BSN | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

Difference Between RN and BSN

A lot of us still don’t know the difference between an RN and a BSN. They just simply identify them as a nurse assisting doctors in the hospitals. But in reality, a nurse will never be just a plain nurse. There are a lot of types of nurses such as, a licensed practical nurse, a nurse practitioner, a licensed registered nurse. All of them are called nurses, but they have specific roles and functions. What is the difference between a registered nurse and a bachelor of science in nursing degree holder?

Registered nurse is a job title; they have certifications and license to prove that they undergo several intense medical training. A BSN is just a degree. It is what you get when you finish your nursing education program. But before you can achieve the title of a registered nurse, you have to take the licensure exam called NCLEX, and you need a BSN degree before taking it. You should finish the 4-year nursing program to finish the degree. When it comes to working, registered nurses performs their typical duties, such as recording patient diagnosis, educate patients about their home treatment, assist surgical procedures and the most important duty of a nurse is to promote life.

BSN degree holders can also work too with great but limited opportunities. They may want to work as a public health nurse in the community or a nurse educator who teaches about promoting health. In terms of salary, Registered nurses receive a higher salary compared to BSN degree holders since they do intense and critical work. They deserve it because it’s not easy dealing with terminally ill patients, staying with them 24/7. There is a big difference when it comes to their roles and salary. Completing the BSN program is just the key for you to become a registered nurse. Always remember, hospitals hire more competent RNs.

BSN Degree Career Options

BSN If you are a nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, then you can pursue a diverse allied health career, you are more secure in your career growth and have good paying job opportunities. As compared to short term nursing courses, BSN graduates are more exposed to clinical settings and the training in communication, nursing techniques and methods are more advanced. Leadership is planned and taught during the course to prepare nurses for specialized positions in research, consultation or healthcare management.

Clinical Hospital Staff Nurse
Hospitals are homes for nurses. BSN graduates usually start their careers here which may assign them to units like in cardiac care, critical care, intensive care, pediatrics, maternity wards, or oncology. There are various duties and responsibilities that will be assigned to a nurse like assisting the physician in many areas and situations. It is a job of a nurse to assist the doctor in doing certain procedures and examinations like getting the vital signs of a patient or assist during operations. They are also expected to dispense medications, evaluate patients, and implement treatments as well as document records in patient charts. Vocational nurses may under the supervision of the BSN nurses including the unit clerks and medical assistants.

Non-Clinical Hospital Staff Nurse
When we say non-clinical we mean to say that a nurse is not assigned in any clinical roles. BSN nurses can be assigned to the administrative sector of the hospital. This position is usually given to a nurse with years of experience with good performance. Nurses in the admin may have the opportunity to be a department manager or a head nurse.

Non-Hospital Nurse
BSN degree holder also has the opportunity outside the hospital. They can acquire an administrative position in a nursing home, insurance companies and government organizations. They may also have career opportunities as researchers, tutors, or instructors.

The BSN degree for nursing offers a wide training and preparation for nurses before they enter the healthcare industry. The opportunities are varied and may offer growth and good salary. The need for nurses is exceeding but quality is needed to improve the healthcare system.

LPN Working Environment

There are many different healthcare facilities where you can work as an LPN, such as in physician offices, public and private hospitals, home healthcare services, and community care facilities for seniors. Some LPNs may even work in laboratories maintaining equipment usability and effectiveness.

An LPN may be able to work as the school nurse but would need to check with the state licensing board first to see if they have completed the qualifications. They could also help formulate a nursing plan for a patient or teach community information classes. They could also work as a home health aide, going to various patients’ homes to help with their daily care, take their vitals, note any complaints, and report such to the patients’ lead general practitioner.

The institution where an LPN works will determine the work schedule. In a hospital setting, they could work any shift, weekends, holidays, and sometimes on call. There are some LPNs who work twelve hour shifts that can be from 7 am to 7 pm, or be odd hours like from 11 am to pm. In some places medical facilities, like hospitals, you may be called a “floater” which means that the LPN would be stationed in a defined area of a hospital, and help out where ever the need arises. And depending on the facility, an LPN might be assigned a certain number of patients each day for which they are accountable.

