Nursing is the planning, delivery, and management of services that are critical in the restoration of patients' health. Nurses are required to care for patients in all aspects of their health problems in all registered nursing and emergency homes. Nurses go through various training programs at the diploma and degree levels. The two degree levels include the baccalaureate degree and the associate degree, which all require a similar exam structure but differ in terms of competence level. This article compares the competences of Associate-Degree Levels (ADL) and Baccalaureate-Degree Levels (BDL) (BDL). The common differences in these degree programs are brought about by the differences in the educational structure and the level of patient’s care resulting in differentiated practices in those nursing care homes. The associate degree nurse courses are offered in Community and Technical colleges and take a period of two to three years (Fisher, 2014). After the completion, the students can work as either technical or clinical officer since their knowledge entails information on the science topics that range from anatomy, biology, nutrition, introductory to nursing issues. However, the baccalaureate degree level nurse takes a long time between four to six years to complete their training program. The curriculum always builds the individuals more on the technical and clinical skills in addition to communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills. These nurses are always prepared to take the management and teaching roles in those sectors.
According to American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) research and reports, baccalaureate nurses are more competent than the associate degree nurses, who tend to cause more medications errors and procedural mistakes as a result of less educational skills. The high number and imbalance of the associate degree level nurses to the baccalaureate in most hospitals poses a danger to the lives of the patients. These differences in clinical and care practices are brought about by the different reasoning and thinking abilities, advanced skills, higher psychosocial abilities, a higher degree of articulation, and problem deciphering abilities. With the increase of errors and deaths caused by the associate degree level nurses, it is imperative for them to advance their education and skills on patient management, an aspect that explains why nursing homes focus on recruiting more of the baccalaureate degree nurses according to Grand Canyon University College of Nursing Philosophy.
A patient care situation showing how nursing care differ based on their educational preparation
The nurses have the responsibility of caring for most of the patients. In the process of service delivery, several health complications tend to rise between the nurses and the patients. The response given to such conditions hence depends on the level of education, skills and management level of the nurses in charge. For example, Dr. Kevin had just finished with a patient undergoing an endoscopic operation and was under anesthesia to gain momentum. The doctor handed over the patient to the care nurses on duty and instructed them to ensure the patient was safe in the process of recovery. As Dr. Kevin was going for the next procedural patient in the recovery room, he noticed a BSN nurse assessing a patient who was supposed to be under the care of an associate degree level nurse Ms. Carol. At that time, the nurse was on the phone conversing with a friend and forgot focusing on the responsibility bestowed upon her. The patient appeared pale in skin color and was diaphoretic. Whenever the care nurse was asked about the patient’s problem, MS. Carol replied that “she is okay, she is just sleeping.” The BSN noticed that the patient was not right and noted down the vital signs such as the high blood pressure that was unacceptable. The record also showed that the patient had diabetes, and had a tech-stick test on the finger, that showed that the result was lower than 30”s and the sugar average were always about 120”s.
The B.S.N obtained an order for the D5 IVP and vital signs checked at the prescribed regular time of 5 minutes until the patient obtained stability. After few minutes, the patient regained his color, other complaints such as headaches were addresses, and he was back to usual self. The situation shows the incompetency level and the differences between the two-degree nurses, of which the A.D.N did not poses, such as psychosocial ability, critical thinking, and analysis that would help her realize at the sight that the patient's health was deteriorating, even without the patient talking to her. The adversity in the level of competency brought about by the associate degree nurses in the nursing has erupted into varies researchers and studies on whether the program is eligible to continue.
Conclusion
It is observable that most of the nursing care homes prefer B.S.N as they are prepared to lower the mortality rate of the patients and improve the general health care. Therefore, it is advisable for the A.D.N to further their studies and acquire the educational skills as compared to the counterparts. The educational and training centers should also upgrade the entire syllabus in the colleges in guidance with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The program will provide the students with the skills that will help in reducing the high level of the differentiated practice to improve the quality of services rendered by both nurses across all the institutions. The nursing management should always use the competency to recruit their staffs to reduce poor patient healthcare and mortality rate.
References
Fisher, M. (2014). A Comparison of Professional Value Development Among Pre-Licensure Nursing Students in Associate Degree, Diploma, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs. Nursing Education Perspectives (National League For Nursing), 35(1), 37-42. doi:10.5480/11-729.1
