The Differences between an Associate Degree prepared nurse, and a nurse prepared with a Bachelorette
Degree
Scott E. Scherpenberg
Grand Canyon University: NRS-430V
April 19th, 2014

Nursing is a profession that has a multitude of educational, ability, and professional affiliation levels. Registered Nurses can advance their careers simply by the skills they develop, the work environments they choose, or through supplemental training programs. A nurse can hone into a particular specialty, and advance quite far with that specialty. Supplemental training, on the job, and off can assist in professional development. However nurses can also advance their careers through development of their educational level, and title. Still today many practicing nurses of a multitude of even advanced level nursing prepared with a mere Associates Degree. However the ever changing landscape of the nursing field has shown the demand for a higher level of preparedness from the Registered Nurse to readily adapt. The fairly recent standard being implemented, almost nationwide is the demand of all nurses to obtain their Bachelorette Degree. The Associates Degree program lasting usually around two years is a streamlined program geared towards preparing the student to function as a nurse and past the National Council Licensure Examination or NCLEX. The Bachelor Degree nurse still has to past the NCLEX examination to practice as nurse, but the typical four year degree includes key differences usually omitted from its counterpart the Associates Degree program. Most Associates Degree prepared nurses can provide patient care directly. The major difference that a Bachelor Degree program provides is that the nurse can understand the science and nursing process of that patient care provided at a higher level basis of knowledge. The Bachelor program typically further promotes nursing history through theory, and nursing history. The Bachelor program typically focuses on knowledge, with an emphasis on research. The Bachelor program usually includes topics to further develop the student’s overall knowledge basis. Often focusing on broader topics like diversity, ethics, spirituality, political, and human development to name a few. The focus shift of the Bachelor Degree program further advances the Registered Nurse’s ability to critically think, and react based on overall higher level of nursing knowledge. Currently the Associate Degree population of nurses makes up slightly under half of the practicing Registered Nurses. The prevalence has shifted into more and more nurses who have obtained Bachelorette level or advanced even further in their educational paths. Institutions have found that through their own research that Bachelor prepared nurses better promote patient outcomes. In a search for excellence these facilities have deemed it important enough to require their work force to obtain a minimum Bachelorette Degree to obtain employment. The educational institutions have taken hold of this trend, and the offering of Bachelor Degree programs has skyrocketed to all-time highs. Currently there are four hundred or more programs offering the higher level degree. The Bachelor Degree can be obtained wither partially or entirely online, to accommodate the currently employed Associates Degree nurses. Allowing the Associates Degree nurses to obtain the higher the level of knowledge that a Bachelor Degree provides the nurse. The workforce shift is geared toward promoting better patient outcomes, and research will either confirm or deny if the programs are an overall success. There are patient care scenarios where the type, approach, and level of care provided could easily be affected by the educational level of the nurse providing the care. The mostly clinically advanced nurse regardless of how advanced a clinical skill set that they may possess could very easily make a different decision on a treatment to administer based on clinical reasoning over evidence based practice.
As a clinically sound nurse using their own judgment, possible without understanding the nursing rationale for other methods available for use. A simple scenario example that comes to mind is providing wound care, and the multitude of methods available for use to treat a multitude of wound types. An Associate’s Degree prepared nurse could recommend to the physician to use a certain product based on his or her previous success with the product on a foot ulcer wound. The particular product the Associates Degree nurse chose to use is a product where drainage is collected and absorbed pulled away from the wound to promote natural dry healing. What the Associate Degree prepared nurse failed to take into account was this patient’s wound was a diabetic ulcer, on an extremely uncontrolled diabetic patient. The agent the Associates Degree nurse choose would dry the ulcer far too rapidly, and further complicate the wound healing process. A Bachelor Degree prepared nurse could have taken a more holistic, and evidence based view and approach to the same wound care. The Bachelor Degree Prepared nurse would have known through her nursing process and rationale that a different course of action would be more prudent. The Bachelor prepared nurse would begin with patient education targeting the diabetic management knowing that a diabetic foot ulcer will not heal if the diabetes in not well under control. The Bachelor prepared nurse would have also used their knowledge of diabetic foot care and incorporated it into the product decision for the actual treatment of the wound itself. The same product the Associates Degree nurse choose is typically readily available in a balm form, and would have been chosen by the Bachelor prepared nurse based on evidence based practice standards. Many scenarios present each and every day in nursing where different decisions can mean improved patient outcomes, or negative results. The future is bright for patients, as research and technology advance the nursing field is ever evolving. As the changes occur, the workforce is gearing up to change alongside with them. The shift towards Bachelorette level nursing, to improve patient outcomes is designed to continue to advance the nursing profession one patient at a time.

References
Punturi. (2011, October 1). Competency Differences Between Adn vs Bsn Nurses by Punturi. StudyMode. Retrieved, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Competency-Differences-Between-Adn-Vs-Bsn-486068.html
Rosseter, R. (n.d.). Creating a More Highly Qualified Nursing Workforce. Fact Sheet: Creating a More Highly Qualified Nursing Workforce. Retrieved, from www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets