What kind of degree do you need to be a RN?

To work in a hospital yes you need to earn a bachelors degree. AND you need years of work experience to work in the maternal newborn floor. It takes years for nurses to get a job on the maternity floor or working with newborns. Too many nurses want those jobs so don't expect to work in maternity for at least 10+ years. You can either get an ASN degree and then earn a BSN degree OR you can go straight for a BSN degree. Then you find a nursing job wherever you can and then after a few years working apply to a hospital you really want to work in. Then after working at the same hospital for a while apply for a maternity floor nurse when an opening comes up.

http://www.rn.ca.gov/careers/steps.shtml A few things you need to know – as a new grad, right out of nursing school, you may not have the choice of places where you work. This means you may not end up working with babies. Furthermore, even if you work in the delivery room, you do not get to play with babies, per se. Some of them are very ill and that is something you need to keep in mind.