BSN in 10 State legislative initiatives in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have been presented

in recent years to craft a BSN in 10 standard as part of the national push to raise the education standards for nurses (NLN, 2012). A BSN in 10 would require new RNs to earn a bachelors degree within ten years to keep working in these states. The rationale for the BSN in 10 varies includes the need for a better educated workforce to care for patients that present with increasingly complex medical problems and improved patient outcomes. A higher percentage of BSN-prepared nurses has also been linked to better hospital organization. Healthcare administrators and nurseresearchers also believe that BSN-prepared nurses have stronger communication, leadership and critical-thinking skills (National Academy of Sciences, 2011). Recent studies have confirmed previous findings that lower mortality rates were linked to an increase in the number of BSN-prepared nurses on staff (Aiken et al., 2011 and Kutney-Lee, Sloan & Aiken, 2013). Another study predicted that, if all 134 hospitals in our study had increased the percentage of their nurses with baccalaureates by ten points during our studys time period, some 500 deaths among general, orthopedic, and vascular surgery patients might have been prevented (Kutney-Lee, Sloan & Aiken, 2013). If I worked in a facility that did not provide support for its nurses to continue their education, I would present the above studies to the Director of Nursing, the Board of Directors and anyone else who had the authority to change things. I would also present an analysis of the potential cost to the institution and possible sources of funding such as the hospital foundation. I would also show the benefits of providing tuition reimbursement, time off and recognition of academic achievement in raising staff satisfaction and increasing the standard of patient care (due to limited space, I wont list the studies here). Increased patient safety, better leadership, improved critical thinking and effective communication skills can only make an organization stronger.

Aiken, L.H., Cimiotti, J.P., Sloane, D.M., Smith, H.L., Flynn, L., Neff, D.F. (2012). Effects of nurse staffing and nurse education on patient deaths in hospitals with different nurse work environments. Journal of Nursing Administration 42(10). doi:1.1097/MLR.013e3182330b6e. Institute of Medicine (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.

Kutyney-Lee, A., Sloane, D.M., & Aiken, L.H. (2013). An increase in the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees is linked to lower rates of postsurgery mortality. doi: 10.1377/hlthall.2012.0504 NY BSN in 10 initiative.(2012). NLN Nursing Education Policy Newsletter.9(1). Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/publicpolicy/newsletter/vol9_issue1_blast.htm