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Adn vs. Bsn: What Are the Differences?

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ADN versus BSN: What are the differences?
Leanne Vaughan
Grand Canyon University
Professional Dynamics
NRS-430V-O500
Chris Bartholomew
January 25, 2015

ADN versus BSN: What are the differences?

First, I would like to provide an overview on the background of three types of RN nursing degrees available to nursing students. The first baccalaureate nursing program was established in 1909 at the University of Minnesota and until the mid-1950’s was a five year program. The first diploma program in the United States was established in 1873, at Massachusetts General Hospital and was a 4-month hospital-based program. It was intended to emulate Florence Nightingale’s model that she established in London in 1860. Designed by Mildred Montag in 1952, the first associate degree in nursing was another program option for those desiring to become RNs. This program was initially created to respond to the nursing shortage after World War II. It was an alternative to the hospital based program and four year university degree. (Creasia & Friberg, 2011)
There has been a topic of debate since 1965 about the desirability of the BSN prepared nurse versus the ADN/Diploma prepared nurse, when the American Nurses Association published an opinion paper, advocating that the baccalaureate degree should be the minimum standard for entry-level nurse. The major focus of the associate degree program is to prepare the ADN nurse with technical nursing skills and considerable clinical experience to be able to care for patient at the bedside, while the focus of the baccalaureate program is to prepare the BSN nurse with more effective communication skills, leadership skills, more concentration on evidence-based practice and research. Some say that once you orient an associate degree registered nurse to a certain setting that the level of education that that nurse obtained is irrelevant, while

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