ADN and BSN Competencies The nursing as a profession has grown tremendously since the days of Florence Nightingale. Although nursing has developed to be such a broad spectrum of specialties, the core nursing values that focus on the patient and service to the patient have only been strengthened as nursing holds core truths to be the basis of the profession. Nursing as a profession has grown in response to the needs at hand. In 1983 the National Commission on Nursing Implementation Project (NCNIP), completed a three year project to provide leadership for the nursing’s future (AACN-AONE, 1993, sec. I, Background). The main goal of the project was to create competency based statements of practice for ADN and BSN nurses. This resulted in differentiated competencies. The ADN prepared nurse provides direct client care to those with common and well-defined nursing diagnosis, practices within a structured setting where policies procedures and protocols provide provisions for healthcare, uses basic therapeutic communication skills with clients, coordinates client focused needs and care with other health team members, recognizes client needs for information and teaching plans, acknowledges that research influences nursing practice, assists in data collection procedures, maintains accountability for own practice and aspects of care delegated to peers and licensed practical nurses or unlicensed assistive personnel, plans and implement nursing care consistent with the overall admission to post discharge plans, practices within legal and ethical parameters of nursing (Hood, 2010, p.19). Competencies are centered around caregiver, counselor and educator roles. BSN competencies expand to include the roles of client advocate, colleague coordinator and change agent, nurses are educated to engage independent thinking and to provide care to clients with complex and