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

obeyacts2 · Jul 29, 2004

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, :eek: ) 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

OneRN · Jul 29, 2004

I believe nursing would have less issues with "professionalism" if it had stayed with diploma schools and not pursued formal academic training. For instance, the diploma programs could have required a BSc before entering, then nursing school would be seen as advanced education--which it is. My ADN program was way tougher than anything I did in my first four years for my BSc.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Jul 29, 2004

I'm a diploma and proud of it! We worked our tails off :nurse: We carried about 20-24 credits for the first 3 months of school and then started nursing 101 with more college classes. I had to pass chemistry, micro, A/P 1 and 2, Psych 1 and 2, 2 English classes, a few of those lovely extracurricular things like gym, etc, Speech class, nutrition, sociology (2 classes) and a bunch I can't remember.

The plus to a diploma was the clinical time...we worked 4 days a week. Mondays were all class day, get your assignment day, go the hospital and look up the patients, formulate a careplan, learn the meds and know the A/P of your patients problems. We did this in all aspects. Our last year was spent in Leadership....we took a team of patients, just like if we were out of school, had an LPN and an aide with us and off we went.

IMHO, no one degree is better than another...it is when you get on the floor it counts. If we choos to go on for a further degree, there really are only a handful of classes we need and all our stuff transfers. We can bridge in to BSN or MSN.

The hospitals that closed their diploma schools really shot themselves in the proverbial foot. Most of their nurses came from their hospital based schools. We all knew that if we chose to, we could have a job there. Most of my friends stayed there and have climbed the clinical ladder. We all take the same boards.