Professionalism In Nursing Education

In 1965, the American Nurses Association shared its vision for the future of nursing education. A primary goal in its message was that a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) becomes the minimum requirement for entry into nursing practice (Nelson, 2002). Fifty years later, debates on this issue continue. In its report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change and Advancing Healthcare, the Institute of Medicine shared its recommendation that 80% of nurses possess a bachelor’s degree by the year 2020. A significant number of health care facilities have adopted the practice of hiring nurses with BSN over those with two year Associate’s Degree of Nursing (ADN) or a three-year hospital based diploma program. Stakeholders in the Registered Nurse (RN)

In study that examined the perceptions and professional values of RNs, Kubsch, Hansen, & Huyser-Eatwell (2008), found a significant difference in nurses’ professional values based on their level of education, job position, and membership in professional nursing organizations. RN-BSNs had the highest perceived level of professionalism as measured by Hall’s Cure, Cure, and Core model. Kubusch, Hansen, & Huyser-Eatwell attribute this difference to the variation among nurse education curriculum. They maintain that ADN programs emphasize technical training and psychomotor skills necessary for completing nursing and bedside tasks. Hospital-based programs value clinical experience. In contrast, BSN programs emphasize humanities, the arts, philosophy, theory, and complex nursing skills. According to the Kubusch, Hansen, & Husyer-Eatwell, “Baccalaureate students are provided with education that supports the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2005) core nursing

In fact, some have said that the “BS” in BSN refers to bull feces because students are forced to take frill classes that have no bearing on their actual work as nurses. An RN with over 30 years of experience, Rohloof (2015) maintains that many BSN nurses to cannot perform basic clinical skills that require critical thinking, especially in specialty groups like rapid response and triage teams. Rohloof (2015) claims that recruiter for a Magnet hospital told her that most of the BSN candidate she interviews lack the skills of AND nurses. According the Rohloof, because BSN programs focus more on theory and humanities, the clinical skills of their graduates