Do Nurses Need a Degree?

Can anyone work as a nurse or do nurses need a degree? And is there a special degree that nurses need?

Well, for those who are nurses or work with nurses, this seems like an easy question to answer. But you would be surprised at the number of people who think that they can just apply for a job as a nurse and have on the job training.

This is a completely uninformed view of the nursing field. Nurses require not only special schooling and training, but they require licensing and certification. Additionally, people who work as nurses have to have a complete array of medical tests and background testing done….but that’s a topic for another time.

First, now that you know that nurses do need a degree let’s discuss why nurses need to have a degree.

Why Do Nurses Need a Degree?

Nurses work in a medical setting, and all medical professionals need to be certified or licensed. It’s a trade, not a performance-based job like a marketing executive or sales professional. The career path is completely different.

People might say that they are hard workers and can do an excellent job. But that is irrelevant in the medical field. The only thing that matters is if you have a degree and a license.

Unlike other fields where people have to have a wealth of experience in a certain field, and performance is judged based upon goals, nursing is a separate career track all together.

Someone can’t simply become a nurse by working their way up through the hospital chain. You won’t start as an orderly and then become a CAN and then finally be promoted to work as a nurse.

This is not how nursing works. A nurse is someone who graduates a nursing program and is licensed in the state by the nursing board. After that, they are hired and recruiter by hospitals all over the city.

There are certain things that nurses need to know. Hospitals will not train nueses, they expect them to come onto the job knowing these things. That’s why they only hire nurses who have been to nursing school (either Associates in Nursing or a Bachelors in nursing) and have a licsnes.

In fact, it’s illegal to practice as a nurse without having a license. Many nurses who graduate nursing schools (which is common since there are nursing schools have very high acceptance rates and pass virtually all students as long as they pay tuition) but who fail to get licenses end up working as “private nurses”. This is not really considered professional nursing since there can be no medical insurance involved with unlicensed nurses.

Nurses need a degree because they legally can’t work without them.

What Kind of Degree Do Nurses Need?

A nurse needs to have an Associates in Nursing or a Bachelors in Nursing.

While the best nursing schools are associated with real schools (UCLA, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern) there are many, many for profit nursing schools that are essentially nursing degree diploma mills.

The better the nursing school, the more opportunity the graduating nurse will have to work in a prestigious hospital like NYU or Cedar Sinia. If they go to a nursing school that operates like a diploma mill, then they will be stuck working for a city hospital or a nursing home.

For serious students in high school who have good grades and who want to really excel in nursing, then the goal should be to attend a top tier nursing program and graduate with a BSN.

If you are a returning student, or someone who is working as a certified nursing assistant or LPN and looking to become a nurse at night, then your options will be restricted to online nursing schools (which have a bad reputation in the nursing field) or local nursing schools which are not considered competitive.

Do Nurses Have Different Degrees?

Yes, nurses have different kinds of degrees.

The best degree a nurse can have is a BSN. This is a bachelors of nursing. Many hospitals will refuse to hire nurses unless they have a BSN degree.

The next best degree a nurse can have is an LPN. This is a Licensed Practical Nurse. These are nurses, but they cannot work as RNs. They are paid less, and they do not have as much flexibility and power to work per diem assignments. However, there are often many more job opportunities for LPNs than there are for Nurses in areas such as nursing homes, rehabs, shelters, and homes for mentally ill  individuals.

It’s important to remember that all nurses will have to be licensed. The common licensing exam is known as an NCLEX.

If a nurse cannot pass their licensing exam, then they cannot legally work as a nurse. There are some very questionable nursing homes that might hire them but as a rule they will not be able to find work as the company will not be able to bill insurance companies for the nurses service.

Is It Easy To Get a Nursing Degree?

This question depends completely on the type of student you are. Some people breeze through BSN nursing schools. Other students who were poor students in high school might struggle in a BSN nursing program, yet they might do better in a less rigorous nursing program.

There are many nursing programs that are designed for students who did poorly during their academic course of study in High School.  In fact, unlike regular colleges, nursing schools welcome adults who might have done poorly in high school and who took jobs in retail or medical work as a CNA or medical receptionist.

It’s not hard to get a nursing degree or pass your nurse licensing exam. It might be hard for some people to get through a top tier nursing program such as USC or Columbia, but there are many online nursing programs and local schools that cater to students who are not equipped to handle difficult coursework.

The important thing to do when applying for a nursing school is to read reviews from former students. If you are not someone who was a good student, then it is very important to only apply to nursing schools that have a solid track record of helping the average person pay for a degree and find work as a working nurse in a hospital, clinic or nursing home.

What’s The Payoff For All This Work?

The payoff for obtaining a nursing degree is a career where you will be paid handsomely and where you have complete freedom to work whenever and wherever you want.

Nurses can work in cities like NYC and LA and make 100k as a starting salary.

With a degree in nursing, a nurse can also work as little as a few times a month and still make a decent wage. Per diem nurses can easily make several thousand only by working a few days a month when they want. There are multiple side hustles nurses can take advantage of, with per diem being only one type.

And best of all, there are incentives from the government to work as a nurse in the form of tax free stipends. These are provided to nurses who work in order to reward them. The government allows nurses to work and receive large portions of their paychecks in the form of a “tax free stipend”.

Best of all, when you are a nurse who has a nursing degree, people look for you. You don’t have to look for work. All you have to do is enter your resume into an online nursing database and you will be contacted by agencies and hospital recruiters offering you the highest rate imaginable.

Nurses rarely have to go on interviews, all they have to do is provide proof of a nursing degree and a valid state nursing license and the doors open everywhere for them.