One of the most frequent questions that I receive, is what type of degree I hold. The answer is an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). I attended a local community college in the south suburbs of Chicago, Prairie State College. Ideally when we think about attending college and where we want to obtain our degrees, we think of a 4 year school. Although, for me that wasn’t doable at the time. So, I choose the cheaper route and what fitted my life in that moment.
The next question that usually follows is, what is the difference between an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree in nursing? The answer is absolutely nothing! Both degrees allow you to become a Registered Nurse (RN). Their scope of practice is exactly the same and both are able to fulfill a position working in a hospital, in any specialty. I think a lot of people have a misconception that a BSN nurse is more advanced compared to ADN nurse and that is FALSE. Both hold the same job title in the workforce (RN), learned the same material, has the same skill sets, and has the same job description. The only significant difference is the level of education received and BSN being the preferred level of education that many companies desire. Does that mean you won’t get hired with an ADN? No, many companies will hire you, with encouragement of you obtaining your BSN in the future, a lot of companies will even offer tuition reimbursement for you to go back to school as well. Although, if I’m being completely honest, if you are choosing to work at a more competitive hospital, or bigger well-known hospital, rather than a community hospital, most will automatically say you need a BSN first. For my Chicago Land readers, that means our top hosiptals in Chicago such as: Rush, University of Chicago, Loyola, just to name a few, those hospitals are requiring a BSN out the gate. Although, in some rare occasions I have seen ADN nurses get their foot in the door but are mandated to obtain a BSN in x amount of time. But not every nurse wants to work at such facilities and there are many just as amazing community hospitals that does the same line of work, who has less requirements. It’s all patient care at the end of the day and really about what each individual is looking for.
The number one thing that anyone should be looking for when trying to choose a school is assuring that the school is accredited. What does that mean? It’s to ensure that whatever school you choose, it’s nursing educational program is held to common standards of quality. It must adhere to this standard by a U.S. Department of Education approved agency. How do you find that out? Do your research! Look these schools up and learn them inside and out, because if the school is not accredited, that degree that you just worked your ass for is trash. The next thing you want to look at, is what is that school’s pass rate on the NCLEX (state board exam), look at their trends. How a school teaches and prepares you, makes a difference in your success in passing the state board exam and your overall success as a nurse. The state board exam does not go by school. It’s a standardized test that generates the same type of material, it won’t be the same exact questions for every person of course, but the style and overall view is the same. Why does that matter? Your school needs to not only teach you the foundation of nursing, but also how to kill the beast of NCLEX. That means teach you how to answer questions in NCLEX style, getting use to select all that apply, and knowing that all answers might be right, but it’s about which answer is better (for my people who aren’t in nursing school yet, I know you’re like tf does that mean LOL, you’ll learn no worries)!
Since I got my ADN first I’m always going to be advocate for the people who take the same route as me, because there’s always options. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going the ADN route first, do I think you should stop there, No! But is it doable and beneficial? Yes! I currently still hold my ADN, working in my specialty of choice (pediatrics), working at my hospital of desire, making good money! My mommy also has an ADN and has been an OR (operating room/surgical) nurse for 15 years, I have classmates and friends working in ICU, ED, Labor and Delivery, Dialysis, Ortho, Tele, Med Surg, you name it! In various hospitals! I’m saying all this to say, having an ADN is not stopping anything! I absolutely loved my school, because it being a community college, we didn’t have as big of a class as a University does. Our class sizes were a decent size, but still small enough that we got personal, our professors and classmates became family for the course of 2 years and even beyond after we graduated! The professors went above and beyond to ensure we were learning the material to not just pass the test, but to remember it front and backwards, to be successful nurses! I told y'all that NCLEX pass rates are everything. Fun fact, in 2017 (the year I graduated), my school was named one of the best RN programs in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, ranking number 17 of 30, beating out some BSN programs. There are currently 76 RN programs in the state! Rankings were determined by analyzing both current and pass NCLEX pass rates. THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES! ADN programs produce some bomb phenomenal ass nurses!
While I loved my little community college, it should only be a gateway to prepare you to further your education and become even greater! The lovely part about doing your ADN first is that you did the hard part! When obtaining your BSN, there’s bridge programs (RN to BSN), majority of the time it’s all online for a little over a year and the work is papers and discussion post. Also, like my school did and many others, they partner with these programs and you’re able to obtain scholarships just based off of where you got your ADN! I am currently attending Purdue, in the RN to BSN program, I officially have 3 classes left, my last class is in January and I graduate in May of 2020! I’ll be Tajae` Vallot, BSN, RN
No matter which route you take, do what’s best for you and never feel guilty or ashamed for it! Nursing is a calling and you were hand picked by God to care for such a vulnerable population. ADN, BSN, LPN, it doesn’t matter, patient care is patient care and I promise you, your patients will never ask you what type of degree you hold, all they care about is that you're knowledgeable enough to care for them!
Be Amazing With Any Degree!
