Nursing Degrees: The Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)

[cee cee g]

I'm entering the ADN program this fall and as I was hoping to possibly start working at a certain hospital and now I am hearing that this bigger chain hospital will not hire you unless you have a BSN. I originally did not want to do the bridge but times are changing and I guess I am going to have to suck it up and go for it. I just want to put it out there for any pre-nursing students. Do some research around the area you would like to work when you are done with school. I think the numbers are going to change fast in the near future towards people starting with a bsn, maybe. Thank you for the article.

[excited1]

cee cee g said:

I'm entering the ADN program this fall and as I was hoping to possibly start working at a certain hospital and now I am hearing that this bigger chain hospital will not hire you unless you have a BSN. I originally did not want to do the bridge but times are changing and I guess I am going to have to suck it up and go for it. I just want to put it out there for any pre-nursing students. Do some research around the area you would like to work when you are done with school. I think the numbers are going to change fast in the near future towards people starting with a BSN, maybe. Thank you for the article.

Couldn't agree more. While the nursing profession goes through phases of hiring BSN vs. ADN and back and forth, one thing in for certain....we should always want the best for ourselves. An RN-BSN bridge or even an RN-MSN would be a great personal goal!

[amygarside]

ADN is best for students who don't have enough to support their bachelor's degree. It is also best for students who are not still sure about their nursing career.

[mmc51264, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Enough what? I got an ADN because I already had a BS in Biology and didn't need any pre-reqs. I am working on my BSN, but it was a matter of timing. I missed an application deadline for an ABSN. Now that I have gone the path I have, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I am curious, Commuter, do you know the history of why both the ADN and the BSN take the same test. There is SO much debate about the inequality of the two degrees. Diploma nurses, too. I disagree that an ADN is "minimally" trained. I work along side BSN new grads and you could not tell us apart. In fact, most of the BSN nurses said they had less clinical hours.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

mmc51264 said:

I disagree that an ADN is "minimally" trained.

NOTE: I never once said that ADNs are minimally trained. In fact, I am an ADN holder.

I wrote that students who have earned the ADN have an adequate level of readiness to engage in safe nursing practice at the minimally competent level. All people who attend nursing school receive education and training that renders them minimally competent generalists, including BSN degree holders.

[mmc51264, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Quote

In general, students who have earned the ADN have an adequate level of readiness to engage in safe nursing practice at the minimally competent level.

This comment in the article did not delineate between the fact that all new grads are trained to be minimally competent. It sounds like, in this sentence, that the "minimally competent" only applies to the ADN nurse. Sorry I misunderstood.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I got my first nursing degree in 1989. I went to a private 4-year university and obtained the ADN. The classes WERE THE EXACT SAME AS THE BSN classes. The only difference was the ADN was faster-paced, more intense, and you could get out quicker and start working. It was designed this way because there was a severe shortage of RN's during that time. Most of us already had a prior degree, thus already had the required pre-reqs. I do not understand why people think you can only get the ADN thru a "community or technical" college, because that is simply not true. As a matter of fact, you had to have a much higher ACT score and GPA to even get into the ADN program I went to! Some nurses went into the BSN because their scores weren't high enough to be accepted into the ADN program! The ADN in my area was designed to get RN's into the workforce faster. It was much, much harder and more intense than my BSN program. In my ADN program, you had to make a minimum of 84 on everything; one 83 and you automatically failed the program and were out. In my fluffy BSN program, a 70 was all you needed to pass everything.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

applewhitern said:

I do not understand why people think you can only get the ADN thru a "community or technical" college, because that is simply not true.

The last paragraph of my article lists all the types of educational institutions where ADN programs are typically offered.

Quote

Associate degree nursing programs were first created in the 1950s and are typically offered at community colleges, vocational schools, state universities and technical colleges.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Oh, Commuter, I didn't mean YOU specifically! I was merely commenting about what "most" BSN's seem to think! I honestly wasn't referring to anything you wrote at all; I enjoy your articles and would never criticize intentionally. I was watching Dave Ramsey last night, talking about the enormous amount of debt college students are amassing these days, and I just get upset when I hear stuff about ADN's having to spend more money to go back to school, just to take a few extra classes. All the "theory" in the world doesn't help the nurse who has no clinical skills, which is what I see daily at my job; BSN's who cannot even start a simple IV.

[algebra_demystified]

I have a DIPLOMA. Actually, I have a certificate stating that I "satisfactorily completed the specialized program of study in Registered Nursing" from my community college in California. Note that the verbage above does not include the word "Diploma." When I tried to get licensed in another state it became a huge issue, because the degree requirements changed since I was awarded my certificate. I almost lost out on a huge opportunity because of it.

I graduated in 2008. Very few Diplomas are awarded anymore, almost everybody has an Associates or above. The new state didn't know what to make of me because it's not 1974 anymore and who has a Diploma now?

I can't be endorsed as a Q in my state because I do not have a BSN, even though I'm finished with all my 500-level classes on my way through the Masters program. I don't have a BSN, so that's the end of the road for me. Until I graduate, then I will be able to prescribe and diagnose. Funny how all that stuff works.

At the time I went through school I was told that because I had a previous Bachelors, that the BSN would not help me, and why should I bother getting an Associates when I already have a different Bachelors? Let me tell you guys something, go ahead and put those letters after your name. It will make a difference.

So today, I face another set of decisions. I can practice as a PMH-NP in my state with a Masters, but many states are phasing their Masters programs out and are requiring a DNP for this level of care. Do I dare continue my career with just a Masters and figure everything will work out for me, or should I blow another $60K and two years of my life on adding one letter to my credentials? Why is the DNP worth it? I almost feel like nobody knows why, they just know that if they put one more flaming hoop in front of me and I jump through it that I will FINALLY be good enough.

[nikkley]

Do 2 year nursing degrees have any value these days?