Term Paper on "Should the Entry Level for Registered Nurses Be the BSN?"

Term Paper 8 pages (2466 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Registered Nurses be BSN?

Should the Entry Level for Registered Nurses be the BSN?

The roles of the registered nurses in man's healthcare are significant such that they are equipped with sufficient knowledge in the general health care practice - be it in the hospitals or any other healthcare facilities. However, the issue concerning the appropriate entry level in becoming a registered nurse has been argued for a long time. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Associate Degree in Nursing (AD), and the Diploma in Nursing are the three major pathways to registered nursing. Recently, however, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recognizes the BSN as the entry level to becoming a registered nurse. Due to the changing healthcare conditions and healthcare delivery, BSN is acknowledged to have equipped with the most appropriate knowledge and skills in the field.

Introduction

In the United States, registered nurses compose 2.4 million jobs in the country and it is considered as the largest among other health care occupation. Approximately, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three out of five registered nurses work inside the hospitals. The government also predicts that registered nurses will become the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations until 2008. Along with this increase in jobs opportunities among registered nurses, their specialties and employment settings are as well expected to be excellent. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, para 1-4)

With this projection, nurses should consider among themselves the issue of the level of entry in becoming a registered nurse since their career development relies in the choices they make about the path they are willing to take to become a registered nurse.

Nursing does not only require the appropriate medical trainings since the well-being of the patients rely in their technical skills as healthcare practitioners, as well as they also rely in their management skills in situations that surprises and frightens them both.

There are three major educational paths to registered nursing - the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Associate Degree in Nursing (AD), and the Diploma in Nursing." http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, para 12)

Usually, BSN takes about four years, ADN takes about two to three years to complete, while the diploma program, that is administered in the hospitals, last for about three years. These courses are offered by the colleges and universities that offer degree programs in order to become a registered nurse. Graduates of these programs are then qualified to take the licensing examination to become a registered nurse (RN).

Generally, licensed graduates of any of the three types of educational programs qualify for entry-level positions as staff nurses." http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, para 12, http://www.careeroverview.com/nurse-careers.html, para 13 & http://www.career-planning-education.com/health-sciences/registered-nurse.htm, para 2).

Given these choices, nurses are not given as much choices since they would always opt to the program that would not take them a long time to finish it. Considering issues such as this would aid individuals aspiring to become nurses in making decisions as to the nursing program they will take as the level of entry in becoming a registered nurse.

BSN as the Entry Level for Registered Nurse

Because of the mounting debates regarding the minimum entry level for registered nurses, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) had released its position on the issue. The organization recognizes that BSN should be the minimum educational requirement for professional nursing practice. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 2)

The complexity of health care practice is basically what the AACN points out to be the reason why nurses should have a BSN degree upon taking up a licensure exam for registered nurses. Nurses need to posses appropriate and enough education that would prepare them as much as those that would match with their varied responsibilities that each of them will face in the actual healthcare practice.

As health care shifts from hospital-centered, inpatient care to more primary and preventive care throughout the community, the health system requires registered nurses who not only can practice across multiple settings - both within and beyond hospitals - but can function with more independence in clinical decision-making, case management, provision of direct bedside care, supervision of unlicensed aides and other support personnel, guiding patients through the maze of health care resources, and educating patients on treatment regimens and adoption of healthy lifestyles. In particular, preparation of the entry-level professional nurse requires a greater orientation to community-based primary health care, and an emphasis on health promotion, maintenance, and cost-effective coordinated care." http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 1)

Because health care has become less concentrated inside the hospitals, healthcare is delivered right into the community - this includes the workplace, the homes, as well as schools. Many of these facilities are part of new integrated health networks that provide and coordinate care among a host of facilities within a community. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 5)

The nursing curriculum is identified to offer the basic nursing practice in all health care settings that trains the nurses' flexibility in any given situation. From the basic nursing practices to critical care, ambulatory care, public health, including mental health, BSN graduates are equipped with a broad range of knowledge involving healthcare through scientific, critical-thinking, humanistic, communication, and leadership skills. In BSN, nurses are at the same time taught on management that prepares them in managing critical situations that requires life-and-death decisions. Other nursing practice such as community health nursing is also included in the BSN curriculum. These specific courses are not found in other entry-level programs though. http://www.y-axis.com/healthcare/career/facts.shtml, para 9, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, para 15, http://www.careeroverview.com/nurse-careers.html, para 16 & http://www.career-planning-education.com/health-sciences/registered-nurse.htm, para 5)

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice report says that the degree in BSN has provided the entry-level nurses with non-traditional and non-institutional nursing practice that prepare them well in other healthcare sites such as home health agencies, outpatient centers, and neighborhood clinics where opportunities are fast expanding as hospitals focus more on acute care and health services move beyond the hospital to more primary and preventive care throughout the community." http://www.y-axis.com/healthcare/career/facts.shtml, para 9)

Moreover, obtaining a bachelor's degree in nursing provides an opportunity for administrative positions. It is also considered as the prerequisite course for admission to graduate nursing programs in research, consulting, and teaching, as well as the other four advanced practice nursing specialties - clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, para 15, http://www.careeroverview.com/nurse-careers.html, para 16 & http://www.career-planning-education.com/health-sciences/registered-nurse.htm, para 5)

Registered nurses with a baccalaureate degree have a wider range of opportunities because of the flexibility that the colleges and the universities have taught them. A broader chance of employment is one advantage of preferring the BSN as the entry level for becoming a registered nurse. It provides an edge over AD and the diploma course such that more and more hospitals are requiring staff who have a bachelor's degree in nursing.

Gone are the days by which nurses' roles were as bedside caregiver, as well as the hospital being the traditional site for health care delivery. Health care facilities now include outpatient care throughout the community. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 3) This is yet another reason why registered nurses are coming back to school to take up a bachelor's degree in nursing. Nurses return to school for personal satisfaction, to fulfill requirements for certification or graduate school, and to advance their careers and improve practice. (Leonard, 2003)

Risks Facing RN to BSN Program

Recently, there is an obvious change in the preferred program the nurses had been taking up to become registered nurses.

In 1980, almost 55% of registered nurses held a hospital diploma as their highest educational credential, 22% held the BSN, and 18% an associate degree. By 1996, a diploma was the highest educational credential for only 24% of RNs, while the number with BSN degrees climbed to 31%, with 34% holding an associate degree. " http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 110

Between 1975 and 1998, the number of RNs (with diplomas or associate degrees) graduating from BSN programs rose from approximately 3,700 a year to more than 11,000 annually, according to AACN data. Indeed, enrollment of RNs who returned to school full-time in 1998 to pursue the BSN degree rose more than 7% above the previous year. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/baccmin.htm, para 11). Furthermore, according to the result of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Nursing in 2000, there are more than 50% of RNs in the United States have an Associate Degree in Nursing (AD) or diploma as their highest level of educational preparation. Specifically, the population composed of AD graduates that make up 34.3% and 22.3% of the Diploma Course in Nursing graduates. There is however a small increase for the BSN graduates which has a population of 32.7%. (Leonard, 2003)

This shift in the entry level of registered nurse may create an impact in the quality of healthcare delivery. A registered nurse's decision to return to school to pursue a baccalaureate degree is complicated. Some of the returning registered nurses receive incentives upon taking up the bachelor's degree, although most of them do not. Specifically, their reasons for pursuing the degree… READ MORE

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