Becoming a Nurse Advocate. An associate degree in nursing, or ADN, is an excellent first step toward a fulfilling career as a registered nurse. This is because more healthcare facilities are hiring nurses with a BSN and most prefer the higher level of education for it's employees. Not surprisingly, the BSN is also a bigger investment of time. Coupled with this is the looming retirement of a huge swath of the present-day nursing workforce—more than 900,000 of America’s 3 million currently-employed nurses are over 50 years old—which leaves many new nurses with more responsibilities and bigger workloads to fill in the gaps. My plan is to finish my associate degree then find a stable job then save up some money then maybe go back to school again to get my 4 year degree while working. Nursing Career FAQs. Common types of degrees include the Associate of Arts, Associate of Applied Science, and Associate of Science. Some employers may not require a college degree. It will become even harder to find work in nursing with only an Associate’s Degree before long. Hospitals will need all the capable nurse professionals that they can get—including ones with ADNs. With a Bachelor’s Degree in hand, a nurse’s career options are much wider. In the long run, nursing, and probably most healthcare jobs, will continue to be recession-proof to some degree, but we should expect this economic downturn to challenge nurses — especially the graduate nurse. ADN-credentialed nurses will also be needed in “nonhospital settings,” such as community clinics, as well, according to Geraldine Bednash, AACN chief executive. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) counted 90,000 students enrolled in bachelor’s-of-nursing programs, up from fewer than 30,000 a decade ago (Click Here for the New York Times article “More Stringent Requirements Send Nurses Back to School”). Most argue that the law’s goal of a better-prepared nursing workforce is in both the nurses’ and patients’ best interests. Such degrees in nursing are no different: they teach nursing skills as well as a substantial number of electives, general science courses, and other things that do not directly pertain to nursing but do help broaden your knowledge. From a hospital’s perspective, hiring baccalaureate nurses will get them more “bang for their buck” by keeping a staff of trained nurses that don’t have to go back to school to later get their bachelor’s degree. Article provided by, Advocate Search Group – a recruiting firm focused exclusively on filling academic nursing program positions throughout the USA, Your email address will not be published. Please I am confused. The demand for registered nurses is very high and healthcare facilities need Associate's degree nurses to fill the demand. Become a trainee nursing associate » Find out more about the role. Au contraire. New Jersey’s legislature has also held hearings this year on a BS in 10 law, but not enacted anything just yet. Historically, an associate degree had been accepted as sufficient for many nursing jobs. most hospitals will not hire associate degree nurses unless they already worked there and are in the process of obtaining their BSN. By the same token, consider it a stepping stone to a whole new career. You’ll be qualified to lead a clinical team. Nurse Burnout: Epidemic, or Mendable Malady? A BSN program may feature some additional instruction in communication, leadership, critical thinking, and the social sciences. They can talk to the patients and jot down their symptoms, take vital signs, coach surgery patients on what to do after their operations, and teach any and all patients how to manage their illnesses and injuries better. You can also go on to become a registered nurse, if that’s what you want, by doing a shortened nursing degree or nursing degree apprenticeship. The nurses that work in my facility that have an associates had already been there before magnet status and this whole RN vs BSN thing started.. “Associate degree nurses play a very vital role in the nursing community and are an important part of the nursing workforce,” says Donna Cardillo, RN, MA, CSP, FAAN, a nursing career expert, advocate, author, and motivational speaker known as The Inspiration Nurse. “Patients deserve the best educated nursing workforce possible,” states the AACN. An associate's degree in nursing can qualify you to become a registered nurse (RN). They should see this as an opportunity to stretch their job hunting talents and self-marketing skills. NCLEX Prep. “Because individual and population health needs are changing, and our health care system is ever-evolving, we need nurses to know more and be better trained to provide care in a transformed system,” explained Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine. Your email address will not be published. New associate degree nursing careers are added daily on SimplyHired.com. You’re in luck—while both an ADN and BSN pave the way to becoming a registered nurse, the ADN takes considerably less time. “The better educated the nursing work force is, the better the patient outcomes,” Dianne Cooney Minor, dean of nursing at St. John Fisher College in Rochester and a member of the New York State Board of Nursing, adding that “there are sufficient numbers of degree-completion programs in our state to allow all nurses to complete their educations at the baccalaureate level.”. Does she have a chance of getting hired or not? Demand for higher-skilled nurses is rising for a few reasons, first of which is America’s surging population of elderly adults. These facilities believe that associate degree nurses (ADN) are well trained to manage day-to-day tasks, but healthcare today requires more than what is taught in ADN programs (NursingLicensure.org, 2016). To View Full U.S. Map Click Here. However, registered nurses with an Associate's degree are qualified to work at most healthcare facilities. Even more hospitals would be BSN-nurses-only if it were up to a few New York lawmakers. The same holds true if you aspire to work in any of the senior leadership positions that will be opening up as older nurses retire. Nor has any other state in the union. The American Association of Medical Colleges projects a shortfall of 91,500 physicians nationwide by 2020 (How to Fix the Doctor Shortage). ADN and BSN Nursing Pathways: What are the Differences? However, the nursing shortage has been in effect for years and to help fill the void a call for more nurses to enter the field has been heard and responded to in massive numbers. Nursing Assistant – CNA, STNA and RNA Requirements, Nurse Practitioner License Requirements – A State by State Guide to Advanced Practice Nursing Requirements, Keeping Nurses and Patients Safe While Providing Dementia Care, RN to MSN Online: Building a Highly Educated Nursing Workforce, Debating the Merits of a Nurse Staffing Ratio Law. So where does this leave the ADN? Some ADN-certified nurses achieve their BSNs to in just another 12 months. The other one has more experience and had some trouble finding a job recently despite having many years experience, however, she only applied to hospitals. There are over 30,008 associate degree nursing careers waiting for you to apply! Click Here to check out the New York Daily News piece on the BSN in 10 legislation. A good spearhead for a flourishing career. the head nurse) of the ICU nurses, and has been an RN for about 4 years now. A lot of larger hospitals are requiring most or all of their nurses to have a BSN. Required fields are marked *. However, more associate-degree nursing graduates receive state licenses than those who have gone the bachelor’s-degree route. This doesn’t mean they should toss up their hands in despair. Register your interest. With the more rewarding and better paying positions requiring a Bachelor’s Degree in nursing, getting an Associate’s Degree is best viewed as a means of getting started in nursing work while working toward getting a Bachelor’s Degree and considering whether to go into a more specialized field of nursing. This population needs more and more complex care than other age brackets. The low-stress way to find your next associate degree nursing job opportunity is on SimplyHired. Even though nurses' most common initial preparation is an associate’s degree, nursing organizations are pushing for nurses to earn higher degrees. Going back to school after a long time is not an easy decision to make. Nurses who want to work in hospitals should consider having an Associate’s Degree only as a means to gain an entry level position. This is not to say that an associate degree program is more speciali… One just graduated about 2 years ago and has mostly had trouble getting hired due to a DUI but she has found almost no problem getting hired at assisted living facilities. Why Be A Nurse. Many hospitals, nevertheless, need more. A lot of nurses thinking about getting a BSN degree don’t pursue their enrollment because of many factors like age, time and finances. Nursing Salary Map. I became a nurse at a great time. Nurses always play the heroes. Nursing is a well-known example of how the degree requirements for certain fields can shift. It prepares its students to take on a wider variety of roles, such as teaching, consulting, research, and administration. 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