Diff. between ASN and Diploma Nurse......

An ASN spent time in college classes other than nursing. The diploma nurse took all nursing classes with a psych or soc. class and spent time taking care of patients.

My diploma school is a 3-year school with clinical assigments starting right away--6 weeks after start of class. It is very clinical-oriented, hands-on nursing.

You take Dosage Calculations, Anatomy, Physiology, Micro, (plus associated labs), Sociology, Psychology, Developmental Psych and Ethics at the associated colleges. Nursing classes are given by the staff instructors who are also our clinical instructors. Nutrition is given by the registered dietician on staff. The only pre-req was chemistry...there are no pre-reqs involving other studies, i.e. art, music, history, whatever.

At the end of the 3-year period you are prepared to take the NCLEX exam for RN. It's a great program.

Diploma programs now only consitute 3% of programs RN's come from. There are only about 98 of them left in the US. (Just did a paper on this)

My diploma school is a 3-year school with clinical assigments starting right away--6 weeks after start of class. It is very clinical-oriented, hands-on nursing.

You take Dosage Calculations, Anatomy, Physiology, Micro, (plus associated labs), Sociology, Psychology, Developmental Psych and Ethics at the associated colleges. Nursing classes are given by the staff instructors who are also our clinical instructors. Nutrition is given by the registered dietician on staff. The only pre-req was chemistry...there are no pre-reqs involving other studies, i.e. art, music, history, whatever.

At the end of the 3-year period you are prepared to take the NCLEX exam for RN. It's a great program.

I've worked with a lot of excellent nurses from diploma schools of nursing. Too bad they have done away with them. JMHO :)

they ARE closing down diploma schools, very much a shame imo.

Diploma programs now only consitute 3% of programs RN's come from. There are only about 98 of them left in the US. (Just did a paper on this)

I knew that diploma schools were not prevalent in all areas of the country, but I'm surprised to read this statistic -- at least 8 of the 98 are within 50 miles of where I'm sitting. :chuckle

My program is 22 months full-time, or 33 months part time. Pre-reqs were chem w/lab, bio w/lab & college algebra. Our courses include A&P 1&2, micro, nutrition, a computer applications class, soc, psych & 2 semesters of college writing/communications. These classes are taught by faculty of a local college - we're in classes with nursing students from this college (a BSN program) as well as those in other majors who are also taking these classes. In the full-time program these classes (the typical pre-reqs of an ADN/ASN program) are taken concurrently with the nursing courses.

Our NCLEX pass rate is 99%. Grads are in demand here in the local area, and have no problem competing with ADN & BSN grads for positions in specialty areas and/or positions in the larger university/teaching/research hospitals. About 1/3 of my class holds a bachelor's degree or higher in another field.

I've researched about 4 RN-BSN programs in my area, since my goal is to start on my BSN (at my employer's expense) after I've been working for about a year. I'll have 66-70 credits towards my BSN - not too far behind ADN grads.

Good luck to all students. :)

Thanks for the responses!

Correct me if I'm wrong........ If you guys with diplomas wish to continue your education (BSN), won't you have to take all those classes us ASN student's already took?

Thanks for the responses!

Correct me if I'm wrong........ If you guys with diplomas wish to continue your education (BSN), won't you have to take all those classes us ASN student's already took?

Hi Ari :)

Not sure exactly what you mean by "all those courses" but here's how it will work for me: I'll have 11 credits from chem, bio & college algebra which were pre-reqs for my program, 30 credits from the non-nursing courses I took as part of my program (A&P, micro, nutrition, etc.), and the BSN programs I've looked at will grant between 30-36 credits for the nursing courses. So overall I'll be about even or not too far behind you ADN/ASN guys & gals in pursuing a BSN.

Good grief...now the ADNs/ASNs are telling we diploma nurses that they are better educated. Will it never end?

Just for the record, some diploma programs include college courses in their curriculum (not some watered down version, as one poster implied). I had 60 credits by the time I graduated, and that was a long time ago.

Why can't we all just accept each other, regardless of what kind of program we attended?

Good grief...now the ADNs/ASNs are telling we diploma nurses that they are better educated. Will it never end?

Just for the record, some diploma programs include college courses in their curriculum (not some watered down version, as one poster implied). I had 60 credits by the time I graduated, and that was a long time ago.

Why can't we all just accept each other, regardless of what kind of program we attended?

Who said that ASN nurses were better than diploma nurses?????? I never implied that. You must have understood wrong! I was just curious about what was the difference between ASN and Diploma nurses!

Thank You MLOS for your clarification. Now I understand!

Good Luck to you and to everyone!!!! :)

Why can't we all just accept each other, regardless of what kind of program we attended?

Amen!!!! Really, as it relates to bedside care, I dont think it matters where the nurse graduated. They still have to pass the boards, dont they?

At my job I often get to meet retired diploma nurses....and many of them still know their stuff!!!! I had one retired missionary/OB nurse ask me how school was going and I replied we were on the brain/spinal cord (not my fave area) and she replied "Cranial nerve 1" and went all through the list, this was probably 20 yrs after retirement! My own grandma went thru a cooperative program something like a diploma program, and at 89 still loves to discuss her specialty (psych, ) and remembers most of the med-surg stuff as well. Really, I dont care where my co-workers went to school, as long as they passed the board. The only nurses I get annoyed with are the ones that seem to think CNAs and support staff are professional diaper-changers. :angryfire I haven't noticed that attitude among the diploma nurses much.

Laura