Associate degree Nurse vs. Bachelor degree Nurse or Professional Nurse vs. Technical Nurse The Associate degree nurse arose from a nursing shortage. As history has show, the nursing shortage waxes and wanes with the country’s economy. According to Buerhaus, Auerbach, & Staiger, 2009, the Registered Nurse vacancy rates across the country were up while the school enrollments were down. In the following years, the shortage not only persisted but also worsened (Ulrich et al., 2010). The enrollment according to Ulrich et al., 2010, continued to increase but not enough to counteract the continued nursing shortage. This shortage only subsided when the economic downturn forced experienced nurses back into the workplace in large numbers (Ulrich et al., 2010). Those who were already in the workplace, increased their work hours. Those who re-flooded the workplace were both nurses with Bachelor’s degrees and Associate degrees. The creation of the Associate Degree in Nursing according to Mahaffey, 2002 was the direct result of the nursing shortage in the 1950’s. The initial nursing shortage was brought about and propagated after World War II. The nurses of the military and those in civilian practice did not all stay in the work force after WWII. As a result of the shortage, there were substantial growths of associate degree nursing programs throughout the nation (Mahaffey, 2002). According to Haas 1990, as cited by Mahaffey, 2002, the nursing curricula reflected approximately half-general education courses and half-nursing courses. The nursing concept in these associate degree programs were patient centered and not disease centered. Donley & Flaherty 2008 reiterated this point and affirmed that during times of shortage, “there is usually a call to reduce educational requirements and to change licensing and accreditation standards.”
The associates