ADN vs BSN Nurses' Competency

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Hello everyone,

Based on your experiences, do you think ADN nurses are just as competent as BSN nurses straight out of nursing school? I'm attending a four year university to attain my BSN degree and have taken various challenging courses, a majority of which I had to successfully pass to even get into the program. However, my friend attended a local community college to get an ADN and often boasts to me of how easy his prerequisite courses were, since he took them online, and how easy nursing school was since the professors he had were not as rigorous as the ones I currently have. He passed his NCLEX and has been working in a telemetry unit for 5 months now. So is a BSN degree just a longer degree because it is filled with humanities courses and "busy work" nursing courses rather than just the essentials? Is a BSN degree over-preparing students or is the ADN degree not demanding enough? Should ADN nurses even have the same scope of practice as BSN nurses?

27 minutes ago, Uroboros said:

... but the professional standard has always been an undergraduate degree, for any profession.

[...]

A

Which an associates degree is.

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59 minutes ago, StudentNurseMNUS said:

I completely agree with your comment. I do not understand why ADN degrees are even still in place, the standard should be a BSN degree in my opinion. Community college courses are in not in any form as difficult or challenging as the courses offered in a four year university. I also find comfort in knowing I will be graduating feeling more prepared thanks to all the hard I have put into obtaining my four year degree rather than just a two year one.

Now you've gone and done it. You have no basis for this whatsoever. You won't be any better prepared than any other student who has graduated and passed the NCLEX. You didn't learn anything special. Your program wasn't special. You aren't going to be any more professional. You will be just like everyone else. And if you don't dial back your disdain for ADNs you will have a very difficult road ahead of you.

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Specializes in Advanced Practice Critical Care and Family Nursing.
5 minutes ago, chare said:

A

Which an associates degree is.

WOW!. What an admirable and well thought out response. If you have anything intelligent to share please enlighten the rest of us?

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Specializes in Advanced Practice Critical Care and Family Nursing.
2 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

Now you've gone and done it. You have no basis for this whatsoever. You won't be any better prepared than any other student who has graduated and passed the NCLEX. You didn't learn anything special. Your program wasn't special. You aren't going to be any more professional. You will be just like everyone else. And if you don't dial back your disdain for ADNs you will have a very difficult road ahead of you.

So the OP doesn't have an equal right to their opinion? One of the major differences between associate and baccalaureate coursework is clearly personal refinement. The additional course work you refer to as something "not special" or 'won't make you any more professional" couldn't be more wrong. In fact I'd encourage you to try some. Nursing is a very unique social science, ever evolving, that encompasses the arts of medicine, sociology, pharmacology, metaphysics, and the like. Taking offense to being told you need more education, is one of the first signs you need more education.

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2 minutes ago, Uroboros said:

So the OP doesn't have an equal right to their opinion? One of the major differences between associate and baccalaureate coursework is clearly personal refinement. The additional course work you refer to as something "not special" or 'won't make you any more professional" couldn't be more wrong. In fact I'd encourage you to try some. Nursing is a very unique social science, ever evolving, that encompasses the arts of medicine, sociology, pharmacology, metaphysics, and the like. Taking offense to being told you need more education, is one of the first signs you need more education.

And I have just as much right to mine. I also have a right to defend my ADN colleagues from someone who doesn't "even know why they are still around". Having done both (well, diploma/BSN) and having done this gig for more than three decades I can very much assure you that there is no difference in professionalism between ADN's and BSN's. There might be a difference between people but it has nothing to do with their education. And for the record I went to university for two years prior to going to nursing school so I don't really need to "try" those courses again but thanks for the suggestion.

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Specializes in Advanced Practice Critical Care and Family Nursing.
12 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

There might be a difference between people but it has nothing to do with their education. And for the record I went to university for two years prior to going to nursing school so I don't really need to "try" those courses again but thanks for the suggestion.

Interesting you mention education makes no difference, but immediately cite attendance for two years at a university as your qualifier. Since you also refer to nursing as a mere "gig" that pretty well sums up your position. Disappointing to say the least, but not even the most ferocious, determined species were able to survive without quickly adapting. Evolution has a way of taking care of things on its own. But good luck!

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ADN nurse and a BSN nurse are equally competent to practice. Why waste your energy on a boastful... so called "friend"?

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Specializes in IMC.
2 hours ago, StudentNurseMNUS said:

I completely agree with your comment. I do not understand why ADN degrees are even still in place, the standard should be a BSN degree in my opinion. Community college courses are in not in any form as difficult or challenging as the courses offered in a four year university. I also find comfort in knowing I will be graduating feeling more prepared thanks to all the hard I have put into obtaining my four year degree rather than just a two year one.

My oh my oh my!!

Exactly what basis are you gauging this on. Have you even gone to a Community College? You will be prepared for Nursing no different than an ADN prepared nurse. This level of arrogance you have will NOT serve you well in your career. In fact it will hinder you more because the RN that precepts you may have an ADN.

A little anecdote for you. I was an LPN for over a decade and, I completed a Bridge program. I still had to take the same pre-reqs as the generic ADN students. I took one science class at the Community College I went to and the other at the local Division 1 university in my city. To be honest I believe my CC science course was more difficult and the University course was not as difficult; however, people still failed out of both courses.

