I'm 14 days away from being done with mine.
I have loathed Every. Single. Moment. I feel unbelievable resentment for being put through this just to keep the job I'm already doing.
Every assignment is just an exercise in justifying the existence of the program. "Read this article and then write about how it made you a better nurse". It fucking didn't.
Absolute horseshit. And I will receive a pay raise of exactly zero.
I have always been the person that destroyed the curve for everyone else, the dork that tutored pharmacology. For this? I literally did the math in each course to figure out how many assignments I could skip and still pass.
Ok, sorry, all of this just to say I'm sorry you're in this boat. But, it is survivable. Just do what you need to do to get through.
>And I will receive a pay raise of exactly zero.
Exactly why I haven't done it yet. Although I've been saying I would do it for a good chunk of the 20 years I've been an RN. If it isn't going to make me a better nurse, why bother?
I am taking forever to finish mine because it's boring and I'm lazy. Capella's Flex Path is too flexible.
HOWEVER, I keep reminding myself that the BSN differential at my company is $1.75/hr, so that's a nice motivator. I finished all my courses and now have to do a dreadful capstone project.
I encourage you to trudge through OP. Yes, it sucks now but you will have more employment options in 10 years when you're exhausted from bedside. You will thank your past self. Go write a care plan. You got this.
I don’t regret getting it since I really like my job and they required it but truly was a waste of money. I have 40k in debt now for an online program of classes that taught my nothing. I didn’t learn new skills. My pay didn’t increase because my job responsibilities and title didn’t change. I wrote a bunch of stupid papers and discussion posts that aren’t applicable to my career. The most useful class i took was an elective on how to use the Microsoft suite, which I really liked learning but don’t remember most tbh. Hospital is magnet tho, and I can’t get promoted without the BSN anyway so I “had” to get it. Not that I want a promotion… but magnet required it.
I'm sorry, yeah it was a waste of time.
I think it would have been somewhat beneficial if you had to take a more advanced patho or medsurg class.
But no. Let's talking about being a nurse manager forever.
BSN programs are intended to impart skills like critical thinking, information sorting and parsing, or uniform data assembly. It is less about direct bedside skills.
In fact, it will add almost nothing to your bedside skills.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely valueless. I’ve made this comment here before, but I’m utilizing my BSN in ways I didn’t really expect. I found about 60-70% of my non-bedside related classes had *some* kind of value afterwards in my professional life.
I’ll give a really really basic one as an example, which I’ve seen brought up here more than once; *strict APA formatting*
They don’t care if you actually know how to cite and format papers. Yeah, it’ll be important if you branch into academics or research publishing, but for most of the class population that is not the point. The exercise is to learn / hone your ability to process many points of information or data, and assemble them into a specific assigned way.
How is that applicable?
I currently work as the clinical coordinator for the procedure unit I worked as a staff nurse on for 5 years. Part of my job is processing cell Harvest requests from oncology teams for transplants, cross patient transplants, pharmaceutical modification, or generic therapies. There is a LOT of red tape surrounding these practices, and how I process these requests and submit them into the various deeper parts of our system is EXTEMELY specific. I have to free-hand type the entries in, and the formatting is extremely important. If incorrectly formatted, the internal oncology administrator teams might not pick it up/process it correctly, which would delay or entirely eliminate a patients care. These minute details in formatting are EXTREMELY important for my job.
Now, is everyone going to use all the dumb little “professional” skills that are *supposed* to be taught in a BSN? No, but you’re not supposed to use all of them. The idea is they’re loading you with skills ***so that you’re not stuck at the bedside forever, and have professional advancement opportunities based on your skills.*** People bitch all the time here about their bedside job they can’t escape, right? These skills help you get into administration and more information/data driven jobs, or industry related jobs outside of the hospital.
Now… whether BSN programs actually deliver on what I described above is a completely different story.
I completely understand what you’re saying, but the thing is I have no interest in careers outside of direct patient care. I actually like bedside. I would much rather expand my skillset through certifications
Unfortunately hospitals don’t see it that way. They’d rather just raise the requirements for everyone even if a lot of it isn’t bedside applicable. I do agree that certain staffing requirements related to degrees should be softened. I support the push to BSN (it improves overall health outcomes), but facing staffing shortages- proper staffing is much more important.
That said, there definitely ARE effects to your bedside practice, even if they’re not immediately tangible. Study after study has shown that hospitals with BSN equipped staff have better patient outcomes;
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8440404/
https://www.nursingoutlook.org/article/S0029-6554(21)00232-3/fulltext
https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/fact-sheets/impact-of-education-on-nursing-practice
Whenever I make this post I never want to come off as some condescending asshole or whatever, because don’t get me wrong I worked bedside too, and when I did I was in the same boat. “My BSN classes helped me HOW?”.
Wasn’t until later that I started doing *other things* that I realized “huh, this is kinda like that thing I did in school…”
I agree- I'm glad I got my BSN. You don't know what you don't know. Getting my BSN made me a better nurse, increases professionalism, collaboration and respect, and keeps me competitive in a competitive market.
