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EDITOR'S PAGE
"If I were younger, I probably would have done it, but I've been out
of school for 30-something years," she says. "I can't see myself working in a stressful job and then going home to write papers."
What about your staff? It's likely many didn't go to a 4-year college,
but to diploma programs or nursing schools run by hospitals that
don't confer degrees. Remember, no matter what degree you hold or
what nursing school you went to, a graduate who passes a national
licensing exam becomes an RN. That hasn't changed.
What has changed is that hospitals increasingly will only hire BSNs,
even in the throes of a nursing shortage. Some won't even interview
you without a BSN, or insist that newly hired nurses with associate's
degrees sign a contact saying they'll get their bachelor's within 2
years. Why the sudden concern over a nurse's credentials? Two reasons:
• The coveted Magnet designation for hospitals is tied to the nursing
staff's level of education. A certain percentage of a hospital's staff
nurses must have BSNs for the hospital to acquire and maintain
Magnet status. A Magnet facility is one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction and where the nursing staff turnover rate is low. The haughty
assumption is that nurses at Magnet hospitals are better than nurses
elsewhere.
• Research has shown that lower mortality rates, fewer medication
errors and positive outcomes are all linked to nurses prepared at the
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2012
