Differences in Nursing Degrees: a Bachelor's Degree and Associate's Degree

ADN vs. BSN

American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) created the Magnet Recognition Program to draw attention to top healthcare facilities. This recognition means all nurses that work in a hospital must have their BSN degree. Obtaining their BSN will open many doors for them in their nursing career. A BSN makes nurses more desirable to employers who may want to hire someone who has advanced education. Getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is better than getting an Associate’s degree in Nursing.

One counterargument over the controversy whether getting your BSN is better than getting your ADN is getting your ADN would be just as good as getting your BSN. Licensed nurses with any diploma, associates or bachelor’s are usually qualified for entry-level positions such as staff nurse. After starting as a staff nurse or generalist some hospitals have internship programs that help new nurses gain a specialty in areas like critical care, the operating room or the emergency room. ADN programs put people to work without amassing a huge amount of debt (Kelbach 2015). However, an ADN only teaches the nursing student fundamental and basics of nursing. Those include creating care plans and performing everyday nursing skills. With a BSN, the nurse has to think more outside the box, with creditable research, leadership, theory, and public health, which will, in turn, make the nurse more of a critical thinker, which will carry over into their practice. Therefore, patients will be safer. There was a huge shortage of nurses years ago, but now, it has been less and less of a demand. Nurses aren’t needed as much, therefore the BSN is preferred. It is becoming more of the trend to have a BSN to be considered for any position, especially teaching, specialties, and school nurses. In the future the nurses who obtain an ADN know what is forthcoming and already will graduate or will be in the process of completing their BSN. Furthermore, the future is coming and the BSN will be a necessity for many jobs. Across the United States, hospitals strive to become Magnet status, which does not hire ADN nurses (Oermann, 2001).

The author Linda Aiken and her colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing found out that a 10% increase in the proportion of baccalaureate prepared nurses resulted in a 5% decrease of patient death and complications (Megginson, 2007). This is also means that hospitals that have a Magnet Recognition have better service and patient care. This is because all the hospitals now want to be Magnet Recognized. Most hospitals prefer to hire nurses with their BSN rather than nurses with their ADN and it is all because of the Magnet Recognition Program, so the hospital can be called a better hospital. By 2020, 80 percent of nurses, hospital or clinic-employed, will be required to hold a BSN. This mandate from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, known as 80/20, means that hospitals and clinics will likely be requiring new ADNs to get a BSN within a certain amount of time after they’ve been hired (Oermann, 2001). Indeed, one of the goals of the mandate is to encourage new nurses to enter a BSN program no later than five years after they’ve graduated. Licensed nurses with a diploma, associates or bachelor’s degree are usually qualified for staff nurse, entry-level positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Standfest 1997). Colleges need to be telling students that getting their BSN instead of their ADN in the long run is a better choice. Starting out with an ADN is not a bad idea it would just take longer to start making the amount of money that someone with a BSN would, and a BSN would eventually be required anyway. Developing these skills and having a Bachelor’s vs. having an Associate’s will enable the population wanting to be nurses to get higher paying jobs at the beginning of their career instead of having to work harder after you’ve already gotten one degree. Nurses will also be going into the field with improved and safer methods of conducting procedures on patients. This then will create better and more proficient hospitals and clinics. Without a BSN, nurses will struggle with their pay; they won’t be even close to being compensated as much as when they achieve their BSN. They will also struggle with their ability to focus completely on work and the patients’ care if they are spending so much time also going to school to finish pursuing their BSN.

A BSN makes nurses more desirable to employers who may want to hire someone who has advanced education. Getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is better than getting an Associate’s degree in Nursing. An ADN only teaches the nursing student the fundamentals and basics of nursing. Those include creating care plans and performing everyday nursing skills. With a BSN, the nurse has to think more outside the box, with creditable research, leadership, theory, and public health, which will, in turn, make the nurse more of a critical thinker, which will carry over into their practice. Therefore, patients will be safer. Having a BSN will be a necessity for many jobs. Across the United States, hospitals strive to become Magnet status, which does not hire ADN nurses. By 2020, 80 percent of nurses, hospital or clinic-employed, will be required to hold a BSN. It is better just to obtain a BSN instead of an ADN in the very beginning.