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Differences in Nursing Competencies: Adn vs. Bsn

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Differences in Nursing Competencies: ADN vs. BSN

Sheri Lancaster
August 23, 2014

Differences in Nursing Competencies: ADN vs. BSN There has been much discussion recently about the need to require a minimum of a baccalaureate degree for entry-level nurses. Many hospitals have moved to this ideology and have already began to give a hiring preference to those nurses who hold a baccalaureate degree and many have hired Associate degreed nurses with the requirement that they will obtain their baccalaureate degree within so many years of employment date. This paper will discuss the differences between a nurse holding an associates degree and a baccalaureate degree, as well as, present a patient care situation describing how patient care decisions difference based upon the nurse’s educational level.
History of ADN and BSN Programs It was during the post World War II years that Mildred Montage developed an associate degree level of nursing education in response to the shortage of nursing (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). She developed the associate degree-nursing program with the intent that these nurses would work under the supervision of baccalaureate level nurses who were at the time considered professional nurses. The Associate program is a two-year program that focuses on the fundamentals of nursing and teaching bedside clinical skills. The baccalaureate degree program has been in existence since 1909 and was developed as a five-year program (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). It has since been reduced to a four-year program that includes the same classes as those taught in the associates program but also includes leadership, research, theory and public health.
Competency Differences Between the ADN and BSN Nurse
Is there difference between the competency of an ADN and BSN nurse? Some would say yes and others would say no, depending on who was being asked. Even

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