To become a registered nurse, you must go through a stringent of

nursing educational process. There are two entry educational levels: Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing (BSN), and the Associate degree of nursing, ADN, ( Lane & Kohlenberg, 2010).

Completion of any of these programs allows one to take the

licensing exam, National Council Licensure Examination for

Registered Nurses, NCLEX-RN. The ADN is a two year program

established earlier on as a quick fix to address nursing shortage in 1958. Its focus is more on application of the basic

nursing skills to achieve patient care. This program is usually

in community colleges. BSN is a four year college education

whose program is more extensive and expansive of the

fundamentals of the ADN program to include “physical and social

sciences, nursing research, public and community health,

nursing management, and the humanities” (American Association

of Colleges of Nursing., 2012).

Both BSN and ADN educated nurses have to take the NCLEX exam for

initial licensure and so, one may wonder why spend more time and

money in school to achieve the same result. This paper is

therefore going to show the competency differences between the

BSN and ADN as applied to nursing practices. It goes without

saying that the BSN being a four year program will definitely

mean more education, knowledge, skill and, with knowledge and

skill comes confidence. BSN will equip the nurse with the

ability to compete and take her place in the healthcare field,

and better able to put herself in the forefront of evident base

patient care delivery, answering to the demands of the ever

changing healthcare system and needs of the patient. The BSN is

better equipped with independent critical thinking abilities,

effective decision-making,