Is it easier for the new graduate nurses with bachelor to find jobs>

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 17, 2009

I am a preceptor on my unit. I have precepted diploma, ADN, and BSN nurses. I can tell you that from personal experience, diploma nurses have better critical thinking and clinical skills.

But keep in mind that only applies to the particular school whose graduates you work with. It may not apply to some other school 2,000 miles away. I do not believe there is any research that shows that all Diploma graduates have better critical thinking skills than all graduates of other types of programs. (or the other way around, for that matter)

All these personal opinions are just -- personal opinions based on each person's very limited experience with the graduates of particular programs. They do not generally apply to multiple schools all over the country -- where the quality of each school and each graduate varies. Yes, Diploma schools often provide the most clinical hours -- but they may also provide a limited clinical exposure to the practices of hospitals other than their own. When employed by other hospitals, some new Diploma grads may have trouble adapting to other systems and very different ways of doing things. Some Diploma programs require few "general education" courses and may not teach much theory, research, community health, etc. at all. This gives their graduates a handicap when compared to the graduates of a good BSN program. etc. etc. etc.

We need to get over this tendency to think just because our local school is a certain way ... that every school of that type is the same way. That is just bad thinking. We need to stop assuming that all schools offering the same degrees are identical ... and start talking about the actual QUALITY of the learning activities and how to assess a school's quality based on the actual characteristics of the particular school and just on the type of degree offered.

PurellGirl · Jul 17, 2009

In my opinion the ADN are more focused on patient care associated with hands on. The BSN covers the minimal amount of clinical but also includes leadership, community, research, statistics. They prepare ADN nurses to work at the bedside. They prepare BSN nurses for roles in management, education, research. If i were HR I would want the BSN nurse, because you can always teach someone how to insert a foley as long as you have the theory behind

My 2 cents:

Nursing as a profession should have one standard for entry. Not ADN, diploma, BSN. All other professions in the hospital have it. In order to be respected as such we need to hold the higher degree next to our counterparts (PA,OT,PT).