What's Wrong with Nursing?

All nurses should have BSNs.

All nurses should belong to a union.

LPNs are RNs are the same.

Now that I have your attention. The entry level to practice, unions, and the RN scope of practice vs. the LPN scope of practice are debates and issues that have festered for decades.

If you want to start a fist-fight and hear a slew of profanities with a group of nurses, mention one of the above, then call me.

What's wrong with nursing? It starts with the multiple entry levels to practice and progresses from there to the lack of power in the employer-employee relationship, lack of professional cohesiveness, unsafe working conditions and environments, and the shift of nursing from a calling to way to make decent money in a short period of time.

There are alot of rights and positives to nursing however why are we not moving forward as a profession? Is it the medical model? Is it because nursing is female dominated occupation? Is it because nurses are not being socialized into the professional practice of nursing? It is because nursing has evolved and the goals of nursing in 2010 are not the goals of nursing from the 1960s.

Did you see and read the DaVinci Code. Some would argue that organized medicine did a DaVinci on nursing earlier on. See Nursing, Physician Control, and the Medical Monopoly by Thetis M. Group.

Note, I did not say profession of nursing, because nursing is not recognized as a true profession.

This is my opinion and you are welcome to flame me but until we move forward with a BSN as a entry level to practice or implement some type of grandfathering but set the BSN as the entry level going forward, we will always be second class citizens among healthcare providers.

Stop the academic fighting and whining about the terminal degrees in nursing and push forward with an entry level degree for the nursing. Why? You can be LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, BSN, MSN, JD, MPH, MBA, DNP, CCRN, CNP, etc. however you are nurse like LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, ASN. No, a nurse isn't a nurse isn't a nurse, but to the majority a nurse is a nurse is a nurse because of entry-level to practice.

This isn't "dissing" ASN or diploma grads, because I have a ASN, but at what point will we as a profession stop dancing around the entry level to practice issue and move forward?

Comments

[Kim]

Thanks for this post - as a potential nursing student I'm glad there are folks out there talking about the entry situation. I am still in decision mode although I feel like in order to get out of IT where I am now and get working in nursing sooner, there is no better and more pragmatic option than the Associate's. From there I can have a better position from which to go for my BSN and/or MSN. But I really like hearing what nurses today think about this!