There is an increasingly high demand for students going into nursing careers in our society, but there are also varying educational pathways for these students to get into these careers. Are the three educational pathways (Diploma, Associate Degree, and Baccalaureate Degree) preparing prospective nurses to be at the same competency level after schooling? Advancement in education has become an increasingly important topic amongst health care organizations. Educational preparation can indeed affect nursing care and the decision making of nurses. In this paper, an analysis of nursing history and the degree programs themselves will provide evidence of an increased level of patient care by BSN nurses vs. ADN nurses.
In order to get a better understanding of nursing and the importance of education we need to first have insight into how nursing began. There was very little education and no attention paid to quality in the early nursing years. Through the dedication and work of people such as Florence Nightingale who pioneered early health care reform and education, we saw nursing go from a profession with little respect to becoming what is known as modern nursing. With the introduction of the American Nurses Association the profession advanced further by introducing formal training programs, advanced degrees and licensing of nurses. The first type of formal education offered was the diploma nurse. It was a three year program that was hospital based and many times the students were actually staffing the floors instead of devoting time to their education. This indicates that early education has proven to advance the nursing profession.
The associate degree nurse was introduced in response to the nursing shortage in the 1950’s. It provided education at the college level, but was only two years in length. Originally, the ADN was developed to work under the