I have a MSN with specialization as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and a Ph.D. in Health Care and Medicine Studies with a reseach emphasis on headache management.
I have been in nursing for over 30 years, and strongly feel that the only way that nursing can become a profession, and that RNs can be treated appropriately for the level of expertise they have is to have at least a BSN. Having multiple levels of entry tells the other professions in health care that RN is a trade school occupation. There are now numerous positions throughout the health care milieu which require a BSN or higher. Studies have shown better patient outcomes, satisfaction and lower overall cost will all BSN staffing. In a study active duty military RNs (who must have a BSN or higher) score significantly higher on assesments of professionalism, professional attitudes and levels of autonomy.
EDIT: Scooterz: I did not say that any one individual dependent on their degree acted less professionally. I stated that studies have shown that nurses with higher degrees, as a class, have rate higher on those scales. Oddly, as a general rule, studies show that experience in nursing has an inverse relationship with nurses level of professional attitudes and autonomy.
It has to do with the way nurses are treated, not an individual's actions. If they are perceived by the physicians and health care administrators as non-professionals, they act as non-professionals.
The concensus opinion among sociologist and researchers in professions is that nursing is not a profession. They rate Nursing as a semi-profession largely on 3 criteria 1. Less than a bachelor degree for ebtry to practice, 2. Lack of participation in professional organizations, 3. Blue-collar mentality created by hourly reimbursement. (Again, this does not say that you do not participate in your professional organizations, but that of the 3 million RNs in the US, only 190,000 are members of ANA)
Finally, regarding reimbursement of BSNs or higher vs ADNs, while your facility may not have any pay incentive for the higher degree, salary surveys conducted of RNs in the US show that the predominence od US healthcare facilities pay at least a small differential (usually $1.00 to $1.50/hr) for the BSN. Also, the predominence of major US health care organizations now have a BSN preferred or BSN or higher required for all supervisory and many other positions which pay a higher rate than those of the staff RN scale. Therefore, in general, those RNs with higher degress make a higher wage based on their position if not thier degree.
This is not a personal attack it is a statement of statistics, and a desire to see an improvement in the overall perception of nurses.
I feel ADNs perform as well, as a general statement, as BSNs when entering the RN workforce, and statistics show no significant difference on the NCLEX-RN, I just would like at this point to see nursing, advance itself, like other health care professions. The pharmacist moved their entry level in the US from BS to PharmD, the Physical Therapist over the years moved from BS to MS, PAs are slowly trying to go from 3 levels of entry (AS, BS and MS) to MS. It is a matter of advancing the profession, not a matter of saying any individual RN is not as good as any other. There simply should not be 3 levels of entry for any professional career field. Otherwise it retards the occupation's growth as a profession