Educational Preparation: Competencies, Associates Degree V’s Baccalaureate Nursing

The History of the Associates Degree in Nursing
Does an Associates degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Baccalaureate degree (BSN) in Nursing better prepare a nurse to function at a level required to remain autonomous in both general and critical care? At the end of World War II there was a shortage of nurses working in the hospital setting. The Baccalaureate degree required a four-year education, and the shortage could not wait for this completion. It was recognized that there would need to be two-tier’s of nursing, both a professional BSN and a technical ADN nurse (Matthias 2010).
Mildred Montag completed her research on The Education of Technical Nurses (Matthias 2010) and developed the Associates Degree nurse, or technical nurse, who would complete routine or intermediate nursing care under the supervision of a Baccalaureate degree nurse. However, the ADN’s technical only skill set dissolved and they were functioning at no different level than their counterparts the BSN, working side by side with only their education differentiating them from each other in the work place.
Course Variation
There is a year in difference between a diploma and Associates prepared nurse v’s Baccalaureate prepared nurse. However, there are courses that researchers have placed an emphasis on to act autonomous and outside the original restrictions of a technical nurse. These courses include critical thinking, social issues, leadership, case management, research and health promotion which results with the BSN nurse being better prepared to deal with varying social and cultural issues, advance professionally and practice in both inpatient and outpatient settings (Rosseter2014). All nurses are required to take the same NCLEX exam, however, the NCLEX-RN assess only the minimal technical competency for safe