Registered Nurse: A Case Study

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Overview There are several educational pathways to becoming a Registered Nurse (RN); the debate continues to be which pathway should be mandated as the basic entry level degree. Tollick (2013) posits that “in order to meet the evolving demands of healthcare and achieve satisfactory patient outcomes, the BSN must be the minimum entry level into nursing practice” (p.4). In Huston (2014) arguments are made that “caring does not require a baccalaureate degree” and that “patients do not know or care what educational degree is held by their nurse as long as they receive high-quality care” (p. 6). One complication in the ongoing debate is that both Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) schools prepare graduates for the same Registered Nurse (RN) licensure exam and incorporate much of the same educational content (Huston, 2014, p. 5, 10). …show more content…
I obtained my ADN over 22 years ago, at that time it was not feasible for me to obtain my degree in any other way. I lived in a small town in Oklahoma, I lived at home to help my parents care for my 3 three nieces and nephew while I commuted to college, and worked weekend nights at a local hospital to pay for my education. “Eliminating ADN education, as some have called for, would also eliminate graduates who are more mature, more diverse, and of lower socio-economic status. The pathway to professional nursing would become very rocky and perhaps impossible for many” (Hayes, 2013, p.7). I passed the same licensure exam and performed in the same role as BSN prepared nurses including charge nurse and preceptor to new nurses. As discussed in Huston (2014), the “2-year” ADN program is a myth, almost all current ADN programs require 3 or more years of education so perhaps requiring this many units at the associate degree level without granting upper division credit is an injustice to ADN graduates