BSN programs are harder than ADN

HopefulSRNA1234 · Jul 18, 2014

I don't know about you but the difficult classes for me in nursing school were the actual nursing ones, not the professional ethics and other courses requires for a bsn. ADNs have to take those same difficult nursing classes. For the most part they are just missing the easy professional or critical thinking courses. The BSN really is not that much more work in my opinion and the extra work is typically pretty easy. At the end of the day everyone takes the same nclex and has to know all the same stuff so I think the two are pretty comparable in terms of difficulty.

SongofaNurse · Jul 18, 2014

I think BSNs are harder. My program is hard point blank. We take extra classes & spend more time in classes than my friends who are doing ADN programs. Im pretty sure they are both hard & our professional writing classes with research etc. are no breeze either. Easy? No. I think it depends on your program, but my BSN degree is going to be well earned. It makes me proud to say BSN because I know how much wrk it took. Sorry for my rant. Just saying.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2014

The core courses of a ADN are essentially the very same core courses of the BSN. I am tired of the "my program is harder/better than yours" and the ADN vs BSN discord that I pray daily that the nursing profession as a whole would just go ahead, bite the bullet, and make a single entry.

Dos the BSN have some extra courses, mostly non nursing related, that make you do more papers? Yes.

Does that really make it more difficult? Yes.

IS the nursing portion of the BSN very different than the ADN nursing portion. In some schools yes and in some schools no.

I think instead of telling friends that one school is harder...support each other.

Miss.LeoRN · Jul 18, 2014

I find this an interesting topic, mainly because I was surprised that my ADN program classes are few. I'm on campus twice a week, for 3 hours. That's it. I have Lab for 3 hours monday, and lecture for 3 hours on tuesday, plus a "nursing success" class for an hour on tuesdays. That's it. I was rather shocked by this because the LPN program has Lecture monday's from 9am - 3pm and lab on tuesdays from 8:30am - 12:30pm. I'm litterally floored that the ADN program has LESS class time and less lecture time than the LPN program. Maybe it's because they have to learn material in less time allowed to them. The LPN program here is just 2 semesters with a summer session and you're done.

However, I don't think time in class can equate to how hard something is. IMO the less time you have in lecture or in lab, the more time you need to spend studying on your own to learn the material rather than to be taught it, which would make it more difficult.

I don't think either of them are any less hard... but I do think a BSN is only more difficult, in that it requires more work from you, but not nursing work. It's more theory work. And it's only more difficult, because this requirement is fulfilled along side the nursing portion of the program. The BSN contains all that the ADN has, all the difficult parts that are nursing and fundamentals plus more theory and extra gen ed. classes.

I think another problem is that the topic is coming off as if "BSN is hard, so ADN is easy", when neither is the truth. By telling people that "My BSN is harder because I am WORKING for it" means what about an ADN program? That is isn't just as hard? That they're not working for it? That's hogwash.

I'd love to get a few RN to BSN's to chime in to tell us which part of the program they felt was more difficult. The ADN, or the BSN.

allnurses Guide · Jul 18, 2014

The length of a course doesn't necessarily mean it's harder. You can drag things out to the point of painfulness. I believe someone mentioned here that they had a one-semester course just covering the 2010 IOM Report, for example. Other than that, I agree with Esme!

Dranger · Jul 18, 2014

For nursing no difference....

BUT, the gen eds at my university (literature, philosophy, religion, history etc) were FAR harder than a CC. Like not even close. CC gen eds were a joke, I don't even think half the kids in my class could read sufficiently.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2014

You're also dealing with subjective reports from a nonhomogenous sample. :) (Go look it up and you'll be able to figure out why it's really, really a meaningless question!)

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Jul 18, 2014

All I can say is that I've been through a very rigorous Bachelors program (not BSN) and I've been through an ADN program. Is writing papers, doing research, and taking UDGE hard? Yes, especially if you don't know how to write. These things do not, in and of themselves, make a BSN program itself "harder" than an ADN program. Earning a BSN is a LOT of work though...

Another way to really look at a BSN program is that it's a Nursing program grafted into a Bachelor of Science core...

christina731 · Jul 18, 2014

I think you can only compare one school to another, not one type of program to another. Brand spanking new BSN programs are popping up all over the country that guarantee entry and job placement. Are they better than a 30 year old ADN program at a junior college that has maintained a great NCLEX pass rate forever? Probably not. Same goes the other way for good old tried and true university BSN programs compared to ADN programs that pop up out of the blue at diploma mill schools. Do your research for specific schools that you're interesting in attending and then decide what's best.

Everline · Jul 19, 2014

I already got an undergraduate degree. I wrote a considerable amount of research papers and did my fair share of projects and presentations. I didn't find that to be difficult. *shrug* It was time consuming, but not hard. So if that is your criteria for what makes one program harder than another, I don't buy it.

You cannot speak to what is hard or easy to another person, as that is subjective. Kind of in the same way you can't judge another person's pain. You know? Also, not all BSN or ADN programs are equal in their "hardness" (however that might be defined). So the whole conversation seems rather meaningless.

ExpBrittany · Jul 19, 2014

I don't know about you but the difficult classes for me in nursing school were the actual nursing ones, not the professional ethics and other courses requires for a bsn. ADNs have to take those same difficult nursing classes. For the most part they are just missing the easy professional or critical thinking courses. The BSN really is not that much more work in my opinion and the extra work is typically pretty easy. At the end of the day everyone takes the same nclex and has to know all the same stuff so I think the two are pretty comparable in terms of difficulty.

I understand your point. The level of difficulty in a class will be different for all. You are right, both programs have to take the same nclex. Even worse, to be paid the same amount as a new grad who came from an adn program, I think is not fair.

I ONLY say this because I feel that if a person goes to school longer, and earns a higher degree, should be paid more regardless of the profession.

As Esme12 posted, there should be one level of entry. I agree. I think there would be more respect for the field as a profession, and would end the msn better than bsn, bsn better than adn, and adn is better than lpn, etc debate.