How do you feel about ADN nurses?

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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.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I'm curious, which one sounded smarter? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

ROFLMAO!!! :rotfl: what a ridiculous comment, huh.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical/Maternal and Child.
Well, how do you feel about Catholic nurses? Or diabetic nurses? Or single nurses?

Will we EVER get over this problem? As long as a nurse can pass the NCLEX, perform at a safe level and give quality care, who gives a rip what their background may be? In my ER we have over 100 nurses on the schedule. I can tell you the educational background of 3 of them, and I only know this because they are all in school now. As for competence, some I work with are great, and some are mediocre. I can't believe I am even responding to this.

Girl did you hit the nail on the head. I worked my tail off in an ADN program at a junior college that prides itself on graduating excellent nurses and has 100% passing rate on NCLEX. That to me was my feather in my cap and I'm going to toot my own horn and state that when I did floor nursing, I gave my patients' the best care possible under grueling staffing situations. Nursing is what you make of it regardless of the degree. Bottom line, its about giving patients the best care possible.

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: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?

DutchgirlRN,

You beat me to it!!! :chuckle

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Yeah, because I communicate using a system of grunts and hand gestures to talk to the doctors as it is.

Jeepgirl,

That class, "Grunts and Hand Gestures" was only offered to those of us with a diploma and ADN! :rotfl:

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Yeah, because I communicate using a system of grunts and hand gestures to talk to the doctors as it is.

ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl:

sounds like Veridican has a little "increased ICP" r/t her BSN.....hmmm who wants to measure her head circumference? anyone? ohhh wait make sure they have a BSN first!!!!

i didn't know they had a BSN course on "talking to medical professionals"....damn should have taken that one....

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I will admit something... I'm guilty of having TERRIBLE verbal skills at times. I often simply cannot come up with the correct words to explain what I'm thinking. I have a Kentucky accent that I often try to suppress, with no luck. So I guess most people would be correct when they assume that yes, I am a lowly, dimwitted ADN nurse. I sure sound like one, don't I?

(psssst! I also have a previous liberal arts Bachelor's Degree. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone!)

There is NO WAY to gauge how much education someone has, by the way that they speak. Well, okay, someone with a fifth grade education isn't going to sound like Dr. Phil or anything like that. But, I've known people with Master's Degrees who really do not sound any more educated than some of the finest ADN nurses that I work with.

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Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.

Easy now.... What does being from Kentucky have to do with verbal skills?? I am rather proud of my "accent" & speak it with pride. The problem of not being able to come up with the words to express what your thinking is not unique to Kentuckians. Now to get back on topic I think ADN vs BSN is a matter of choice. Some want to futher their education & some are happy right where they are. I will be 49 when I graduate with my ADN & am not interested at this time in my life on obtaining a BSN. I am very confident I will be able to communicate and perform efficiently. However, I do grunt well & have excellent hand gestures.:wink2:

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Do not worry about being an ADN and how people will feel about you. First try to pass your boards (we all take the same exam). Then try to learn and be the best nurse that you can be. No one goes around asking for an ADN vs BSN- all that patients require is that you know how to give good care and meet their needs. Passing your state boards determines that you have the basic requirements to do just that. The rest is up to you.

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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.

New graduates (no matter what type of program they attended) come to nursing with varying amounts of hands-on clinical, and different interests. They all need at least a year (my opinion only) to become "competent" in their area. Nurses are as different as all the types of personalities that they possess (as it is in any career field).

The most important attribute a new nurse needs is the desire to NEVER stop learning and to be an advocate for her patient. The hands-on skills come as she(he) gathers experience.

Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself and demand a good, thorough orientation. Good luck.

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ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl:

sounds like Veridican has a little "increased ICP" r/t her BSN.....hmmm who wants to measure her head circumference? anyone? ohhh wait make sure they have a BSN first!!!!

i didn't know they had a BSN course on "talking to medical professionals"....damn should have taken that one....

LDRP nurse here........I measure head circumferences all the time. I do not have a BSN.....Oh my, do you think my measurements were all wrong??????

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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.

I do think that there are probably some BSN programs which are a bit elitist (or maybe it is specific professors within any given program). I had one PhD professor like that once in a course. Personally, when you take a bunch of seasoned nurses (seasoned being the important concept here) that you cannot tell the difference in education. I feel that a person's INDIVIDUAL personality has far more to do with their success (or failure) as a nurse.

Critical thinking skills come with EXPERIENCE, NOT from some text book used in school. Skills also come with experience. There is only so much you can learn in nursing school and you use those skills as your base on which to build.

The ONLY thing I object to are some of these nursing professors who have not seen, touched or cared for a real patient in years (or ever). These are the professionals who I think do nursing a huge disservice.

Nursing is no different than many fields. I do NOT think a person should be teaching in any field until they have had actual HANDS-ON experience in their area of expertise. I also feel that they should have to keep their hands in and not just their brains!!

We actually have a fairly new doctor (not new to medicine but new to us) who has been a physician for years but has very weak hands-on skills (I mean surgical, etc). Before he came to us, he came from an academic setting where it is obvious that he had been doing mostly classroom teaching (of students). His actual skills are very weak by comparison and he has improved greatly in the time he has been with us. That's because all of a sudden he has to be a hands-on doctor again! He can tell you everything and anything on paper about any condition, most recent treatment protocols. Very nice, but his hands-on skills are very weak by comparison. It is the same with nurses as well as many other fields.

Let's juts stop all this who's better stuff and concentrate on helping all practitioners (regardless of career) keep current and safe.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Woops, sorry. Did not mean to offend any Kentuckians, as I am one. :) I just meant... well... persons with certain accents are looked at as being not quite as intelligent. Doesn't mean that it is true, of course.

I also wasn't trying to say that my being from Kentucky had anything to do with being able to form words verbally. It's an unfortunate trait that I have, that anyone from Kentucky or Minnesota or Delaware can have.

I digress though... ahem, back to the subject at hand. :Melody:

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