Are They Any Different? Associate-Degree Nurse versus the Baccalaureate-Degree Nurse
Grand Canyon University
Professional Dynamics
NRS-430V

Are They Any Different? Associate-Degree Nurse versus the Baccalaureate-Degree Nurse
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, believes that education has a significant impact on the knowledge and competencies of the nurse clinician, as it does for all health care providers (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2013, para 1). It is an understandably debatable subject amongst the nursing community regarding the differences between an associate’s degree nurse (AND) and the baccalaureate-degree level nurse (BSN). Some, like myself, may not really see the difference between the two when the only way you’ve been use to comparing the two preparations is when you’re providing skilled patient care. During my nursing studies, I routinely overheard my instructors mention that the community college nurses are always much stronger nurses when they entered the workforce. I now believe what they really meant was that, ADN nurses were more skilled with the task oriented areas of patient care. To be reasonably honest, I have never truly put considerable thought into the difference between the associates and baccalaureate nurse. I trust, that by the end of this assignment, I, and everyone else reading this paper, will have a greater understanding of their differences and the impact the prepared level has on patient care and outcomes.
After World War II, Mildred Montag recognized that our nation needed a plan to alleviate a critical nursing shortage. In 1956, she founded the associate’s degree nursing program as a means to compensate for a national nursing shortage. Mildred Montag recognized the need for quicker alternate means of educating