Education Preparation

Education Preparation

Introduction

There are three common ways one can follow to be recognized as a registered nurse. One of them is a 3 year diploma program; second being an associate degree which is often awarded by community colleges and the third is a 4 year baccalaureate degree awarded Universities and Colleges. Methodist College of Nursing is an example of a college that awards a baccalaureate degree. This degree is called BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Almost 59% of the nurses receive an associate degree, 37% have a baccalaureate degree ad 4% of nurses have a diploma program (Kimberly & Johnston, 2009).

The differences among the capabilities and competencies of these different types of nurses are highly debated. Some consider that associate or baccalaureate nurses do not have many differences regarding their competency in their field, others that nurses with baccalaureate degrees perform better than others. The supporters of nurses with baccalaureate degrees argue about the importance of clinical education in developing overall attitude of nurses towards their profession. However, several argue that there is not much difference among the nurses due to their level or type of education and associate nurses have the same level of competency as that of baccalaureate.

Thesis Statement

The purpose of this paper is to determine the differences in approaches and decision-making in nursing care being provided by at the associate-degree level versus the baccalaureate-degree level.

Differences between Associate and Baccalaureate Degree

There is a lot of discussion relating to the level of decision-making among nursing professions with a at the associate-degree level versus the baccalaureate-degree level. It has been suggested that the level of education is highly related to the competence of nurses (Moore, 2009). A recent study shows that the hospitals recruiting nurses with a four year Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees saw substantial improvement in the healthcare quality. The differences in competencies are clear as a study of 168 hospitals in Pennsylvania showed that the death rate of surgery patients was much higher in hospitals where the percentage of baccalaureate-degree level nurses was low. The study further revealed that almost 1,700 patients could have been saved in hospitals if the baccalaureate-degree level nurses have had 60% share in total nurses' population (NurseVillage.com).

Moreover, the focus of bachelor's degree is more centered towards long-term and strategic improvement on healthcare mandate. The associate nurses are limited towards providing direct care in a restricted healthcare provision ...