The Benefits of a BSN Education
Laura Murrell
Central Methodist University

The Benefits of a Bachelors of Science in Nursing Education
Sitting with my colleagues for lunch in the cafeteria, talking about nursing as a career in general. “Where do you think you will be in 10 years?” Amanda asked me. “Lord, I don’t know, probably right here doing the same thing I’m doing now. Might have my bachelors by then though,” I replied. Then it hit me, I am 42 years old and only have a 2 year degree. Amanda then said, “Well I’m going to have to get mine too. These young nurses are coming out of two year programs and then going right back to school. They will be making more money than us and be our boss in the next 10 years if we don’t do something.” Then and there I decided I would go back to school. Now, I will be 45, the 27th of September, and this is my first Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) course. Clearly it took me awhile to actually make the commitment to devote 18 months to this huge undertaking, but I have made it and I am doing it. I feel a BSN education will be a mandate in the next 10-15 years, and I will still be in the work force at 55-60 years old. I don’t want to be forced into floor staff nursing because I only have an ADN, I want to have options, and a BSN is the only thing in nursing these days that will give me any. I will be able to make more money, have more opportunities to work in advanced roles, management, or leadership of some kind. A BSN is going to be the edge I will need to get the job I want instead of just a basic nursing job I am qualified to do. The nurses that have their BSN will be the nurses who have the greatest impact on patient mortality and the most desired candidates for leadership roles.
When nurses move from RN to BSN the possibilities for job selection are increased. Management roles and broader professional possibilities will be what the ambitious nurse who earns the BSN can plan for their future in this profession/career (Coastal Education Institute, 2014). Earning a baccalaureate degree will seem futile for the nurse who is still gaining her experience as a floor nurse. These nurses will get two to three years of med/surg nursing experience while attending, most likely, an online BSN program. Many certification programs require the RN have her BSN to even sit for a certification. While Missouri is not a state that requires CEU’s annually or biannually with license renewal, there are many nurses who see the benefits of higher education, certifications, or just continued learning for the betterment of self. These nurses are the ones who make nursing the spectacular profession it is today. These are the ones who tend to lead others to the fountain of education, either by guilt, shame, or plain old envy.
“Nurses who earn BSN’s receive education beyond the scope of basic patient care. They learn the cultural, political, economic and social factors that affect patients and the principles of case management, nursing leadership and promoting health” (Bean-Mellinger, 2015, p. 2). According to the report by the Institute of Medicine we viewed earlier this term, nurses today need more education to meet the demands and increased numbers of an aging population and to stay informed and up to date with technological and medicine practice changes. Baccalaureate degree nurses can hold key roles in the nursing field. With higher education they can also possibly move to other areas, like insurance companies, or legal offices as expert witness or chart review for medical cases. Completing your BSN is virtually the only sure way to exit the basic bedside care area of nursing. Many nurses, like me, do not want to be caught at 6o years old, and have no way out of working 12-hour shifts on the floor. Those nurses will want to have the higher level of education that will allow them the ability to job search when the aging process begins so they can move to a less physically taxing position and have a behind the scenes nursing related job. These jobs will allow the nurse to still feel as if he/she is impacting patient care, but on a different level. By being behind the scenes one frequently gets involved with the process improvement, patient safety, etc. and the nurse is still very much involved with the care the patients are receiving by being part of the solutions, (i.e. inceptions of new & updated policies and evidenced based protocols & procedural changes).
Associate Degree Nurses (AND) return to school for a multitude of reasons; many are personal. Frequently the reasons are one of the following: to become leaders in the field, for advancement of their career, or move up the educational level, and receive a master’s or doctorate. The opportunity to network with other nurses is often an overlooked, but important reason to go back to school. RNs with BSN degrees that are still at the bedside can guide new graduate ADN nurses to provide holistic care to patients that have been proven to also have positive impact on outcomes.
The idea of better outcomes with hospitals having more baccalaureate nurses has been researched and proven to be true. Magnet hospitals that have a higher number of BSN nurses at the bedside to ADNs have significant decreased mortality and more clinical saves from condition deterioration than those hospitals with fewer BSN educated nurses. “In a landmark study conducted by Linda Aiken in 2003, and confirmed again in 2008, Aiken found that every 10 percent increase in the proportion of BSN nurses on a hospital’s staff resulted in a 4 to 5 percent decrease in the number of patient deaths”(Bean-Mellinger, 2015, p. 2). Magnet status hospitals, by requirement, have a larger percentages of BSN nurses, and in “October 2012, an issue of the journal, “Medical Care,” found that patients in magnet hospitals had 14 percent lower risk of death within 30 days of admission compared with patients in non-magnet hospitals” (Bean-Mellinger, 2015, p. 2). These numbers were actually quite astounding to me, as I had not researched the idea of the BSN bedside nurse having an effect on the care given to the patients, I assumed the BSN was more management and leadership learning and the better patient care came from the more experienced RN, ADN or BSN; very enlightening, as well as a bit shocking.
General consensus is that the BSN is a significant acquisition for the ADN RN to ascertain in order to grow professionally as well as proficiently at the bedside. The IOM’s landmark ruling to have more BSNs at the bedside, so that there is more knowledge for nurses everywhere, has been substantial to the initiative that is driving ADN nurses to return to school. Nurses need to be ready and able to handle the continuously increasingly large number of aging individuals. The BSN nurse is the more skilled and more educated of the two nurses. There is simply no substitute for enhancing one’s self through education. The benefits of the BSN diploma will change many nurses into more critical thinkers, and might even make them feel a little better about the degree they now carry because of all the extra effort it took to obtain. Education is something no one can ever take away from you, once you have it, it is yours to keep.

References
Bean-Mellinger, B. (2015). What Are the Benefits of Obtaining a BSN in Nursing? Global Post-International News. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/benefits-obtaining-bsn-nursing-16728.html
Coastal Education Institute. (2014, January 15). Furthering Your Career with a BSN Degree [Blog post]. Retrieved from www.coastaledinstitute.com/blog/coastal-education-institute/furtheringyourcareerwithabsndegree