ADN vs BSN

Improved Essays
Difference in Competencies between Associates vs. Baccalaureate Nurses
Tara Garofalo
Grand Canyon University: NRS-430V-0191
April 6, 2014

There has been much debate over the years about the differences in competencies

between Associates Degree nurses (ADN) versus Baccalaureate Degree (BSN) nurses. In this

paper I will discuss my findings and also give a patient care situation in which I describe how

nursing care or approaches to decision-making may differ based upon the educational

preparation of the nurse BSN versus a diploma or ADN degree. Besides the difference in time,

credits and money studies are showing a significant difference in ADN nursing versus BSN.

“Research has shown that
…show more content…
By having the added knowledge from school, it shows in studies that BSN’s have better outcomes with less patient complications, which is good for everyone.

PATIENT CARE SCENARIO A patient care scenario that comes to mind for me would be a patient in Labor and Delivery that has had slightly elevated blood pressures prior to the pregnancy, but with diet and exercise was able to avoid medication. But on admission an order for a blood pressure medication was ordered as a PRN in case it was needed.
As the patient progresses into labor, her pressures start to rise slightly. The ADN nurse comes in see’s the reading looks at her orders and dispenses the medication, because that is what she is trained to do. Whereas the BSN nurse comes in to the patient’s room and see’s the same reading, notices the patient seems more uncomfortable and is a little upset. So as the BSN nurse I would ask if she was having increased pain and if she was offer her something for pain relief because that may help decrease the blood pressure. I would also ask her if something else was bothering her because she seemed agitated and the patient stated that her and her boyfriend had just had a huge argument and she was upset over that. So with some pain relief and quiet environment the BSN nurse was able to avoid

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    ADN versus BSN Grand Canyon University There are many routes lead to the nursing profession. Both associate degree and baccalaureate degree nursing programs provide nursing education to qualify an individual to becoming a registered nurse (RN) once the graduate passes the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). The curriculum of an Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) program focuses on the fundamentals of the nursing profession at an entry level, mostly requires two to three years of commitment. It includes but is not limited to the areas of adult nursing, surgical nursing, maternal nursing, mental health nursing, etc, to train prospective nurses to perform nursing tasks in clinical or hospital settings. “Baccalaureate nursing…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is a study outlining the differences in competencies between the nursing prepared associate degrees in Nursing versus a prepared Baccalaureate degree in nursing. In this study areas of differences in practice and reasons why it is important for associate’s degree in nursing to achieve a Baccalaureate degree will be outline. Writer will create a picture of the prepared associate degree in nursing and Baccalaureate in their different scope of practice, the positions held in the field of nursing, pay scales and job markets. Writer will explain the educational preparation background between an associate degree in nursing and the Baccalaureate. A scenario to show the differences between an associate and Baccalaureate nurse will also be explained…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Historically, social movements and technological advancements have been major events promoting the growth in nursing. World War II create one of the major changes in healthcare, women played a major role in the military medical units. Consequently, there was a shortage of nurses in America, so a two-year associate degree in nursing (AND) was developed in desire to quickly train nurses to acquire a minimum skills level. Koernig & Hayes (2016) stated that ADN programs since then have increased at a higher rate than BSN programs (p.477). The American Nurses Association (ANA) had a great influence in the change that nurse’s education took place in institutions of higher education, so nurses were prepared in hospital-based diploma programs by 1965.…

    • 1260 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Baccalaureate Nursing: Learned Competencies Completing advanced education programs requires the nurse to perform at a different level of competency than the prior level of education. Discussion of the second scope of the Differentiated Essential Competencies (DECs), provider of patient-centered care, will cover the general differences between the Associate Degree (ADN) and the Baccalaureate Degree (BSN) (Texas Board of Nursing, 2011). Secondly, seven student learning outcomes will be addressed along with brief examples of how each outcome was achieved. Provider of Patient Centered Care Under the second scope of the Differentiated Essential Competencies (DECs), there are eight competencies that will be covered. The first competency difference…

    • 1330 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    PBD Expectations

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Summary of the article : Controlling for level of preparation, associate and baccalaureate nurses weremore likely to meet expectations as years of experience increased; a similartrend was not seen for diploma nurses. The specific objectives were to describe the overall rate at which nurses meetexpectations on the PBDS assessment; examine the relationship betweenmeeting PBDS expectations and years of nursing experience controlling forpreparation level; and examine the relationship between meeting PBDSexpectations and nurses' preparation level controlling for years of nursingexperience. The nurse rater next determined if the nurse met expectations for each vignetteusing the method illustrated in Table 2.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Registered Nurse Analysis