An LPN may give injections and oral medications to patients. What exactly the duties of an LPN would be, again, depends on medical facility’s choice of duty assignment. They may be on their feet their entire shift apart from breaks and you may also have to help patients if they have fallen, have difficulty getting to their feet after being in the bathroom, etc. This is a job that can be hard on your back and feet so the applicant must need to make sure that they are in good health and with great determination to pursue.

Value of Technology in Nursing Education

Solutions for an improved nursing education include increased use of online learning, college tuition settlement, versatile scheduling and end of the week classes. For example, the MSN program at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, CA, provides college tuition reimbursement; onsite master’s and bachelor’s degree programs and a work-life balance office. Reconcile nursing education with compensation and marketing possibilities. Health professional incomes vary according to state, job title, work setting, and number of service beds, service type and level of unionization, according to the 2012 wage survey information from Advance for Nurses.

For example, in the South, nurses with a BSN make an average of $61,956 yearly, while those with an MSN make $77,370 yearly. Nursing staff are entitled to know the value to train and learn and extra technology training by hearing genuine reviews on career routes, marketing possibilities and wage development. Sell the C-suite and opinion management on the value of highly knowledgeable and technically smart nurses. CNOs in particular, can play an important part in positioning nurses as knowledgeable professionals who help enhance quality and safety, build a lifestyle of quality and responsibility, and offer low-cost, easy-access primary care through newly created models, according to the 2013 American Hospital Association Environmental Scan.

To accommodate the estimated nursing shortage, every school of nursing must make more students ready to take the NCLEX licensure exam. However, to ensure that nurses continue their education and learning after achieving initial licensure, requirements for further education and learning must be clear, simple to get around, rather than appearing a hurdle to the nurse’s future course work. For example, ADNN prepared nurses who join BSN programs often describe architectural limitations to further education and learning. The variety of requirements and general education and learning programs in both general and nursing education often require students to complete more programs than they expect. To deal with these issues, individual associate degree and baccalaureate nursing programs are integrating to standardize specifications through articulation agreements or dual enrollment programs. The new requirements must deal with the importance of training nurses in electronic medical records (EMRs) and information research using informatics that can be used to help enhance care synchronization.

A Collaborative Model of Nursing Education

A new effort designed to ease the conversion between associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs started out to its first class of learners this summer. Based at the School of Nursing at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), the program enables learners with associate degrees in nursing (ADN) to earn baccalaureate degrees in nursing (BSN) in 12 months. Supporters of the program see this as a big improvement over the typical ADN-to-BSN conversion, which can take learners two years to complete and often includes repetitive training because of unreliable curricula across nursing educational institutions. It will also enhance diversity in the nursing employees and help develop more wellness professional management, followers said.

“The idea is that learners will get their BSN in a year with no repeating of courses,” said Mary Dickow, MPA, state-wide director of the California Action Coalition, a group of wellness professional management and nurse champions who will work to enhance nursing and nursing care in situations by changing the nursing career. The California Action Coalition is a part of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a national campaign supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and AARP that is attempting to convert health care through nursing.

The CSULA programs draws from a white paper on nursing education upgrade, called the California Collaborative Model for Nursing Education (CCMNE), which was released in 2008 by the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care. The model set out in the white paper and now implemented at CSULA, has been duplicated in other configurations around the state.

The program’s overall goal is to create a more highly knowledgeable nursing workforce, which is needed to ensure there is an adequate supply of nursing staff and to enhance the quality of care. Research has shown that BSN-prepared nursing staff provides more secure care, in part because of their background in pathophysiology and because of their understanding of disease procedures, Judson said. Equipped with this type of nursing education, many companies in the region are now demanding that new nursing staff hold bachelor’s degree or higher, leaving ADN-prepared nursing staff with less job opportunities. This program is a life line that allows many to continue their nursing careers.

