Why do i need a bsn

Are you interested in helping others resolve their issues and hurdles through talk therapy? You may want to consider a career in the counseling field. Staff Writers March 24, Are you ready to find your fit? BSN is Important Nurses currently enjoy some of the best job prospects when compared to other professionals. More Opportunities for Career Advancement A survey was recently done on 8, people working as registered nurses across the country. Improved Quality of Service Experts in medicine and healthcare agree that more education of nurses amounts to improved patient outcomes in hospitals.

Get prepared for your next steps Use articles and resources to uncover answers to common questions, get guidance on your goals, and learn about applying to schools.

Discover a program that is right for you. You might have a family or a nursing job already. Going back to school, especially later in life, is a daunting thought. But getting a BSN should be a serious consideration for any career-focused nurse. Healthcare is evolving; more emphasis is being placed on preventative care , and the disease process continues to grow more complex.

Having your BSN makes you more marketable and in a better position to land the job you want. Hospitals and facilities are increasingly looking to nurses for leadership to support the trend toward patient-centered care. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing says:.

BSN nurses are prized for their skills in critical thinking, leadership, case management, and health promotion, and for their ability to practice across a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings.

Nurse executives, federal agencies, the military, leading nursing organizations, health care foundations, magnet hospitals, and minority nurse advocacy groups all recognize the unique value that baccalaureate-prepared nurses bring to the practice setting. Critical thinking is developed through the higher education earned with a BSN, and this skill is crucial to good leadership. The communication skills taught at this level also contribute to making great leaders of BSN-educated nurses.

As a whole, BSN-educated nurses have access to better rewards for their labor. According to research from Payscale. BSN-trained nurses are more apt to use and apply evidenced-based standards of care. Therefore, it is safe to say that with the need for nurses only growing in numbers, there are record numbers of job opportunities for RNs. However, considering more and more hospitals prefer to hire BSN educated nurses, it is much easier for the holders of this degree to take advantage of the numerous job opportunities available.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is also the first step towards advanced practice nursing roles which entail more responsibility. The additional training that you receive during a BSN makes you better suited for leadership and management positions which require sharp decision making and critical thinking skills. As a nurse, you can choose to spend your entire career in hospital care, in which case an ADN and license will likely suffice. However, for non-hospital careers, such as teaching, case management or nursing informatics , a more advanced level of education is necessary, usually a BSN or above.

BSN nurses have increased opportunities to leave traditional patient care environments and work as analysts , consultants , as well as get involved in project management , implementation , sales , and leadership roles. Nurses who decide to change their careers often cite burnout, hour shifts and workplace incivility as the main workplace challenges they face.

So, should you decide you want a job that offers more stability and flexibility, changing the setting is now more achievable than ever, especially with a BSN degree under your belt.

Nurses with a BSN education receive better rewards for their labor, which means that they have higher salaries as well as more benefits.

A BSN degree will certainly give you an advantage when it comes to salary negotiation and will put you ahead of other candidates with the same level of experience.

Although ADN and BSN nurses earn similar pay at the beginning of their careers, the salary gap becomes more apparent as you gain more experience. Therefore, the level of pay is motivating registered nurses to return to school for an advanced degree. If you want to explore more career options that you can pursue with a BSN, have a look at our nursing jobs blog post , you will also find the best paying BSN jobs. We also recommend that you explore the Nurse Salary by State infographic to view a comprehensive breakdown of salary per state.

Further your education and land your dream job with a BSN. According to an AACN survey , Nursing is a highly competitive field and many hospitals, especially those seeking Magnet status , will give priority to BSN-educated nurses competing for entry-level positions.

The Magnet status is a credential of organizational recognition of nursing excellence. A growing body of research links Magnet healthcare institutions with higher percentages of satisfied RNs, lower RN turnover and vacancy, improved clinical outcomes, and improved patient satisfaction. Although BSN curricula vary across teaching institutions, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing will give you an extensive set of skills, which outstrips the scope of any ADN.

Alternatively, you can opt for an RN-to-BSN program that has the same benefits, provided you already work as a registered nurse. Nurses are required to make decisions in every aspect of their practice, hence, they need a strong foundation of knowledge, values and ethics to help guide them better through the decision making process. Considerations such as ethical, political, legal, cultural, spiritual and clinical are all to be taken into account, so this course is the stepping stone for nurses towards better, faster decisions that are vital to the nursing practice.

Nurses need to explore the future of nursing from a leadership perspective, especially if they aspire towards management and leadership positions. This course is an unique opportunity for nurses to delve into the many facets of leadership and examine strategies that will help them develop skills needed to function as leaders. Working as a nurse, you will have your fair share of complex patients, hence you need to learn to handle complex patient situations and how to address the ethical, moral and legal issues encountered in the critical care environment.

The research process is fundamental to the practice of nursing, as it helps promote, maintain, and restore health, as well as ensure quality and safety in nursing practice. Through this subject, you will learn how scientific nursing knowledge is gained and you will acquire the means to take action against the prevalent health issues in a community. This course will help you gain advanced knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technology, which are essential to nursing practice.

To get the full picture, you may want to read our blog post about what you will study during an RN-to-BSN program. The possibility of getting your BSN degree online makes the whole process easier.

And if you are willing to put in a little bit of extra effort, you could even earn your degree faster. It is worth mentioning that online including hybrid nursing programs can be completed even quicker than traditional ones, if you are willing to put some extra time and effort.

Online BSN programs can be completed in up to 32 months, or 8 semesters and it combines online didactic instruction with local experiential learning, as nursing is a hands-on profession, so you will need to acquire clinical experience as part of your studies. If you are an already working RN you can opt for an online RN-to-BSN program with an accelerated timeline, which can be completed in as few as 2 semesters or just 8 months.

So, the field is getting more competitive, and nurses should take this into consideration. As an ADN-qualified licensed nurse working in health care, you may not immediately see the benefits of returning to school to gain a BSN.