blackesthearted t1_j67p250 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 8:42 AM

Reply to comment by SalvageCorveteCont in Nurses at McLaren Central Michigan hospital vote to authorize strike by icebox666

Education has suffered since COVID and as a result NCLEX pass rates have suffered since COVID, which has affected how many new RNs enter the workforce. But we’re bleeding current nurses. That can absolutely be helped.

(They’re also making the NCLEX “Next Gen” - aka more difficult - starting in April which isn’t going to help, but new RNs are also notoriously terrible, so it’s not unjustified.)

idk012 t1_j6cesf3 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 9:35 AM

A few years ago, there was talk of hiring less rn and more bsn in the industry. Did that ever happen?

blackesthearted t1_j6cwgdg wrote on January 29, 2023 at 1:18 PM

Yes and no. A lot of systems shifted to only hiring RNs with BSNs (as opposed to the other option, RNs with ASN/ADN), and trying to encourage/require their ASN RNs to get BSNs. A lot of governmental agencies and international authorities called for the phasing out of ASN RNs.

Then COVID happened and the nursing shortage got worse as nurses of all stripes died, became disabled, or just left the field, and all that talk got thrown out the window - at least where I live. Fewer nurses graduated and fewer nurses passed the NCLEX (worth noting that all grads, ASN and BSN, have to pass the exact same NCLEX), so we had more leaving and less coming in.

Some health systems have started hiring ASN RNs again. The health system I worked at after I graduated went BSN-only for a while (in part because it's attached to the large university I attended, and they prioritized their own grads), but they now hire ASN RNs again, because they need all the RNs they can get. You still sign an agreement to at least enroll in an ASN-to-BSN program within four years, but I don't know how closely they're sticking to that.