As others have said, it is not the difference between an ADN or BSN program it is how well said program prepares you to take the NCLEX-RN. So please leave your arrogance at the door when you become licensed as an RN that is if you make it through the program.

1 hour ago, Wuzzie said:

Now you've gone and done it. You have no basis for this whatsoever. You won't be any better prepared than any other student who has graduated and passed the NCLEX. You didn't learn anything special. Your program wasn't special. You aren't going to be any more professional. You will be just like everyone else. And if you don't dial back your disdain for ADNs you will have a very difficult road ahead of you.

If I could like this comment a thousand times!! YES! YES! YES!

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1 hour ago, Uroboros said:

The additional course work you refer to as something "not special" or 'won't make you any more professional" couldn't be more wrong. In fact I'd encourage you to try some.

This is what I was responding to when you implied I needed it. Just pointing out that I already had it.

1 hour ago, Uroboros said:

Since you also refer to nursing as a mere "gig" that pretty well sums up your position. Disappointing to say the least, but not even the most ferocious, determined species were able to survive without quickly adapting. Evolution has a way of taking care of things on its own. But good luck! 

You have absolutely zero idea what education I have and I don’t feel like proving myself to a stranger on the internet but in case you’re concerned, I’ve evolved quite nicely thank you. And the colloquialism “gig” was intended to soften things a bit which obviously was lost on you. Furthermore, I don’t need luck. I have education, experience and hard work to rely on.

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Specializes in IMC.
14 hours ago, bitter_betsy said:

I understand your frustration. Coming from a BSN program where I studied my butt off, ended up with a 3.6 GPA and guess what..... if you do the math - thats a 92 and in my program that's a solid B. In the local ADN program that would be a 4.0. Not like I'm graduating with a ceremony anyway - but somewhere else and I would have graduated with honors, here I'm a middle of the road student. In the end - no one cares but us. The goal is NCLEX. If you ask me - its harder for us to pass the stupid thing because we are taught to think critically, so I'm looking at all the answers analyzing all of them, critically thinking about them when I should just glaze over and pick it.

You do you. Just keep going. Find a new friend - he sounds like he missed therapeutic communication class and doesn't sound like a supportive friend.

Do you know what the grading scale is for the so-called less than worthy Community College? This level of arrogance that makes veteran nurses have disdain for new grads. When you graduate your preparation level will be no different than that of an ADN prepared nurse. Keep this attitude up and you will have a long and difficult career in Nursing!

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Specializes in IMC.
2 hours ago, bitter_betsy said:

While I have a 4 year degree - I only spent 14 months in an ABSN program. Time in program doesn't make a difference between nurses. I'm salty about having to work so hard for my GPA when I carried a 4.0 for my first undergrad degree (Computer Science - Information Technology)... It was suggested that we didn't work while in our nursing program (and I couldn't if I wanted decent grades - it took a 95 to get an A), I studied constantly, and some of the techs who are in an ADN program were able to work full time and carry a 4.0 - and their 89.5 was still an A). Programs are different. My education came from mostly PhD prepared nurses at a medical university. The ADNs near me come from mostly BSN prepared nurses at the local community college for the combined total cost of just 1 of my semesters. Today we are all fighting for the same spots to take the NCLEX. Next month we will be taking care of the same patients. Nursing is a team sport and we are all in this together. I've learned from ADNs, I've certainly learned from diploma nurses - they have all the good tricks - and I've learned from BSNs. Our education is ours to use to the best of our ability. At the end of the day we are all RNs. There really is a lot of the nurses eat their young stuff.

As a single mom - ADNs have their place. They have to be properly trained because they can and do pass the NCLEX. The programs are usually less expensive and usually take less time to complete them (getting the nurses to work faster, with less $$ out of pocket). Its a super important option to get nurses trained and out there practicing where we need them.

I really do get your frustration - but we can't direct it at the ADNs because it isn't their fault we chose the longer / harder / more expensive / whatever program. That's our choice. Its also our choice to reach down to help someone else up and to reach up to be helped up. We need each other and now more than ever we should be reaching for hands to help whomever, however we can. It doesn't matter how long it took or how much it cost to get where we are - it only matters that we are here now and we need to respect and appreciate each other for our similarities and differences.

You are so misguided in how CC work. I went to a CC and my professors were ALL DNPs. We had one MSN educator and she was in the process of getting her DNP. Crazy isn't it. BSN prepared nurses CANNOT teach(didactic) in the classroom. LET me say it again--BSN nurses cannot teach didactic lectures in the classroom. But then again you never went to a CC to obtain your degree so how would you know.

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Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.
1 hour ago, Uroboros said:

Interesting you mention education makes no difference, but immediately cite attendance for two years at a university as your qualifier. Since you also refer to nursing as a mere "gig" that pretty well sums up your position. Disappointing to say the least, but not even the most ferocious, determined species were able to survive without quickly adapting. Evolution has a way of taking care of things on its own. But good luck!

LOL. After more than three decades in nursing I'm pretty sure this person has managed to do more than survive. Come back to us when you have 30+ years. And let's get out of the "nurses are saints" mindset and call it what it is, it's a gig. Nurses are no nicer or holier or better than anyone else in any other job.

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