[smbrn]

Just wondering here. Been a registered nurse for 25 years and have seen working conditions in hospitals deteriorate during that time, particularly in the last 10 with re-engineering, etc. According to the ANA and like-minded so-called nursing leaders, the reason for the lack of progress and respectability of the nursing profession is the fact that the minimum educational requirement for RN's is not a BSN; that all us diploma and AD nurses are holding nursing back from its rightful position of glory. Personally I think a stunning lack of leadership in the nursing profession is at fault here, but I digress. I'd love to know, when the day comes when all RN's have as a minimum a BSN, what excuses will these people make then, and whom will they use as scapegoats when there are no more diploma and AD RN's around anymore? Will they finally look in the mirror and see their own failures when it comes to making nursing a more reasonable profession in which to work?

[Aaron C.]

I agree. I am positive that requiring a BSN is NOT the answer.

I'm not of the belief that the ANA really does anything for nurses relative to what they should at least be able to accomplish.

[medi]

Looking forward I do believe a BSN degree is necessary as an entry point into nursing, BUT, I agree with both of you that raising the educational standards within the profession will not have any significant impact on either working conditions for nurses employed in hospitals or on the way the general public perceives nursing or the way the media (such as television shows and movies) portrays nurses.

I know I've voiced this thought before, but it still seems most logical to me that as long as nurses are "employees" of hospitals and can be fired at will there's little chance for improvement. When registered nurses form practice groups similiar to physicians and contract services to hospitals on a fee for services basis rather than work individually as employees then things could actually change and a group like the ANA, if not the ANA, could have the ability to use membership dues to exert pressure for protective legislation and changes in the way health care administrators deal with nurses more on par with the way the AMA's lobbyists do.

When nurses are perceived as professionals with a voice and some power rather than as hourly "employees" at the mercy of hospital administrations then not only can conditions change for the better but so will public perception and the way nurses are portrayed by the media.

[Sylvia321]

What has the ANA done for nurses? Have they obtained safe staffing ratios for nurses? I think it was the CNA who did that. Has ANA done anything to teach the public that we are professionals? What has the ANA done to promote continued increases in wages?

I agree with the poster in regards that, until nurses are viewed as professionals, contract as the MDs do and speak together in a majority, will conditions change. I doubt I will see the improvements before I retire.