ADN vs BSN Nurses' Competency

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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?

Specializes in Pediatrics.

Funny how the ADN is supposedly 'only' a 2 year degree. That's only IF you ignore the 2 years worth of prerequisites you need to get into an ADN program. And 'four year' BSN programs are actually 2 years of gen ed (your prerequisites) and 2 years of nursing classes--basically the same education.

My ADN included classes in community and leadership, and we had to do several huge research papers (studying the research process along the way), so other than a class in statistics I'd say my ADN included everything any BSN includes. Plus it was incredibly and notoriously hard, LOL, with a huge drop out/fail rate. I already had a bachelors and a masters before starting the ADN so I had something to compare it to. And I've never felt behind in any way to the BSNs I work with.

IMHO the ANA should figure out how to give ADN's the appropriate credit for all they have studied instead of ignoring those 2 years of prereqs they take. It's disingenuous and annoying.

5 Votes
Specializes in Pediatric Specialty RN.

16 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I HAVE been on the floor, actually. Just finished Fundamentals and clinical. My clinical was in an LTC, LTAC, and hospice. I get a lot of my perspective from my family members who are currently nurses (again, one with an ADN and one with a BSN). I wholeheartedly believe that BSN nurses graduate more competent and ADNs will catch up, but they just aren't there yet for the most part. I am sure there are good and bad nurses on both sides--but I think a BSN should be the entry degree for nursing.

My school requires us to introduce ourselves as BSN students because they said we should be proud of our further education and competency. And we are only allowed to have BSN prepared preceptors. In my Intro to Professional Nursing class that I took last semester, we had to write a whole paper about ADN vs BSN nurses and there was some interesting research I'd encourage you to peruse about pt outcomes and such. And yes, I have been to clinical (see my above comment).

Your school is doing you NO FAVORS by instilling this elitist and divisive attitude. Of course your school has to tell you how much better your degree is so that they can continue to charge outrageous private school tuition. They are wrong. Your preceptors all have to BSN’s? Nonsense. So the ADN nurse that’s been there 20 years can’t precept? Preposterous.
As someone who was a nurse with a diploma and Is now a nurse with a BSN, I can confidently say you are wrong. The BSN taught me exactly NOTHING that makes me a better floor nurse. NADA.

Good luck on the floor with this attitude. I predict you will get eaten alive and have a very difficult transition if you hold yourself in such a high esteem as to think that you are better than ANYONE. Come back in four years. In the meantime you’ll want to look to see that BSN prepared nurses make the same as ADN nurses in most of the country starting out, So while you are looking down on ADN nurses you can pay your 6 figure student loans and the ADN nurse will be laughing all the way while her employer pays for the BSN.

You have much growing up to do.

16 Votes
Specializes in ED, Family Practice, Home Health.

I said the same thing in a previous comment. People keep saying an ADN is a 2 year degree!?!?!? As if! Seriously the ONLY difference between an ADN and a BSN is a few theory courses. And I can tell you as a Master's prepared NP-C. I don't remember a damn thing about any of those theory classes. The OP seems to not realize that the 2 years of prereqs and general ed classes she took in her 4 year school are still required of the ADN, they just don't get any credit for them. I do believe that ADNs should get BSNs, but only because they've spent 4 years in school studying to be a nurse so they may as well get credit for it.

9 Votes
Just now, Nurse Magnolia said:

So while you are looking down on ADN nurses you can pay your 6 figure student loans and the ADN nurse will be laughing all the way while her employer pays for the BSN.

I'm on a full scholarship, but thanks for looking out! I love my program and the fact that they care enough about the nursing profession to push a professional degree and higher standard of care.

0 Votes
7 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I wholeheartedly believe that BSN nurses graduate more competent and ADNs will catch up, but they just aren't there yet for the most part. I am sure there are good and bad nurses on both sides--but I think a BSN should be the entry degree for nursing.

While you may believe it that doesn’t make it a fact.

8 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

In my Intro to Professional Nursing class that I took last semester, we had to write a whole paper about ADN vs BSN nurses and there was some interesting research I'd encourage you to peruse about pt outcomes and such. And yes, I have been to clinical (see my above comment).

I’d encourage you not to suggest things like this to an expert nurse who has way more than one whole clinical under her belt. And you wrote a whole paper? Kudos to you. How many students have you taught?
Your English and history classes have no influence on competency whatsoever. Again I’m not sure that word means what you think it means.

Look, of course you should be proud of your education but it’s really slimy to denigrate others especially when you have no basis for your own opinion.

You’ve been drinking the Koolaid and trust me the hangover from it isn’t pleasant.

12 Votes
3 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

Look, of course you should be proud of your education but it’s really slimy to denigrate others especially when you have no basis for your own opinion.

You’ve been drinking the Koolaid and trust me the hangover from it isn’t pleasant.

I have a professor who used to be an ADN before getting her BSN and PhD in Nursing. She asserted that the ADNs who bash BSNs and claim there is no difference in their competency (yes, I know what that word means) do so because they feel threatened. I am certainly in no place to either agree or disagree, but it is food for thought coming from a former nurse who worked on the floor for 35+ years and has been associate dean of my program for 5.

I do respect all nurses and I even treat the CNAs at my clinical with respect because I can learn from them too. I don't mean to make it sound condescending, I was just voicing an opinion backed by research, word from my family members, and word from my professors.

0 Votes
Specializes in Clinical Pediatrics; Maternal-Child Educator.
4 hours ago, StudentNurseMNUS said:

I can now see there are plenty of terrific RNs out there with both associates and bachelors degrees. However, there are also terrible incompetent nurses out there who may have either an ADN OR BSN. I just hope to be in the former group, making a positive significant difference in someone's life.

Approach your patients and your peers with humility, an honest willingness to learn, and kindness and you will go far in nursing. I wish you luck with your studies!

40 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I HAVE been on the floor, actually. Just finished Fundamentals and clinical. My clinical was in an LTC, LTAC, and hospice. I get a lot of my perspective from my family members who are currently nurses (again, one with an ADN and one with a BSN). I wholeheartedly believe that BSN nurses graduate more competent and ADNs will catch up, but they just aren't there yet for the most part. I am sure there are good and bad nurses on both sides--but I think a BSN should be the entry degree for nursing.

It is wonderful that you are getting clinical experience, but a few clinical experiences worth of experience is a drop in the ocean. I say that not to belittle your own experience, but to help you realize that there is much you still have to learn for yourself.

40 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

My school requires us to introduce ourselves as BSN students because they said we should be proud of our further education and competency. And we are only allowed to have BSN prepared preceptors. In my Intro to Professional Nursing class that I took last semester, we had to write a whole paper about ADN vs BSN nurses and there was some interesting research I'd encourage you to peruse about pt outcomes and such. And yes, I have been to clinical (see my above comment).

This is typical of a BSN program. I pointed out earlier that a lot of those studies cannot completely control for extraneous factors which do affect patient outcomes. Some of those same studies even acknowledge that as flaw within their studies. I wrote the same papers myself as have many other nurses here.

For those who pay attention, you will notice a trend in the ADN versus BSN debate. You see that BSN students, organizational management, and academic nursing faculty and majors (particularly in research fields) stress the importance of all the extra science classes, humanities, and leadership qualities. If you have the sense to check an actual nursing floor, you will see that nurses are just nurses and everything comes for both with experience. If you think otherwise, you have deluded yourself. I can't remember many conversations about which was better while actually working the floor. My peers were my peers and we were a team.

Nursing at its heart is a career based in humility. We are there to serve our patients by caring for them when they most need our guidance, support, and skills. The fact that I can quote Shakespeare, detail the history of WWII, and understand an organizational chart, or write an institutional policy has no effect on my ability to care for patients or anyone else's.

I can easily say because my education and experience is greater than yours my opinions carry more weight, but I have studied nursing long enough and experienced enough to know better than that. Only a novice or an idiot thinks that they know everything and that is in any field. I know that patients don't care about all the humanities and leadership skills. They care that they're treated with respect, they're included in the conversations about their care, and that they are well-cared for.