LPN Career Basics

Due to an aging population in need of assisted living care, wellness care is a booming field looking for many new workers. If you are considering starting your profession in wellness care or making a career move, becoming a licensed practical nurse or LPN, might be a wise decision. However, if you do not have the time or resources to attend school in-person to study for a new credential, an LPN online class might be a great choice for you.

Licensed practical nurses are healthcare staffs who work under the direction of doctors and RNs. LPNs provide many kinds of primary bedside care. Their responsibilities often include dressing wounds, measuring and rewarding vital signs and assisting with bathing and feeding. LPNs also assist RNs and doctors in administering a variety of tests. LPNs work in many areas of health care, including home health care, assisted living facilities and long term care facilities, and in physician’s offices. Highly experienced LPNs sometimes have supervisory responsibilities where they are in charge of healthcare aids and assistants, as well as more inexperienced LPNs. In some jurisdictions, LPNs are also able to administer medications, take care of sufferers dependent on ventilators, as well as start intravenous fluid therapy.

In the U. S., licensed practical nurses generally need one year of training at a college or technical/vocational school. LPN training programs can be completed in person at a university or technical school, or through an LPN online class offered by one of these kinds of institutions. These programs generally need a secondary school degree for admission and generally combine classroom research on primary healthcare topics as well as supervised clinical practice. After completing this course, newly-graduated LPNs must pass a nationwide licensing exam (NCLEX-PN) to become a fully-licensed LPN.

The major difference between licensed practical nurses and RNs in the U. S. is the number of years of education each one undertakes. Licensed practical nurses generally complete a one-year program, whereas RNs generally have either a two-year college degree (RN) or a four-year undergraduate degree (BSN). As well, depending on the jurisdiction, LPNs and RNs have differing scopes of practice; RNs are generally able to work more responsibilities and work with less stable sufferers.

NLNAC and Accelerated BSN Courses

An accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program allows students who have already gained a degree in another subject to fast-track their way to a profession in nursing. There are currently a few approved nursing educational institutions providing accelerated BSN programs on the internet for people who want to earn their degree without giving up their job or family obligations. Most of the programs are approved by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or CCNE or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). The Accelerated Degree BSN program is designed for learners who already have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree. With this system, you could possibly finish your Nursing specifications in less time, usually in 12-20 months, based on your amount of work.

Students will likely practice Science and Nursing subjects like nutrition, nursing care, clinical problem solving, nursing and health care ethics, nursing informatics, and more. Some classes and Nursing experiences can be quite extreme, but the accelerated BSN offers an eye-catching alternative for people who are interested in getting a degree more quickly. There are several educational institutions that offer the complete accelerated BSN online, which could be a great option for working adults who need a versatile routine to accommodate their work and personal life.

Most educational institutions providing an accelerated BSN program do not need entry examinations, but do need the candidate to hold an active license and a strong educational record. Those looking for an accelerated BSN should choose a system that has been approved either by The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission or NLNAC or by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Some educational institutions may reject accessibility to a master’s program if the BSN is not from a properly approved Nursing program.

The Buzz on the BSN Degree

As a devoted professional nursing expert, possibly with several years (or maybe decades) of bedside experience under your belt, you are assured about your abilities, you love nursing, and you know you make a positive impact in patients’ lives. You might be aware of a far away rumbling within the market regarding the push for nursing staff to get a BSN degree and perhaps you have even observed it’s getting noisier at, or nearer to, the facility at which you work. It’s true that nursing staff with an associate degree often do the same job as those having a BSN. They successfully pass the same NCLEX examination, hold the same certificate and often start at the same basic wage as a BSN degree nursing expert.

