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Associate Degree Nursing Versus Baccalaureate Nursing

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Associate Degree Nursing Versus Baccalaureate Nursing

Associate Degree in Nursing Competencies

Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) is usually at a two year community college and it sometimes can be found at a college that only specializes in only nursing degrees. The nursing only colleges are usually a fast paced curriculum and can be achieved in one year to eighteen months to get a degree. “An Associate Degree in Nursing is an economical way of becoming a registered nurse in a short period of time” (Raines & Taglaireni, 2008). “Achieving an Associate Degree in Nursing might alleviate the nursing shortage in a shorter amount of time” (Seago & Spetz, 2002). A diploma nursing program is a three year program based out of a hospital setting and focuses mostly on nursing education and skills provided at a hospital (Hood, 2010). “The typical focus of Associate Degree nurses is on substantial clinical experience and technical nursing skills needed to provide nursing care for explicit patient situations at the bedside” (Starr & Edwards, 2010). All of these programs take the Nursing Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). “Associate Degree Nursing skills focus around being a caregiver, counselor, and educator” (Hood, 2010). When working in a hospital setting there is a lot of education to patients provided along with giving the nursing care. “Associate Degree nurses provide care to individual clients with common, well-defined nursing diagnoses while considering clients’ familial relationships” (Hood, 2010). Experienced and talented nurses who have their Associate Degree in Nursing can be in management and leadership roles and that has been found to be true in nursing homes (J. S. Hayden, personal communication, October 6, 2010). So some nurses who may not want to further their education can still get management positions in a geriatric facility that do

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