You want to elevate the profession of nursing - take care of the patients, advocate for the patients. You don't necessarily need a BSN for that. A degree is a piece of paper. It's what you learn and how you treat people.

8 Votes
24 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I HAVE been on the floor, actually. Just finished Fundamentals and clinical. My clinical was in an LTC, LTAC, and hospice.

LTC is staffed almost exclusively with LPN’s in many areas of the country.

Fun question - what skills/procedures can a BSN RN do in your state that an LPN can’t do?

The list is probably pretty short..

5 Votes
Specializes in Non judgmental advisor.
2 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

She asserted that the ADNs who bash BSNs and claim there is no difference in their competency (yes, I know what that word means) do so because they feel threatened.

I hear ya, and I think everyone has their own opinion about this sensitive topic , I was thinking if the nurse personally feels she will be more prepared with a higher degree go for it! If you want to get your ADN , LPN and it will suit the needs of your employer and place you in the position you wish to be in , then thats swell too ? it seems its more personal choice anything that a nurse feels will boost her confidence and help navigate him or her in this ever changing and demanding and often emotionally and physically stressful business of healthcare is worth its weight in gold

1 Votes
25 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

She asserted that the ADNs who bash BSNs and claim there is no difference in their competency (yes, I know what that word means) do so because they feel threatened. I am certainly in no place to either agree or disagree, but it is food for thought coming from a former nurse who worked on the floor for 35+ years and has been associate dean of my program for 5.

So because she said it it must be true. Well, she doesn’t speak for me and I doubt she speaks for anyone but herself. BTW if you think that ADNs are inferior in competency can you tell me why they are allowed to take the same NCLEX that you will take? Seems to me there would be a huge liability with that. I’m very interested in hearing your answer.

Also, when countering an argument with “you’re just jealous” is the weakest stance ever.

12 Votes
7 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

So because she said it it must be true. Well, she doesn’t speak for me and I doubt she speaks for anyone but herself. BTW if you think that ADNs are inferior in competency can you tell me why they are allowed to take the same NCLEX that you will take? Seems to me there would be a huge liability with that. I’m very interested in hearing your answer.

Also, when countering an argument with “you’re just jealous” is the weakest stance ever.

They're allowed to sit for the same NCLEX because they have the core nursing skills essential for safe practice. However, all I am saying is BSNs have a broader, more developed patient care knowledge set.

I never used the "you're just jealous" stance. I was simply reiterating what one of my professors, an esteemed figure who is on multiple boards including ANA and NANDA, was saying. Again, I respect everyone--I even respect the CNAs and LPNs because they are essential to us doing our jobs. I just have my own opinion based on my schooling. You are allowed to disagree and respectfully present your side to me. But I too have a right to advocate for a BSN entry nursing profession so we can be elevated and lauded as the skilled professionals we are.

0 Votes
10 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

However, all I am saying Is BSNs have a broader, more developed patient care knowledge set.

So I can better understand your position describe to me what you think the differences in the BSN education that allows you to have a broader, more in-depth patient care knowledge set.

12 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I never used the "you're just jealous" stance. I was simply reiterating what one of my professors,

By quoting her the implication is that you agree with her and that my issue is jealousy which it most certainly is not. Otherwise why would you quote her?

14 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

I even respect the CNAs and LPNs because they are essential to us doing our jobs.

Ummmm. Do you have any insight into how you are coming across with this statement?

15 minutes ago, emilyjoy19 said:

But I too have a right to advocate for a BSN entry nursing profession so we can be elevated and lauded as the skilled professionals we are. 

There are many highly intelligent and motivated people who would make excellent nurses but for whom a BSN is unattainable due to circumstances often beyond their control. Do you think it’s fair to deny them the chance to further their circumstances because they don’t have parents paying for their education or perhaps they had to delay it because they were caring for their families? Also, we don’t need to be lauded.

8 Votes
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