Entry into RN Practice (Part 1): Associate Degree Nursing (ADN)

Lucky me, I guess, with my previous hit and miss Special Ed degree forays I only had one semester of pre-reqs before ADN school and after graduation went straight to work as a PRN surgical floor nurse. I am now a med-surg PRN and have been doing it for two years. I am often charge and and have had numerous situations where my BSN grads don't know what to do in a potentially crisis situation, mostly because they have not had the hands on experience I had a ADN student.
IMHO, I think BSN programs should focus more on patient care then management. ADN's have some management training as part of the course work. For true managers those skills come naturally after being in the workforce for a while. At least that has been the case for me and those I work with.
The hospital I work for does not really seem to discriminate between ADN and BSN except when hiring outside for some management positions and some nursing administration positions.

I have been a nurse for 26 years. I have two Associate Degrees: Associate in Science/Nursing and an Associate in Arts/Allied Health. I chose this education because it gave me the opportunity to take more biology, general sciences, microbiology, chemistry, clinical lab experience as well as liberal arts that I felt would be very beneficial to me in the nursing field. I have never regretted my choice of education. I love being a nurse and wouldn't want to do anything else. My only comment is that I am tired of taking a backseat to the BSN and Masters Degree nurses. Alot of us "nurses" are very well educated with varying degrees of educational backgrounds in other areas beside nursing. Besides my nursing degrees, I have continued my education through certificate programs in nursing management as well as mandatory inservices, voluntary inservices, CEU's, and 26 years of on the job experience. Nursing is a continual learning process and I learn something new everyday. I don't know about you but what I studied in a book sure didn't look like that when I was on the unit. It only took 26 years but I feel like a master in my trade - even though I don't have it on paper. I wish our educational system would give credit for the number of years attended in a higher learning instituion instead of a name of a degree. I would rather see: University 1, University 2, University 3, University 4, University 5, University 6, ect instead of Associate, Batchelors, Masters, or Doctorate. As long as we all take the same exams and become licensed nurses then we should all be allowed to reap the rewards. I have worked with alot of nurses and I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly and guess what - they come in all degrees. I wouldn't be surprised if a doctorate degree will be required to be registered nurse and the rest of us classified as medical assistants.
I know of a nurse with her doctorate degree and she can't come out of the clouds long enough to learn hands on nursing. She does know how to prepare new paperwork and policies and procedures that would be great in an idealistic world, but very difficult in a realistic world especially when it involves less and less time with your patients. I'm nursing papers - not patients. All most of us nurses want to do is to take care of our patients the best way we know how to, and my initials RN at the end of my name lets me do it. The number of initials at the end or not at the end of your name doesn't reflect on your ability to take care of that patient. I've been learning my trade for 26 years, just being involved with patient care has been the best education I received.

This article is great. I am entering an ASN program this Fall and this article confirms my decision to take the two year ASN and start working and gaining experience sooner than if I took a four year and had 4 years of loans to pay off and less clinical experience. Thanks for the great article!

I have read a lot of postings, but no one seems to know the answer of what makes the Diploma programs (hospital-Based) different from the ADN program except that it takes three years instead of two years. I have heard that the Diploma Programs are a lot harder and they have a lot more detailed material that you must know. If this is the case, then why do you still take the same NCLEX exam after you graduate from the school. So my real questions is, what is the advantages and disadvantages to the diploma program!

I thought your article was great, esp. the part where you listed the advantages and disadvantages of the ADN program. I have both a diploma RN program and ADN RN program in my area and I am trying to deside which one I should pick. I have read a lot of postings, but no one seems to know the answer of what makes the Diploma programs (hospital-Based) different from the ADN program except that it takes three years instead of two years. I have heard that the Diploma Programs are a lot harder and they have a lot more detailed material that you must know. If this is the case, then why do you still take the same NCLEX exam after you graduate from the school. So my real questions is, what is the advantages and disadvantages to the diploma program!

See Vicky's thread: Entry into Practice: Diploma Programs for Registered Nursing