Alphabet Soup

I feel like nursing is the only profession that doesn’t have a one-way road to becoming a nurse. I mean a teacher is a teacher, right? How about a lawyer or a diesel mechanic? They all have a specific education necessary to practice. Not only are there licensed practical nurses (LPN), registered nurses (RN), Masters prepared nurses (MS or MSN), and advanced practices nurses (APN), but there are also many different educational paths to get there. How does anyone know who is who and what skill each can perform? And who can decipher what all that alphabet soup is in the credentials after their names?

I personally feel like this creates a lot of animosity among all nurses. I have often times heard, “well so and so is only an LPN.” That must not mean she or he is a real nurse, right? And I am guilty. When I graduated as a new nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, I admit to feeling just a bit superior over those Associate Degree nurses or Licensed Practical nurses. However, when I took my first job I received 10 cents an hour more than a nurse with a two year degree. Yes folks, 10 measly cents. That is what my extra two years and thousands of dollars got me. And then in my second job I was told I couldn’t have “BSN” after my name on my badge because the hospital didn’t want to distinguish the difference for patients and it might make the other nurses that didn’t have a Bachelor’s Degree “feel bad.” Where is the celebration of education in nursing? Or did they have it right?

The last several years have brought much discussion about the entry level for a nurse to practice, with the “BSN in ‘10” initiative to try to make the Bachelor’s Degree the entry level for nurses. Yes, it is 2015 and nothing has changed and they are now discussing the same initiative for this new entry level to happen in 2020. I personally see every education level and every nurse needed every day.

 In the world of nursing academia you have to have a degree higher than what you are teaching. I often teach Licensed Practical Nurses coming back to finish an Associate’s Degree and become an RN. Currently I have an LPN that has 25 years of nursing experience (more than me), does that make them any less of a nurse because they are only an LPN? Sometimes I wonder who is teaching who. Now believe me, my almost 19 years of nursing has been a journey and when I recently had to get a new badge, they did not put my credentials after my name, only that I was a “nursing instructor.” Oh you know that secretly I was a little bummed, I worked hard for those letters and I am pretty dang proud of them, but really does it matter what letters are after a nurse’s name if they are competent and caring? Is a Bachelor’s Degree necessary for an entry level nurse? Although I am not against it, we seem to be doing just fine.

Recently, I was away at a residency for my doctoral studies and in the closing conference one of the professors shared a quote that I felt fitting for all nurses to remember, “It doesn’t matter how many letters are behind your name. Remember where you came from, and don’t take anything away from others.” It is about respect for others people, and I think nursing could use just a little more of it, no matter what your degree.

H. Farley MSN, RN