Is it worth it to get a B.S.N.?

[Leros]

I have a friend who is in the process of applying to nursing school (she is currently in pre-nursing). She wants to do nursing school at a university so that she will have a BSN when she graduates. Her parents are pushing her to apply to the local hospital, which is easier to get into and cheaper, but she won't get a college degree.

As far as I understand, either way she can get the same nursing jobs as an RN. The degree is important to her and offers her the option to go to graduate school later on, so personally I think she should ignore her parents and do what she wants, which isn't going to be easy for her to do.

I'm asking you guys because I am pretty much telling her to ignore her parents and I would feel bad if I ended up giving her bad advice.

My thoughts are:
1) The degree is important to her
2) Gives her options for graduate school

Her parents thoughts are:
1) It's more expensive to go to a university
2) You can get the same job either way
3) Any education is better than none, so be happy you can get some education

 

[FoBoT]

who is paying?
if parents are paying, then don't ignore them

if they are not paying, then she should do whatever she wants

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Leros
I have a friend who is in the process of applying to nursing school (she is currently in pre-nursing). She wants to do nursing school at a university so that she will have a BSN when she graduates. Her parents are pushing her to apply to the local hospital, which is easier to get into and cheaper, but she won't get a college degree.

As far as I understand, either way she can get the same nursing jobs as an RN. The degree is important to her and offers her the option to go to graduate school later on, so personally I think she should ignore her parents and do what she wants, which isn't going to be easy for her to do.

I'm asking you guys because I am pretty much telling her to ignore her parents and I would feel bad if I ended up giving her bad advice.

My thoughts are:
1) The degree is important to her
2) Gives her options for graduate school

Her parents thoughts are:
1) It's more expensive to go to a university
2) You can get the same job either way
3) Any education is better than none, so be happy you can get some education

Going through the local hospital she'll still get a degree, it will just be an ADN and not a BSN.

And yes getting a BSN opens more doors for you.

A BSN allows you to teach at nursing programs at the JuCo level.

A BSN allows you to be a floor manager at a hospital.

A BSN is required if you want to go on to be a nurse practioner.

If she already has her core requirements out of the way(you say shes in pre nursing). Either way its going to take two years.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
who is paying?
if parents are paying, then don't ignore them

if they are not paying, then she should do whatever she wants

Her parents are currently paying for her tuition, and it seems they would be willing to pay for her tuition if she goes to a university. She would just have to pay her living expenses, which she is willing to do.

Even if her parents aren't willing to pay her tuition, she is willing to pay for that too. Getting a real college degree is important enough to her.

 

[vi edit]

Pay is negligible between the two up front. $.50-$.75 an hour (Under $1500 gross per year).

As was said, what the BSN gets you is better advancement possibilities - Nurse Anesthetist (major income potential), Practicion, ect.

It's much easier to put that time in up front than decide you want to do it later and try to work and go to school at the same time. Nursing is a pretty high burn out job. She may really want to get into a higher skill position and off the floors quickly. Not having her BSN will seriously limit that.

 

[tdog44632]

I am a Diploma R.N. I have worked for 19 years in various areas. The advantage to hospital based is you get a better nursing education. For the most part clinical time at univesity based program is limited in comparison and you dont have enough practice at the technical skills you need to know. This leads to a lot of young nurses burning out because they are overwhelmed after they graduate. If you want a BSN you can get in a accelerated program after you start your job and the hospital you work for will generally reimburse your tuition. In fact a good idea for high schol students is to get LPN license in 10 months and then let the hospital pay for all your education after that.

 

[slightlyhuman]

LVN-->RN transition FTW.

What' I'm doing.

Currently working in the OR now.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: tdog44632
I am a Diploma R.N. I have worked for 19 years in various areas. The advantage to hospital based is you get a better nursing education. For the most part clinical time at univesity based program is limited in comparison and you dont have enough practice at the technical skills you need to know. This leads to a lot of young nurses burning out because they are overwhelmed after they graduate. If you want a BSN you can get in a accelerated program after you start your job and the hospital you work for will generally reimburse your tuition. In fact a good idea for high schol students is to get LPN license in 10 months and then let the hospital pay for all your education after that.

About the same advice I was going to give. The RN only programs are usually a little more intensive. Locally, my wife earned her RN status through the local community college in 2 years. That college has a 100% pass rate on the state boards. You'd think that if they can get 100% to pass in 2 years that the 4-year schools offering a B.S. would be able to do just as well. They don't. (Not that they don't have a great percent passing though.)

Wife is currently working on her bachelor's degree. That means, she's getting rid of a bunch of the crap, meaningless classes (humanities electives) that mean nothing to her by taking a "mini-course" sort of thing, then challenging those classes via CLEP exams. That'll be followed by taking the handful of specific nursing courses for her B.S.

Hospital picks up most of the costs. Plus, since there's a nursing shortage, she managed to get nearly 100% of the tab for getting her R.N. picked up by the state through some sort of program. If she didn't do it through the state, she could also have gotten 100% paid for by the hospital she works at (she was an administrative secretary at the hospital.) But, that would have obligated her to work at the hospital for x number of years. (Why take a chance that something would happen and we'd move from the area.)

The lack of a B.S. hasn't held her back from advancement. A lot of the other positions are "B.S. preferred" not "B.S. required." She's moving up quite well.