So it’s no wonder why knowledgeable ASN nursing staff can have powerful emotions about the push for more nursing education. Anger is a big one, because the push could be considered as a question of a nurse’s abilities and capability. Worry is another one; concern with going back to school, composing documents and using computer program and often there happens to be concern with the “better-than-thou” conduct that was frequent in older-generation teachers. There are other issues, too, like effective time management, cost and family responsibilities.

But good things can come out of the push, too. Going back to school can provide a nursing expert with great feeling of personal success. It can help set an amazing example for your kids. Earning a RN-to-BSN degree can also open gates to special offers, higher incomes and greater regard from other nursing experts. One thing that is certain is that the changes going on in medical care will gradually impact your practice. What exactly is not as certain is how or when. Therefore, it may be sensible for you to consider going back to school for a BSN degree.

How to Finish a BSN Degree

BSN is a challenging degree. It’s a 4-year course with many difficulties to exceed and many tasks to achieve. So, here are the simple guidelines that we can share to you on how to pass a BSN degree.

Study and ready the books. This is one of the greatest tips in passing the course. You are not Newton, so you better study hard. Make sure to study your books. Your parents didn’t buy you stacks of nursing books just to display them on your study desk. Go forward, start reading the book and start studying the pages of Saunders, Pilliterri, Lippincott, or whatever nursing guides you have there.

The 30 to 1 Hour Concept. It’s our own way of saying this. It’s our own phrase for learning, reviewing, and studying. If you want to study because there’s a big test coming the next day or next week, you better set yourself to study for 30 minutes to an hour then take a break for 15 to 30 minutes. Don’t study for many hours without taking a break. The theory is the mind will be drained if you don’t take a break once in a while!
Be with good friends. If you are in school area with different types of people learning Nursing, you better make friends with those good influence students. Don’t go with those who focus on late night partying instead of late night study. Yes, this might sound like a cliché, but believe me, it works.
Listen. Pay attention to your parents and to other individuals’ recommendation, most especially from the registered nurses. Pay attention to their suggestions on how you can successfully pass and graduate from a BSN program.
Be healthy and balanced. Eat meals that are loaded with proteins, take your daily supplement of multi-vitamins and vitamin C. Rest as much as you can. Stay hydrated. Consume dairy products before you sleep. Don’t sleep late and wake up late, but instead sleep early and wake up early, then study your notes.

ASN vs. BSN

In our modest viewpoint, no education is bad, whatever the degree of study. Then, why is there much discussion over whether one should go for an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)? It is being suggested that companies these days want to seek the services of those with a 4-year degree more than those with the 2-year associate’s degree. But not everyone has enough time or resources to go for a longer, more costly 4-year degree. Let us guarantee you that those with an ASN degree are not at any drawback at all. Many effective RNs have made it big in their professions starting off with just an associate’s degree. Regardless of your certification, what exactly is essential is that you work with commitment, always try to understand from more experienced co-workers and do the best you can at your job.

A BSN generally includes over 4 years and includes more programs in nursing theory, such as nursing research and nursing and technology. An ASN, however, is smaller over 2 years and is more targeted on primary nursing education and training. With a 4-year BSN degree, extra programs in management, leadership, communication and community nursing are trained and learners also get a possibility of more clinical experience than in an ASN program.

Advantages of the ASN Degree

Just because it’s shorter does not make it any less lovely. For many, the ASN is a much better choice than the BSN because:

It’s more affordable
It requires only 2 years
It prepares you as well as the BSN to take the NCLEX-RN certification exam

Advantages of the BSN Degree

There are advantages of going for the BSN too, such as:

Greater possibilities for profession improvement into greater roles such as a Nurse Manager
Direct entrance into a Postgrad Nursing Program such as a Master of Science (MSN) in Nursing

Regardless of which degree you go for, what exactly is essential is that your degree is from an approved organization, be it a worldwide identified university in your state, or an approved on the internet nursing school. Whether you take the ASN degree at, say, a community college, or opt for a BSN from an approved university, you can take the NCLEX-RN exam after finishing either of the degrees, as per the need for licensure in most states.