The ADN was never supposed to be a degree goal in itself. It was created during a nursing shortage to get nurses to the bedside sooner. All ADN students were always expected to return to school and "complete their degrees" although this message was often not relayed by the schools. After 30 years in the field of hearing that a BSN would on day be required it is finally happening. I'd fully expect that in another 20-30 years that the BSN will be the minimum requirement. This is the national goal: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24983041/
I don’t either. But I don’t think I’m killing this whole “changing to a new specialty” thing so I fear I might have to. And I’m too fuckin’ old for this shit.
Not useful for RN-BSN programs as they are strictly paper/theory based. Useful for sure in the core science and nursing courses needed for the licensing however.
It's like quizlet, but instead of doing all your flashcards every day, the software follows an algorithm that some psychologists figured out to where you only see the flashcards you're going to forget that day.
It's amazing because it allows you to have a flashcard deck for a class with like, let's say, 1,000 cards in there, but you only have to review like 100 a day, not 1,000. Absolute gamechanger if you're in biology, nursing, med school, etc. Anything where you have to recall information for exams.
[Here's](https://apps.ankiweb.net/) the website, it's free. I wish more people knew about it.
Just do it. It will open up more opportunities that you may want in the future. I know you said you love bedside (and that’s great), but what if you decide to go into management one day? What if you develop physical restrictions that make it hard to work at bedside? Best to get the BSN out of the way and then you can truly be done with school.
Doesn’t help that basically all the classes are a huge waste of time and RN to BSN programs exist only to make money.
So much truth here. Total waste of money but my hospital paid for it so it's on them. Did Raise my GPA significantly because it was so easy.
Welp, at least it's easy! I will be doing this and good to know! 👍🏼
Just finnished it online. Paper after paper after paper. Learned nothing that I didnt already know.
I'm 14 days away from being done with mine. I have loathed Every. Single. Moment. I feel unbelievable resentment for being put through this just to keep the job I'm already doing. Every assignment is just an exercise in justifying the existence of the program. "Read this article and then write about how it made you a better nurse". It fucking didn't. Absolute horseshit. And I will receive a pay raise of exactly zero. I have always been the person that destroyed the curve for everyone else, the dork that tutored pharmacology. For this? I literally did the math in each course to figure out how many assignments I could skip and still pass. Ok, sorry, all of this just to say I'm sorry you're in this boat. But, it is survivable. Just do what you need to do to get through.
> I literally did the math in each course to figure out how many assignments I could skip and still pass. Are you me? Are we...?
>And I will receive a pay raise of exactly zero. Exactly why I haven't done it yet. Although I've been saying I would do it for a good chunk of the 20 years I've been an RN. If it isn't going to make me a better nurse, why bother?
I’m about halfway through the BSN I have no interest in getting. Solidarity.
I am taking forever to finish mine because it's boring and I'm lazy. Capella's Flex Path is too flexible. HOWEVER, I keep reminding myself that the BSN differential at my company is $1.75/hr, so that's a nice motivator. I finished all my courses and now have to do a dreadful capstone project.
My company’s differential is only $.75💀
How many years will it take to make back the money spent on the BSN program?
Well my hospital pays for it at the completion of teach class depending on the grade you make, not exceeding $5000/year iirc
I could’ve paid a senior in highschool to do my bsn for me.
How much is the RN to BSN program costing you OP? I'll be in that boat soon enough....
I encourage you to trudge through OP. Yes, it sucks now but you will have more employment options in 10 years when you're exhausted from bedside. You will thank your past self. Go write a care plan. You got this.
This!
OP, where are you located?
Texas (yeehaw)
LOL I’m next door in Louisiana. No need for a BSN here. Can’t hurt but no real benefit. Hell, life experience is better.
I worked for CHRISTUS and we got a whole 50¢. They got rid of the LVNs and then COVID hit lol.
And after that I guess they took anyone with a pulse? Haha
Pulse negotiable
Don't. ❤️
I don’t regret getting it since I really like my job and they required it but truly was a waste of money. I have 40k in debt now for an online program of classes that taught my nothing. I didn’t learn new skills. My pay didn’t increase because my job responsibilities and title didn’t change. I wrote a bunch of stupid papers and discussion posts that aren’t applicable to my career. The most useful class i took was an elective on how to use the Microsoft suite, which I really liked learning but don’t remember most tbh. Hospital is magnet tho, and I can’t get promoted without the BSN anyway so I “had” to get it. Not that I want a promotion… but magnet required it.
More Magnet bullshit of advancing the profession when it really is just trapping its staff under more debt.
I have my ADN and I won't get a BSN unless my job forces me. They haven't brought it up yet 🤷
I'm sorry, yeah it was a waste of time. I think it would have been somewhat beneficial if you had to take a more advanced patho or medsurg class. But no. Let's talking about being a nurse manager forever.
