Difference in Competencies of Nurses Prepared by Associate degree vs. Baccalaureate degree
Grand Canyon University
November 14, 2014

A “nurse is a nurse” right? Wrong! Nurses are prepared at different levels. Each level offers its own advantage that can be taken into the nursing career to serve patients and create individualized care to ensure the best outcomes. However, each degree does not prepare future nurses in the same way.
A Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing or BSN is a four to five year degree that prepares graduates to pass the NCLEX examination and become a Registered Nurse. In the 1950’s baccalaureate nursing programs were made accessible to high school graduates throughout the country. This was …show more content…
An interesting study that was published in February of 2013 by Mary Blegen and her colleagues found that in hospitals with a higher percentage of BSN prepared nurses had not only a lower length of hospital stay but also boasted less occurrences of decubitus ulcers, fewer post-operative deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms, less failure-to-rescue situations, and had lower mortality rates for patients with congestive heart failure. (Blegen, Goode, Park, Vaughn, & Spentz, 2013). On a busy floor an ADN prepared nurse is assigned a patient with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The ADN prepared nurse begins the day by giving the patient morning medications and assessing the patient. During the assessment the patient complains of shortness of breath. The ADN nurse checks the patient’s Pulse Oxidation level which is 86% the ADN nurse then places the patient on 2 liters of oxygen per nasal cannula and waits with the patient while the pulse oxidation level rises to 93%. Now think of the same patient given to a BSN prepared nurse. Before going to assess the patient the BSN prepared nurse delves into the patient’s chart and learns that the patient is still currently a smoker. The BSN prepared nurse arms herself with helpful information about quitting smoking and offers it to the patient as well as support. When the patient complains of shortness of breath the BSN prepared nurse not only administers oxygen but also