Baccalaureate and Associate Degree in Nursing: ADN verses BSN Program (Coursework Sample)

ADN verses BSN program
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Introduction
Experts in the medical field believe that nursing education and having an educated workforce are the basis for improving quality in patient care. Research shows that reduced medical errors, lower mortality rates and patient satisfaction are attributed to a workforce trained at the graduate as well as baccalaureate degree levels. Undergoing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program equips nurses with various skills such as leadership, health promotion, case management, critical thinking and the ability to operate in different hospital settings (AACN, 2014). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) trusts that nursing education significantly improves the knowledge as well the competency of the nurses and other health care professionals. As such, it is committed to work diligently to design learning program pertinent to creating a highly qualified nurse workforce in the United States (AACN, 2015).This paper will compare the competency differences between the nurses prepared at the baccalaureate and associate degree level.
Associate Degree and Baccalaureate programs
This is a nursing program offered in community colleges and nursing schools for two to three years, after which students can sit for the NCLEX-RN exam to get registered as a qualified personnel in the nursing practice. The Associate degree was first introduced by Dr. Mildred Montag in the year 1951 to ease nurse shortage in the health care facilities after World War by reducing the number of years to two. The first students to graduate with an associate degree passed the licensing examination and got employment as registered nurses graduates. Experts say that the program was successful because the graduates presented sufficient competency levels in their nursing practice (Creasia and Friberg, 2011).
Baccalaureate degree is a more advanced program offered in tertiary institutions for duration of five years, that is, two years for general nursing education and three years for the fundamental courses of the nurses. Creasia and Friberg (2011) agree that the 5-year baccalaureate degree program enhances the professional roles of nurses and equips them with the necessary skills and knowledge to work in different hospital settings. Just like nurses with an associate degree, graduates of the baccalaureate program qualify to sit the licensing exam to become registered nurses. This degree program was first introduced in the year 1946 when the US Congress passed the GI Bill of rights that gave veterans an opportunity to acquire college education, thus increasing nurse enrollment in college (Creasia and Friberg, 2011).
Competency differences
The associate nursing degree program only exposed the nurse students to clinical settings, bedside nursing and disease conditions hut does not involve any research. In today’s nursing practice, nurses are required to ensure an all-inclusive patient care by not only engaging in basic nursing practices but also nursing research. The associate program does not involve nursing research, hence limits the competency of the graduates in research based nursing. As such, the level of education of the ADN graduate nurses lowers their competency as compared with other nurse professionals with a BSN.
Unlike the ADN, the baccalaureate degree program includes a more in-depth nursing curriculum. More specifically, it includes course...