I don't understand the diff between ADN & BSN????? Help!!!

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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An ADN is a so called "two year degree". But it consists of 1 year of pre reqs and 2 years of nursing school. The BSN is 2 years of pre reqs and 2 years of nursing school? So what's the difference if they are both two years of nursing school(not including the pre requs)???? I'm Confused??:confused:

I was an LPN for 12 years and felt the same about the LPN vs RN role (NEARLY identical roles and sometimes identical roles) for 40-50% less pay. I eventually went back and got my ADN. I felt like I was cheated! It was essentially an LPN review! We didn't even DISCUSS OB at all! I was told it was covered as an LPN (even though it is nearly exclusively RN!). I was told I knew where to find the material to study. So I did and I passed. I decided to pursue my BSN and WOW! there was the "extra" knowledge I was expecting to see that causes the RN to be paid better than the LPN. Except that it's not until the BSN level and there IS no real acknowledgement between BSN and ADN even though I was amazed at how much more I learned and was exposed to. More in depth patho, med-surg, critical care, gerontology, etc. So NO ONE better make the assumption there is little difference in knowledge base between the BSN and ADN. The floor skills are no different, but the comprehension is so much more! Maybe like the difference between learning a language (from your family) and studying it. The person who learns it at home can speak it, but the person who studied it would understand both the spoken and the written as well as other nuances. Both would (perhaps) have fluency, but not everyone who "speaks" a language fully understands it (grammar, literacy, ect).

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
On the contrary Cammer, the only time a "higher degree" makes a difference is when one attains their masters degree. Up until that point, ADN and BSN do the same exact work.

Not really. Of course that can be true if they take the same job. But then, that is also true of people with MSN's or PhD's who work as staff nurse. If people take the same job, they will do the same work - regardless of their academic degree. So with that argument, you could say that there is no difference between an ADN and a PhD. That makes it a bad argumement. (Most experts believe, though, that there is the potential for the nurse with the higher degree to perform some aspects of the job better.)

However .. back to ADN vs. BSN ... There are lots of clinical, patient care jobs that are more available to people with BSN's than to people with only ADN's. Many of those jobs require more independence in practice and judgment. For example, such roles as House Supervisor, Infection Control, Patient Educator, research nurse, public/community health, etc. Sure, there are a few people with ADN's who get such jobs, particularly in areas where there is not an abundance of BSN's available. But increasingly, for any job beyond that of the entry-level staff nurse, a BSN is preferred or required.

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Specializes in Critical Care Nursing AKA ICU.

all it means is that you know more BS.... :) there is no difference, recieved my ADN years ago and recieved my BSN couple of years ago, the only thing is the BSN program makes you write alot of papers

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education, and Acute Care.
all it means is that you know more BS.... :) there is no difference, recieved my ADN years ago and recieved my BSN couple of years ago, the only thing is the BSN program makes you write alot of papers

I had a different experience. I actually learned quite a bit more about nursing, clinically speaking and otherwise. I think that what you learn may depend as much on the quality of the program as what you make yourself learn. That alone would account for the many different perspectives in this thread.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education, and Acute Care.
So NO ONE better make the assumption there is little difference in knowledge base between the BSN and ADN. The floor skills are no different, but the comprehension is so much more! Maybe like the difference between learning a language (from your family) and studying it. ...not everyone who "speaks" a language fully understands it...

Well said jazzymom. :bow:

...except that I believe the floor skills are a little better simply because of the additional knowledge that lead to better decision making abilities.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
I was an LPN for 12 years and felt the same about the LPN vs RN role (NEARLY identical roles and sometimes identical roles) for 40-50% less pay. I eventually went back and got my ADN. I felt like I was cheated! It was essentially an LPN review! We didn't even DISCUSS OB at all!

You must have went to a very acceptional LPN program and a very crappy ADN school if the ADN program was just a review. If you didn't discuss OB, much less have clinicals it obviously wasn't an NLN approved school.

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all it means is that you know more BS.... :) there is no difference, recieved my ADN years ago and recieved my BSN couple of years ago, the only thing is the BSN program makes you write alot of papers

Now (as the holder of TWO BS degrees - which in a minute might tell you something - LOL) for my really bad joke:

BS - well, you know what this is....so an MS is - More of the Same - and a PhD is just Piled Higher and Deeper.... :lol2:

As I said, the two BS's to my name may very well explain everything.

Ah, comedy...now back to the forum! :smokin:

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