Do you think ADN programs will really be phased out?

roser13, ASN, RN · Aug 18, 2014

At the risk of being flamed:cheeky:, I will respectfully direct you to do a search on this site. Upper right hand corner, big blue SEARCH button.

There are tons of current threads on the subject and you will find many discussions to read.

(By way of explanation, a recent poster called some of us rude for directing someone to do a search of the Forums.)

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Aug 18, 2014

In the US, we take great pride (hubris?) in claiming to advocate "evidence-based" healthcare. Currently, we do have convincing evidence that BSN prepared nurses have a significantly positive impact on patient outcomes in ACUTE CARE. I haven't seen any corresponding evidence for non-acute care/services. So - IMO, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater...

1)we don't have enough BSN nurses to cover everything. I don't even think we have the capacity to produce sufficient numbers of BSN grads yet.

2) healthcare reimbursement continues to decline, which is putting pressure on providers to lower the overall labor costs. Not possible if we arbitrarily decide to require BSN entry into practice.

3) student loan debt - need I say more?

Nursetobe25 · Aug 18, 2014

At the risk of being flamed:cheeky:, I will respectfully direct you to do a search on this site. Upper right hand corner, big blue SEARCH button.
There are tons of current threads on the subject and you will find many discussions to read.
(By way of explanation, a recent poster called some of us rude for directing someone to do a search of the Forums.)

No I don't fine this rude at all! Lol, I am glad you can direct me.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Aug 18, 2014

I have a copy of an OLD newpaper clipping hung on my office door. It states "Be a Nurse! Earn $30-$35 per week and study at home". This was in the 1920's. Nursing has changed since then, and continues to change, but I do not forsee a BSN requirement unless the government subsidies the education, as some countries do.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Aug 18, 2014

Actually in my area it's harder to get in an ADN program than a BSN program. Look at the people who are becoming nurses. People in their thirties, second career nurses. I don't see as many people who are just out of high school going into the traditional BSN programs. Many people get their ADN then go for the BSN, which is exactly what I plan on doing. I don't think you will see them going anywhere in the near future.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2014

Most of the educational entities in the US that confer associate degrees, namely the community colleges and technical schools, are not legally allowed to grant baccalaureate (BSN) degrees.

There are literally thousands of these schools with associate degree nursing programs that cannot be 'upgraded' to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions due to laws combined with the shortage of nurse educators prepared at the MSN and doctoral degree levels.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Aug 20, 2014

I don't understand why everyone assumes that if you obtained an ADN, it must have been thru a "community college or technical school." In my area there are plenty of 4 year universities that offer the ADN, and yes, of course, the classes are taught by doctorate prepared nurses. The ADN programs were originally designed to get the nurse into the workforce quicker, because there was a severe shortage of registered nurses. The classes are basically the same; the NCLEX is the same; and usually the pay is the same. When I first went to nursing school, I took an ADN program at a 4 year university, simply because I already had the core classes and needed to get out and work quick. The requirements for the ADN program I attended were much more stringent than the BSN. I had to have a higher ACT score, higher GPA, etc., just to be accepted. Many of the people who didn't make it in the ADN program went into the BSN program because the grade requirements were much more lax. It just gripes me that people don't realize that thru-out the United States, there are tons of 4 year universities that offer the ADN. Not everybody got theirs from a "community college or technical school." Some of the technical schools in my area offer the LPN, but not the RN. I don't know of any schools that offer ADN programs that have instructors with less than at least a master's degree, and most require a doctorate.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Aug 20, 2014

As a matter of fact, I first heard that "ADN programs will be phased out" way back in the mid 80's. I have been an RN for 25 years, and I have been hearing it that long. I think eventually the ADN will be revived because the predictions are that once we older nurses finally retire, there will be a shortage again. I rushed out and finished the BSN right after I got licensed because I thought the ADN would become obsolete; that was in 1994, 20 years ago! All the hospitals in my area hire ADN prepared nurses. The DON of my hospital has only an ADN.

elkpark · Aug 20, 2014

Community colleges have a lot of clout in state legislatures, and that is where the change would need to happen, if it were going to. I don't see it happening, at least not any time in the near (next few decades) future.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 20, 2014

I don't see them being phased out, although I DO perhaps foresee them being grandfathered in as RNs and the ADN programs morphing into LPN-type programs.

PS: I have been both an LPN and an ADN (actually AAS) RN.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 20, 2014

I don't understand why everyone assumes that if you obtained an ADN, it must have been thru a "community college or technical school."

I don't think everyone makes that assumption. For instance, I earned an ADN that was conferred by neither a community college nor a technical school.

However, the majority of associate degree nursing programs in the US are housed in community colleges.