine without it.  You become an example to your children with a college degree.  You say that no matter what, you can go on at any age, under any circumstance and get a college degree.  

Lately the news media likes to say how a college degree doesn't get you that far but the reality as a nurse is that it does.  With a BSN you can open up a hundred doors that were closed to you before.  You can make sure that if your back or knees give out on you after so many years on the floor, you have a back up plan to ensure the financial stability of yourself and your family.

Now is the time.  Go back for your BSN.  Figure it out, whatever program works for you. In the long run, you will be happy you did.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

There Are Other Masters Degrees Besides a Nurse Practitioner - Part I

It strikes me that many students and nurses do not seem to know about the "other" masters degree options for nurses.  Everyone seems to want to be a nurse practitioner these days.  Now, that's great news for the primary care provider shortage, but we need nurses with masters degrees who can work in other positions and have other skill sets. Let's review the other masters degrees in nursing.  Nearest and dearest to my own heart is Nursing Education.  Remember that really cool clinical instructor you had in your entry-level nursing program --that could be you!  Do you like precepting new hires?  Are you the person on your unit who unofficially keeps everyone up-to-date on the latest evidence?  Do you really enjoy patient teaching, whether in the hospital or community setting?  Do you just like to teach?  Nursing education is the right masters for you.  Skills learned in a nursing education masters cannot be learned on the job.  Cur...

Is it time to get your PhD in Nursing or Midwifery?

 Over the years, I've written a lot about pursuing a PhD in nursing and I'm including midwives because we need more PhD prepared midwives too.  Getting a PhD is a great way to address the problems you've seen on the frontlines of COVID-19, another way to address the social injustices of racism and discrimination on health outcomes, and to make your voice heard by the decision-makers. A third of the 1% of nurses with PhDs will retire in the next five years so we need people to take their place. We cannot lose our voices in all the places where nurses and midwives with PhDs work. Here's a compilation of the posts I've written about getting a PhD and the things to think about as you figure out where you want to apply. PhD or DNP?   This is where many people start when trying to decide on their doctoral-level career advancement. This post has my two cents on the topic. Should you work as a nurse before getting a PhD?   There's a lot of opinions out there on this sub...

Turnover in Nursing Staff at the Unit Level: The Single Best Indicator of Manager Performance?

Recently I had lunch with a former student who was passing through town. Lisa graduated a little over two years ago and was one of the lucky ones who found a job fairly quickly. What was most interesting about our conversation was the turnover rate on her unit. In 15 months, 15 nurses have left. The most recent was a group of five experienced night shift nurses, the kind any manager is loathe to lose. They left, according to the student, because they were tired of how they were treated.  Lisa is now the most experienced person on night shift at two years out of school. The loss of 15 nurses on one unit has also cost the organization nearly a million dollars. In an era of cost tightening, that is a steep price. Acknowledging that this is only a report from one person, there is still something that rings true in her story: Well managed patient care units do not have high turnover rates of staff. So let's think about what constitutes turnover in nursing staff and it's causes. G...

Translate