difference in degrees

1 I have a BA in psychology and I'm an RN. I'm told that this is not equivalent to a BSN. Does anyone know why they are not looked at as the same? I really don't want to return to school to get a BSN when I've already done all the general ed. courses and the associate level nursing courses. What addition courses would I be taking that I haven't already had?

Thanks for any information you can provide.
Because you haven't taken bachelor level NURSING courses.

I wish I had some answers for you there, but hopefully someone will come along soon who does. I just wanted to say Hello and welcome you to Allnurses. If you haven't already, I suggest you jump right in and look around the site; there is something here for everybody, students and nurses alike. Enjoy!

If you think about it..It's kind of like getting a BA in Psychology, then getting a Associate of Science in Biology. You can't say you have a Bachelor of Science in Biology. You haven't taken the upper level biology courses.

One of the more interesting aspects of nursing school is that the core coursework that you find in both ADN and BSN programs are identical, or effectively so. This is because both programs are designed for the entry level nurse. I could actually say the same thing about the ELM. Where things differ is going to be is in the coursework that supports the core courses. BSNs usually have some kind of nursing advocacy, nursing research, and public health courses in addition to the core courses... and perhaps some kind of logic course. I imagine that some of those courses double count as an upper division writing course and/or may double count as upper division general education. I actually looked at the coursework and compared the courses with courses I've already taken for my prior Bachelors and what I've taken for my ADN. I was "missing" something like 4-5 courses, each of which was typically a 3 unit course. Spread those out over 4 semesters... and your 10-12 unit/semester nursing program becomes a 15 unit/semester nursing program and you're done in "just" 2 years after gaining entry to the BSN program. If my ADN program was "allowed" to offer a BSN program on it's own, they would only need to add 2 nursing courses and 2 UDGE courses to what they already offer now. As I stated above, I also have a BS degree, it's in an allied healthcare field and I happen to be very well educated. Unfortunately the Nursing Powers that Be will not recognize that because it's not in nursing, and therefore is worthless for nursing purposes. For me to "gain" a BSN, I have to take a whole host of effectively redundant courses and hopefully can CLEP out of some of the courses that are "close enough" to make it possible. I certainly plan to earn my BSN as soon as I can afford it because I do value education greatly. The only mind-set that I do not value much at all is the "not invented here" that discounts everything that wasn't...

Quote from skbellaI have a BA in psychology and I'm an RN. I'm told that this is not equivalent to a BSN. Does anyone know why they are not looked at as the same?

I find it really helpful to reframe these kinds of questions. You have a BA in psychology. If someone had an associate's degree in psychology and a baccalaureate degree in something else, say, literature, would that be considered the equivalent of a BA in psychology? Why not? Why wouldn't they be the same?

they are not the same because they are different. 'nuf said

Because of the way nursing school is now, it's less of a comparison/analogy to use an Associates in Psychology and a Bachelor's in Psychology. In that case, one is a continuation of the other with greater depth and focus in the core area of study. The BSN has additional coursework that enhances the core, but the core is common with ADN and ELM programs. The same can be said for an ELM. They're all designed to prepare the nurse for entry level work.My Bachelor's was in Sports Med. I could have earned an Associates in Sports Med. Only one of those degrees actually prepared me for entry into the field, ready to practice.

RN to BSN programs are designed for ADN or diploma nurses to complete only those classes required for a BSN, usually research, ethics, and community health. They give you credit hours for already having an ADN, to get around the 120 credit hours required for a bachelor's degree. You most likely will not have to do clinicals.

They're not the same because somebody wants to make money. Trust me, you are more educated than someone with only a BSN.

Quote from VANurse2010They're not the same because somebody wants to make money. Trust me, you are more educated than someone with only a BSN.

College degrees are not the rarity they once were, so they have lost some of the value they once carried. The quick answer, "because they can" covers some political and turf issues.About half of my ADN nursing school classmates had college degrees in things like biology, communications, sociology etc. We were well educated, but without the job skills needed to thrive.