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Associate degree nursing programs are designed to be two years in length and consist of basic general education requirements necessary for entry into clinical nursing courses.” (Friberg, E., & Creasia, J., 2016, p. 24). Whereas a nurse who holds a baccalaureate degree has several other areas included in his or her training to strengthen and expand their knowledge. “To prepare nurses for this multifaceted role, several components are essential for all baccalaureate programs. These components are liberal education, quality and patient safety, evidence based practice, information management, health care policy and…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The ADN administered more pain killers to the patient and assessed his respiratory status, and it was done after the post-op orders. Conversely, the BSN examined the patient and went through his medical history (McEwen, 2015). After that, she called the emergency response team, whereby a state chest x-ray was done and the client was taken to the emergency room. In this case, the BSN offered primary care and treated the patient with a high level of knowledge.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Bio-Terrorism Among Nurses

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages

    “All nurses please report to the main nurses’ station”. The nurse supervisor starts telling us that there has been a release of a bio terror agent in the air system and we need to be ready to receive a large influx of patients. What was the agent released? Are we safe here? Will the patients be contagious?…

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ADN Vs BSN

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The patient will not make inquiries about the degree of the nurse but the difference of their services. A nurse with a baccalaureate degree is expected to have an excellent management and communication skills. Nurses with associate degree could also show these abilities, but baccalaureate degree holders have advanced skills. With the leadership training, nurses can do the clinical settings in a standardized way. The Bachelor of Science in nursing program improves skills in health promotion, cultural competence and technology.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Entry Level Nursing

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My supervisors and bosses would attest that they value me as a member of their team even though it has taken until now for me to pursue my BSN. Even without that coveted BSN, I have had the opportunity to educate my patients, precept student nurses, orientate new nurses and be a nurse leader on the Unit (Finkleman & Kenner, 2016, p. 85). I will not argue against the benefits, though, of nurse’s obtaining their BSN, especially since I’m pursuing my own. Some of the knowledge gained in a baccalaureate degree can be learned through experience on the job.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The protocol not being followed accurately most likely affected the outcome of Mr. B., if these were being monitored intervention could have been implemented soon and might have changed the outcome. Quick intervention are crucial during an emergent situation. Number of staff working in the ER at the time in this scenario could have resulted in Mr. B.’s outcome. One RN and one LPN hardly seems adequate for the amount of patients and aquity level in this scenario. High quality and safe patient care cannot be provided in a health care facility when faced with inappropriate staff to patient ratio.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Patient Care Disparities

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages

    They are not able to complete assessments, administer medications or received orders from doctors. CNA’s are delegated all tasks by the registered nurse, these tasks must be within the scope of practice for the CNA and must be something in which they are competent in doing. At the hospital in which I work the only difference in the roles assignments between an ADN and BSN nurse is that an ADN nurse is unable to be in a management position. Patient care assignments remain the same otherwise.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction “As defined by The American Nurses Association (ANA), delegation is the transfer of responsibility for the performance of a task from one individual to another while retaining accountability for the outcome” (Kelly, 2012 p. 369) Delegation occurs when a task is assigned based on job description and matching the staff to patient needs (NCSBN, 2005). Decisions on delegation are based on principles according to the individual’s scope of practice. Before any task is delegated, it is important to ensure the education, skill, knowledge, and judgment levels of the personal being assigned the task. The RN is accountable for assessing, diagnosing, implementing, and evaluating the patient’s plan of care (NCSBN, 2005). Nurses are legally…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    It contributes to greater nurse efficiency and professionalism which helps results in better health outcomes for the patients. EBP is a crucial element of quality care since individual nurses are able to position themselves to provide optimal care to the patients by using the competencies acquired from the practice (Polit & Beck, 2010). Patients will often have an improved outcome where EBP has been used because it promotes the collection, interpretation and integration of reports from the clients, observations of the practitioner and the research obtained from evidence to give maximum results. As a result, the preferences of the patients themselves, their families and those of the community as a whole are served (Polit & Beck,…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The First Clinical Experience It was an early morning in April. My friends and I arrived 45 minutes early to our long term care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. The three of us sat in my car and anxiously awaited stepping foot into the care facility as we had no idea what to expect. I began to wonder what the patients would be like and how I would care for them.…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays