Education is the backbone to obtaining a desired career and the level achieved significantly impacts the preparedness of an individual. In the nursing profession specifically, patient quality and safety outcomes are greatly affected based on the type of degree achieved by the nurse. Research has shown that Baccalaureate prepared nurses have been found to provide exceptional care due to advanced schooling and the requirement of additional credits as opposed to a nurse with an Associates Degree.

There is much debate on the difference in quality of care that will be provided to patients based on the degree obtained by the nurse. As healthcare is an ever-changing field with improvements constantly being discovered, it is important for nurses to achieve the most education possible as well as additional on the job training as changes are implemented over time. Patient care is becoming more complex than ever and it is vital that nurses are being hired with proper skills to provide necessary care. BSN programs prepare nurses with additional skills in leadership, evidence-based practice, case management, health promotion, as well as population health, which are competencies that are not touched on in Associate programs (Warshawsky et al., 2015). These particular skills allow nurses to become more aware of the different …show more content…
It was also found to be true that by increasing the amount of care proided by BSNs to 80%, readmission rates would be significantly lowered as well as decrease the length of patient stay (Yakusheva, Lindrooth, Weiss, 2014). Ultimately these outcomes would save hospital costs that would more than off-set expenses for increasing the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in hospital