How do you feel about ADN nurses?

My name is Stacy and i will be graduating in May with my ADN nursing degree. I was wondering what everyone thinks about nurses with ADN degrees? Do you think they should go on? Let me know what you all think.

This debate has gone on soooooooo many times on allnurses. You would be better off doing a search to find a post from the past regarding ADN nurses. The topic has been beaten like a dead horse. Good luck.

:deadhorse Sorry couldn't resist, I've been looking for an opportunity to use this dead horse !

While on the dead horse subject..... I'd like to use it for the "NCLEX- Help I think I failed", "Shut off at 265 I know I failed", "Shut off at 75 I'm convinced I failed". I don't mean to sound crass but doesn't anyone ever search the site first before getting panic stricken?

I'm an ADN and for my own personal satisfaction and goals I'm going for my BSN. I think it's an individual decision whether or not ADNs should go on. I think it will also enhance my practice as a nurse since I'm getting a little burned out after 15 years, and it might give me some options beyond the bedide as I age.

I'm a fabulous nurse with an ADN and feel pretty good about it! Good luck to you in all you do.

My name is Stacy and i will be graduating in May with my ADN nursing degree. I was wondering what everyone thinks about nurses with ADN degrees? Do you think they should go on? Let me know what you all think.

Your goals should help you with that decision. From a clinical standpoint, I think an ADN grad is far better off when starting out because they have far stronger clinical skills than their BSN counterparts. After a year, though, you cannot tell them apart. Some people have it and some don't. Your hospital will probably pay for you to continue for your BSN. Good luck.

R.N. is the only profession I know of that allows you to be considered one of the "learned professions" with only having completed an associate degree, and more often in the past, a diploma program.

People make a lot out of the BSN, but if it were the minimum entrance degree for nursing, we wouldn't have 1/2 the nurses we have. I don't think a BSN is necessary, but I do feel a nurse should have a bachelors degree in some field so they are educated enough to converse intelligently with the other members of the healthcare team (doctors, administrators, PTs, OTs, RTs, other nurses, etc.).

I am one of the rare individuals that believes a bachelors should be required before admission to nursing school, and nursing school should award a masters degree. The only problem is that no one would want to work at the bedside then.

Where I work, you don't know which nurses are ADNs or BSNs because it's not on our name badges. But in reality, as soon as you talk to someone on the floor, you can tell whether they've had two years or four years of education.

Just my two cents.

Veridican

R.N. is the only profession I know of that allows you to be considered one of the "learned professions" with only having completed an associate degree, and more often in the past, a diploma program.

People make a lot out of the BSN, but if it were the minimum entrance degree for nursing, we wouldn't have 1/2 the nurses we have. I don't think a BSN is necessary, but I do feel a nurse should have a bachelors degree in some field so they are educated enough to converse intelligently with the other members of the healthcare team (doctors, administrators, PTs, OTs, RTs, other nurses, etc.).

I am one of the rare individuals that believes a bachelors should be required before admission to nursing school, and nursing school should award a masters degree. The only problem is that no one would want to work at the bedside then.

Where I work, you don't know which nurses are ADNs or BSNs because it's not on our name badges. But in reality, as soon as you talk to someone on the floor, you can tell whether they've had two years or four years of education.

Just my two cents.

Veridican

When you read some of the posts on these boards and look at the misspellings, the poor grammar,etc., it is scary to think that some of these people might be nurses some day.

another one who thinks all 2 year nurses sound the same....sheesh.

Someone needs to remind you all there is more than ONE way to "round" oneself or self-educate. How insulting.

R.N. is the only profession I know of that allows you to be considered one of the "learned professions" with only having completed an associate degree, and more often in the past, a diploma program.

People make a lot out of the BSN, but if it were the minimum entrance degree for nursing, we wouldn't have 1/2 the nurses we have. I don't think a BSN is necessary, but I do feel a nurse should have a bachelors degree in some field so they are educated enough to converse intelligently with the other members of the healthcare team (doctors, administrators, PTs, OTs, RTs, other nurses, etc.).

I am one of the rare individuals that believes a bachelors should be required before admission to nursing school, and nursing school should award a masters degree. The only problem is that no one would want to work at the bedside then.

Where I work, you don't know which nurses are ADNs or BSNs because it's not on our name badges. But in reality, as soon as you talk to someone on the floor, you can tell whether they've had two years or four years of education.

Just my two cents.

Veridican

Well, I have my ASN. I have actually taught residents how to insert TLC, and recently passed my CCRN. I can't tell the difference between the two just by talking with them.

It seems that based on their years of degree, 2 or 4 would offer more information to their intelligence level?

I have to disagree with that.

I think there is more to that. Age, years of clinical experience, environmental background, socioeconomic status, etc....

I know someone with two Master's degree that can't put two intelligent sentences together in a social situation, put ask her to spit out a Physics formula and your stunned.

I happen to believe that there's more clinical experience with the ASN program as opposed to a BSN. Alot of new BSN grads I work with have expressed their displeasure in the amount of theory they have had to study. They would have rather had more clinical experience. Most of them have never even inserted a foley, or seen a chest tube.

another one who thinks all 2 year nurses sound the same....sheesh.

Someone needs to remind you all there is more than ONE way to "round" oneself or self-educate. How insulting.

I have to agree with you, I'm a little offended as well.

Elizabeth RN, ASN, CCRN

My name is Stacy and i will be graduating in May with my ADN nursing degree. I was wondering what everyone thinks about nurses with ADN degrees? Do you think they should go on? Let me know what you all think.

This is a personal decision. I graduated with my ASN degree and have been an Neuro/MedSurg Trauma ICU nurse for 10 years. Never have I regretted not going on for my BSN, unless there is more in an administrative position that you are interested in.

Most RN's with Master's degrees go for their NP, CNS, etc....There's nothing wrong with higher education.

My mother always told me, "you can never go wrong with an investment in your education"

Good luck to you

>>

I think there is no having to happen to believe this. It's a fact: take a look at any program (ADN vs. BSN program) and you will see the vast difference in clinical hours and the experiences within those clinical hours.

I have to laugh:especially about the foley comment. I had a nursing professor once who told an entire class of undergraduate nurses (I was taking the class in preparation for graduate work and was already a nurse) that she had never put a foley in until she worked in ICU. I found that sad and asked her (after class) if she was proud of that? I hope she was not. her point was that one didn't need to have the skills (that they would come). In some ways, I know that's true, but I still think that is an awful thing to put across to a group of nurses: the fact that they may not have to do that because a BSN grad may not be at the bedside.

I still feel that if BSN students had more clinical in addition to their classwork, we might have fewer nurses burning out.

I often wonder if a study has ever been done to study which type of nurse burns out the fastest: the BSN grad or the ADN (or hospital trained) nurse? My hypothesis would be the BSN grad is the first to bail and I would bet my license it is because of the stress that nurse feels about skill levels and the fact that as a student she/he was probably led to believe that bedside care was not to be done as a degreed RN. I still would like to see them make the BSN track a 5 year program. We talk about the necessity of critical thinking skills. Those are developed as one works at the bedside: NOT from a textbook!

I would think that even the ADN nurses (she said with a wink, since she is one) have developed that sacred critical thinking art. Don't we do that automatically as we go about our work? Of course, it comes with experience. It can't be learned in a classroom.

As far as only BSN nurses being to carry on an intelligent conversation with other professionals: what hogwash, and I cleaned up my initial reaction to that one. What an elitist way to think. Is that an attitude that is taught while you're in BSN school? In my 28 years of experience, I find that I cannot distinguish the ADN's from the BSN's during conversation. Indeed, some of the younger BSN's I've known recently cannot spell, cannot pronounce drug names properly and in general are interested in partying more than anything else.

So we all have our experiences...and hopefully those who don't respect ADN's hopefully will have occasion to re-evaluate after actually having had some.