Associate-Degree Level Versus the Baccalaureate-Degree Level in Nursing.
Excellent patient care takes place in a hospital when well-educated nurses are employed. Evidence based investigations going on in the country is showing that fewer medication errors, lesser death rates and great patient outcomes are all connected to highly educated nurses being employed in a hospital. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has decided that highly educated nurses brings about clinical competencies and a better care delivery and is working to make it a standard by creating a more highly qualified nursing workforce ("http://www.aacn.nche.edu/about-aacn," 2003).
The associate degree nursing practice is the basic and technical nursing care which includes assessing, providing and coordinating patient care, educating patients and their family about the various health condition and disease processes. The associate degree nurse practices a more hands-on level of patient care in a health care setting such as in a skilled nursing facility, long term care facilities, clinics and hospitals. They are more restricted to bedside patient care because career growth into other aspect of nursing is limited (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). Baccalaureate nursing training is a more specialized practice which incorporates the roles of an associate degree nurse with additional roles comprising critical thinking, teaching, and leading with evidence-based practice. Baccalaureate-trained nurses are bedside nurses, who can also educate their patient and other nurses, be a social workers, a discharge planner, and an administrator. They can work anywhere ranging from public health, home health, to community clinics. The nursing professional must have characteristics including these values: honesty, selflessness, human self-esteem, independence and public justice with total regard for all people.