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?

4 minutes ago, TheDudeWithTheBigDog said:

The gap from CNA to RN is actually really small.

A CNA course is 2-8 weeks, an RN requires an actual degree so this is quite laughable. And our fundamentals course is actually much more in-depth, since I go to one of the top schools in my state. I learned how to start IVs, Foleys, place NGs, provide trach care, change sterile dressings--and I got to apply many of these in the clinical setting as well.

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Specializes in Pediatric Specialty RN.
5 minutes ago, gratefulheart365 said:

If you would've ACTUALLY read my posts, I was accepted into a direct entry BSN program in 2018 as a college freshman. I am going into my junior year. I changed my screen name to match my name on other social media handles.

Wait....so when you say you just finished your first semester in nursing, you actually mean that you are a JUNIOR and just took your first nursing course....this making you have TWO years of nursing classes exactly like a ASN degree. We keep telling you that the BSN is two years of nursing courses after pre reqs just like ASN programs...you literary just proved that you have the same number of years of NURSING education as ADN’s.
I am done with your nonsense and ego...between this post and your other post talking about how easy nursing school is for you, your ego won’t be reasoned with.

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Just now, Nurse Magnolia said:

Wait....so when you say you just finished your first semester in nursing, you actually mean that you are a JUNIOR and just took your first nursing course....this making you have TWO years of nursing classes exactly like a ASN degree. We keep telling you that the BSN is two years of nursing courses after pre reqs just like ASN programs...you literary just proved that you have the same number of years of NURSING education as ADN’s.
I am done with your nonsense and ego...between this post and your other post talking about how easy nursing school is for you, your ego won’t be reasoned with.

No. I have 3 total, 2.5 of clinical experience. I had theory-based nursing classes first semester sophomore year.

It's not an ego. I know I can be a physician if I wanted to. I graduated salutatorian of my college prep private high school (class of 400 kids). I know my intelligence and my worth, and do not let strangers try to bring me down. Nurses truly eat their young.

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Specializes in Pediatric Specialty RN.
3 minutes ago, gratefulheart365 said:

No. I have 3 total, 2.5 of clinical experience. I had theory-based nursing classes first semester sophomore year.

It's not an ego. I know I can be a physician if I wanted to. I graduated salutatorian of my college prep private high school (class of 400 kids). I know my intelligence and my worth, and do not let strangers try to bring me down. Nurses truly eat their young.

You said in your first post that you just finished your first semester in nursing. Things aren’t adding up. And if you have 2.5 semesters of clinical you should have been in a hospital by now.
Nursing is a team sport. You are in it for yourself. You will think nurses eat their young because nurses won’t be nice to you. It won’t be because nurses eat their young, it’ll be because nurses don’t have time for people who think they are better than everyone.

PS, Palm Beach Atlantic is ranked #42 in Florida and #804 in the country for nursing education. Step off your high horse.

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Just now, Nurse Magnolia said:

PS, Palm Beach Atlantic is ranked #42 in Florida and #804 in the country for nursing education. Step off your high horse.

I ended up not going there. Just saying.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

@gratefulheart365, please bookmark this thread and come back to it after working 3-5 years as a nurse. Reflect on what you've posted here and if you still agree with it at that time. I suspect that your views will change after you get the reality shock of moving from protected nursing student to licensed nurse.

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5 minutes ago, gratefulheart365 said:

A CNA course is 2-8 weeks, an RN requires an actual degree so this is quite laughable. And our fundamentals course is actually much more in-depth, since I go to one of the top schools in my state. I learned how to start IVs, Foleys, place NGs, provide trach care, change sterile dressings--and I got to apply many of these in the clinical setting as well.

I've been a CNA for years and I'm graduating with a nursing degree next week. So I understand what CNAs can and can't do, and I know exactly what a fundamentals course in today's schools are. You learned to do my job.

Look up your state's laws, odds are, CNAs can start IVs, put in catheters, put in NGs, do trach care. Sterile dressings would depend on the situation, if it's just a routine dressing that got wet and is peeling off vs having to assess the wound. You were taught in a class since it's expected that every RN will be doing these things. Tons of CNAs get facility "certified" to do that entire list. It's not uncommon to have aides in an ED routinely starting IVs and drawing labs.

You have a lot to learn about healthcare.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

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Specializes in Pediatric Specialty RN.
1 minute ago, gratefulheart365 said:

I ended up not going there. Just saying.

Mmmhmm, OK. But you told me to look that you got accepted as a freshman in 2018. That’s where you said you got accepted so....again nothing adds up.

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Specializes in Clinical Pediatrics; Maternal-Child Educator.
20 minutes ago, gratefulheart365 said:

A CNA course is 2-8 weeks, an RN requires an actual degree so this is quite laughable. And our fundamentals course is actually much more in-depth, since I go to one of the top schools in my state. I learned how to start IVs, Foleys, place NGs, provide trach care, change sterile dressings--and I got to apply many of these in the clinical setting as well.

Every Fundamentals course teaches that. Every Fundamentals clinical gives and encourages the chance to practice those skills. A lot of states allow LPN and RN students to take the CNA certification following Fundamentals because it's literally all the information and skills that a CNA learns their program - which is rarely 2 - 8 weeks. I think 4 - 12 tends to be more average and depending on the days per weeks of the training.

And your school being one of the top in the state doesn't mean much to me. You can't listen to my advice at all and I graduated from one of the top PNP programs in the nation - you know, since we're all like bragging now and everything... ?

It's not where you come from or where you graduated from. It's what you do with it. That's the concept that is lost on you. You're going to be in for a rude awakening when you graduate.

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3 minutes ago, Nurse Magnolia said:

Mmmhmm, OK. But you told me to look that you got accepted as a freshman in 2018. That’s where you said you got accepted so....again nothing adds up.

I was accepted into multiple direct admit programs. There's quite a few around the nation. I currently attend UNF.

Why don't I do some math for you:

Freshman Fall & Spring: Prerequisites

Sophomore fall: finishing prerequisites + healthcare policy and intro to professional nursing

Sophomore Spring-Senior Spring: fully nursing courses + clinical

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Specializes in Pediatric Specialty RN.
6 minutes ago, gratefulheart365 said:

Yes. Why don't I do some math for you:

Freshman Fall & Spring: Prerequisites

Sophomore fall: finishing prerequisites + healthcare policy and intro to professional nursing

Sophomore Spring-Senior Spring: fully nursing courses + clinical

I was saying where you went to school wasn’t adding up. But since you brought it up, you pretty much Have two years of pre reqs and two years of nursing. Or are you basing all of this generalization about being better because you think you have an extra semester of nursing classes?
ADN’s take at least a year to do pre reqs before they are in the program. Then two years of nursing classes. YOU do the math.
You may think you are smart but your interpersonal skills are lacking and that is a skill that nurses need that often can’t be taught.
Seriously, from one 4.0 student to another (I‘ll assume you have straight A’s with all your knowledge and lamenting how easy nursing school is), come back here after even ONE year of nursing. You are In for such a rude awakening as proven by your responses here.

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