Nonnursing degree limits educational, career opportunities

The Story of the Two Frogs

A lake in which two frogs lived for a long time dried up one very hot summer, and the frogs had to leave it and look for water somewhere else. As they went along, they came to a very deep well, with a lot of water in it.

“Good!” exclaimed one frog, “We need not go any farther! This well is cool and deep, and it will be a very comfortable place in which to live. Let us jump in!”

‘‘Wait,” said the other frog, “and think for a minute. If this water would dry up, how should we get out again?”

The moral Easier in than out

Aesop’s Fables

This fable has a lesson for nurses. Think about the consequences of your educational investment before you leap. These are con- fusing times in nursing education. Many nurses are asking, “Should I go back to school? If so, why? And what area should I pursue?” Moreover, many graduates, new and the more experienced, are disillusioned with nursing. They are troubled with a poor professional image and are swimming in a muddy identity crisis. As nurses, who are we? Where are we going? Does our educa- tion belong in a university or in a hospital? Do we think, or do we carry out orders? We are confused about how to combine our car- ing humanitarian side with our intellectual competence and curiosity.

Eight years ago, the American Nurses’ As- sociation published a position paper stating education for those in nursing should take place within the general system of education,

and the bachelor of science degree should be the minimal preparation for professional practice. This stance angered and disil- lusioned many nurses. The feeling that their expertise and experience was being de- valued was painful. Nevertheless, it spurred many nurses to climb the academic ranks. More nurses began to seek degrees. In 1973, one out of nine students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program was already a registered nurse, and each was investing up to three or four years’ time plus thousands of dollars on his or her education.’

A 1974 study sought answers as to why nurses were making the commitment to further their education. They discovered the primary motivation was to “become a better nurse.” However, only 41 % believed they would give better patient care as the result of further formal education.* The study in- dicated nurses generally seek further edu- cation for their personal self-image or to increase their own feelings of self-worth, which in turn is reflected in their nursing practice.

However, many nurses who are seeking higher education are turning away from nurs- ing education because they feel disillusioned and devalued. They leave the field of nursing for another area such as the social sciences or counseling. I believe they are making a serious mistake. They are leaving because they have lost touch with the challenging and exciting aspects of nursing. They forget soci- ety needs nursing and nursing is a learned profession. The profession is losing many gifted, young nurses who should be taking advantage of the career mobility and oppor- tunity to ascend to leadership positions in nursing.

Some nurses are leaving nursing because of inadequate guidance and co~nseling.~ My own experience reflects this. As a young undergraduate student, I was disillusioned and confused about nursing. I believe I felt the insecurity of the faculty and the nurses’

AORN Journal, May 1977, Vol25, No 6 1035

questioning of their value and intelligence within the hospital system. I nearly left nursing because of this confusion and my concern as to whether nursing really had a challenging body of knowledge to offer me. I felt I wanted further education but where and in what field, I did not know. I received little or no counseling or encouragement. We were advised not to go on directly for a master’s degree because we needed experi- ence first. I wanted to go anyway. I was told I would not be accepted without nursing ex- perience first. Because of this poor counsel- ing, I ended up with five grants from five schools. As I look back now, I feel fortunate in that 1 made the right decision. I stayed in nursing, and as an educator and adminis- trator, I have found more opportunity for creativity and leadership than I ever ex- pected.

The confusion about nursing education continues. Many nurses are not aware that a nonnursing bachelor of science degree will seriously limit the number of universities that will admit them to a master of science in nursing program. I have talked to several nurses with nonnursing bachelor of science degrees who now want to go on for a mas- ter’s degree in nursing, but many universities will not accept them. There are also many nurses who have earned nonnursing mas- ter’s degrees but find their career oppor- tunities in nursing limited. They are not generally accepted as nurse educators in universities, as clinical specialists, as consul- tants, or for many other positions in nursing. They have expanded their area of general knowledge but have not acquired expertise in their own field-nursing. I recall one nurse who has a bachelor of science and a master of science degree, both in psychology. She wanted to teach nursing. She was not ac- cepted as an educator at several universities because her degrees were not in nursing with depth in a clinical area. She could not do consultation or clinical specialization. About the only area in nursing that recognized her degree was administration, which had no ap- peal to her. She was angry that she had invested so much time and money to b e come an unwanted generalist. She returned to staff nursing, and when I talked to her, she was sorting out her many mixed feelings.

Some of my most recent experiences with confusion about educational degrees have been with AORN members. Two nurses who attended a national seminar recently were considering earning their bachelor of science degrees in counseling. I asked them, “What will you do when you finish? What are your career goals?” Another woman I met was working in the OR as a staff nurse. She had earned her BS in the social sciences. She wanted to teach but was not qualified be- cause she had a nonnursing bachelor of science degree. Another disappointed woman was an applicant for an AORN staff position. She wanted to attend graduate school part time, but her bachelor of science degree in a nonnursing field made it unlikely that she would be accepted for graduate study in nursing. For these nurses, lack of nursing degrees closed career doors. With good counseling, perhaps this would not have happened.

Stop for a minute and consider the variety of creative and challenging positions open to you in nursing. You may work in many areas in a hospital or in a clinic or office. You may do rural health or mental health nursing. You may teach or write. You may supervise or be an administrator. You may be a practitioner or clinical specialist. You may do consulta- tion, research, or epidemiology. There are few other professions that offer such a vari- ety of career goals. The scope of nursing is broad and ever-expanding. Opportunities for creative career expansion are growing. Don’t leave nursing! Don’t find yourself in a posi- tion of being a diversified generalist but a specialist at nothing.

Think before you leap. Look at the oppor- tunities in nursing. Let me encourage you to appreciate your self-worth and what you offer to others. You are serving people and soci- ety. What could be more satisfying?

Bonnie Payne, RN, MS Associate director of education

Notes

Nursing (July 1974) 21. 1. Virginia Bennett Moore, “Further education,”

2. Ibid, 26. 3. Marjorie G Squaires, Inez G Hinsvark, “Plan-

ning new educational avenues for the degree seeking RN,” Nursing Digest (March-April 1975).

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