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Differences in Competencies Between ADN and BSN Prepared Nurses
Grand Canyon University: NRS 430V
July 6, 2012

Differences in Competencies Between ADN and BSN Prepared Nurses “Nursing is the nation’s largest health care profession with more than 3 million registered nurses (RNs)”(AmericanAssociationofCollegesofNursing[AACN], 2012). As healthcare rapidly evolves and becomes more complex, debates regarding the minimum educational requirements for entry into the nursing profession continue. Currently there are 3 types of entry to become a nurse; diploma, associate degree, and baccalaureate degree. Diploma programs were started in 1873 and consisted of hospital-based training programs. “The decline in the number of programs began in earnest in the 1960s and 1970s and continues even today”(Creasia&Friberg,2011,p24). Due to the nursing shortage, 2 year associate degree programs were established by Mildred Montag following WWII to increase the supply of nurses available. These programs were cost-effective and supposed to be temporary but grew phenomenally popular throughout the years. Most were established at community colleges and still exist today. Baccalaureate programs were established in Minnesota in 1909 and today lasts 4 academic years in length. “BSN programs encompass all of the course work taught in ADN and diploma programs plus a more in-depth treatment of physical and social sciences, nursing research, public and community health, nursing management, and the humanities”(Raines&Taglaireni,2008). All degree program graduates take the NCLEX-RN exam for licensing. The research explored determines that although “new nurses pass the licensing exam at the same rate does not mean that all entry-level nurses are equally prepared for practice”(AACN,2012) The following will exhibit that BSN nurses are more

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