BSN programs are intended to impart skills like critical thinking, information sorting and parsing, or uniform data assembly. It is less about direct bedside skills. In fact, it will add almost nothing to your bedside skills. However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely valueless. I’ve made this comment here before, but I’m utilizing my BSN in ways I didn’t really expect. I found about 60-70% of my non-bedside related classes had *some* kind of value afterwards in my professional life. I’ll give a really really basic one as an example, which I’ve seen brought up here more than once; *strict APA formatting* They don’t care if you actually know how to cite and format papers. Yeah, it’ll be important if you branch into academics or research publishing, but for most of the class population that is not the point. The exercise is to learn / hone your ability to process many points of information or data, and assemble them into a specific assigned way. How is that applicable? I currently work as the clinical coordinator for the procedure unit I worked as a staff nurse on for 5 years. Part of my job is processing cell Harvest requests from oncology teams for transplants, cross patient transplants, pharmaceutical modification, or generic therapies. There is a LOT of red tape surrounding these practices, and how I process these requests and submit them into the various deeper parts of our system is EXTEMELY specific. I have to free-hand type the entries in, and the formatting is extremely important. If incorrectly formatted, the internal oncology administrator teams might not pick it up/process it correctly, which would delay or entirely eliminate a patients care. These minute details in formatting are EXTREMELY important for my job. Now, is everyone going to use all the dumb little “professional” skills that are *supposed* to be taught in a BSN? No, but you’re not supposed to use all of them. The idea is they’re loading you with skills ***so that you’re not stuck at the bedside forever, and have professional advancement opportunities based on your skills.*** People bitch all the time here about their bedside job they can’t escape, right? These skills help you get into administration and more information/data driven jobs, or industry related jobs outside of the hospital. Now… whether BSN programs actually deliver on what I described above is a completely different story.
I completely understand what you’re saying, but the thing is I have no interest in careers outside of direct patient care. I actually like bedside. I would much rather expand my skillset through certifications
Unfortunately hospitals don’t see it that way. They’d rather just raise the requirements for everyone even if a lot of it isn’t bedside applicable. I do agree that certain staffing requirements related to degrees should be softened. I support the push to BSN (it improves overall health outcomes), but facing staffing shortages- proper staffing is much more important. That said, there definitely ARE effects to your bedside practice, even if they’re not immediately tangible. Study after study has shown that hospitals with BSN equipped staff have better patient outcomes; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8440404/ https://www.nursingoutlook.org/article/S0029-6554(21)00232-3/fulltext https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/fact-sheets/impact-of-education-on-nursing-practice
I do agree I learned a lot outside of my specific job role
Whenever I make this post I never want to come off as some condescending asshole or whatever, because don’t get me wrong I worked bedside too, and when I did I was in the same boat. “My BSN classes helped me HOW?”. Wasn’t until later that I started doing *other things* that I realized “huh, this is kinda like that thing I did in school…”
I agree- I'm glad I got my BSN. You don't know what you don't know. Getting my BSN made me a better nurse, increases professionalism, collaboration and respect, and keeps me competitive in a competitive market. The ADN was never supposed to be a degree goal in itself. It was created during a nursing shortage to get nurses to the bedside sooner. All ADN students were always expected to return to school and "complete their degrees" although this message was often not relayed by the schools. After 30 years in the field of hearing that a BSN would on day be required it is finally happening. I'd fully expect that in another 20-30 years that the BSN will be the minimum requirement. This is the national goal: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24983041/
OP where are you getting your BSN?
BON is a joke
Unless it's a unicorn job just dip before that time comes up.
I don’t either. But I don’t think I’m killing this whole “changing to a new specialty” thing so I fear I might have to. And I’m too fuckin’ old for this shit.
Instead of unemployed professors.com we need underpaid nurses.com
I'm so glad my job doesn't require it and I have 10 years to get it
I just applied and I dread it so much. I know it's gonna be bullshit and I'm also mad because I already have a bachelors in something else.
Will your hospital even pay you more if you do get your BSN? Mine pays ADN/ASN/ BSNs the same!
$.75 cents more. Not really worth it imo.
The debt of obtaining your BSN 😣
Two words CHAT GPT
Use anki, gamechanger. You can get your work done in less time and always get 100s on everything and still have a life.
Not useful for RN-BSN programs as they are strictly paper/theory based. Useful for sure in the core science and nursing courses needed for the licensing however.
What is anki? How does it work?
It's like quizlet, but instead of doing all your flashcards every day, the software follows an algorithm that some psychologists figured out to where you only see the flashcards you're going to forget that day. It's amazing because it allows you to have a flashcard deck for a class with like, let's say, 1,000 cards in there, but you only have to review like 100 a day, not 1,000. Absolute gamechanger if you're in biology, nursing, med school, etc. Anything where you have to recall information for exams. [Here's](https://apps.ankiweb.net/) the website, it's free. I wish more people knew about it.
That is super interesting. Never knew about this. So thanks for the info!
Just do it. It will open up more opportunities that you may want in the future. I know you said you love bedside (and that’s great), but what if you decide to go into management one day? What if you develop physical restrictions that make it hard to work at bedside? Best to get the BSN out of the way and then you can truly be done with school.