Preparing the Nursing Workforce of the Future

Question: Discuss current research that links patient safety outcomes to ADN and BSN nurses. Based on some real-life experiences, do you agree or disagree with this research? Answer: The nurses with BSN degrees have evidenced to give better care to the patients as stated by the researchers of American Association of Colleges of Nursing. A study on patient care issue was published in October of 2014. Olga Yakusheva A researcher if Michigan University along with her co-workers found that there was a 10.9 % lowering of patient mortality with a 10% increment of BSN nurses. In the study, it was also found that an increment in the number of BSN nurses to 80% significantly lowers the readmission cases and shortens the period of treatment (Ellenbecker, 2010). BSN is the Bachelor of Science in Nursing and this is an undergraduate course of four years. However, ADN or Associates degree nursing is a two years program of professional development, which provides the necessary skills and knowledge for working as a nurse. Between these two programs, BSN has a longer training period and it provides the students with practical knowledge and leadership skills that are very much required as a professional nurse (Kowalski Cross., 2010). I agree with the research because a higher education and a prolonged training period make a difference in the patient care system and other clinical practices. Both of the programs include the basic curriculum of nursing such as pediatrics, maternal and newborn nursing, adult health nursing and sometimes psychiatric and community health nursing is also included. But in the BSN programme, these subjects are covered with more details along with some extra programs like nursing research and nursing informatics (Ellenbec ker, 2010). In UCEF medical center, it has been evidenced that the post surgery complications are much lesser in the case of those patients who were looked after by BSN. However the ADN nurses were failed in giving proper patient care in several cases (Kowalski Cross., 2010). References: Kowalski, S., Cross, C. L. (2010). Preliminary outcomes of a local residency programme for new graduate registered nurses.Journal of Nursing Management,18(1), 96-104. Ellenbecker, C. H. (2010). Preparing the nursing workforce of the future.Policy, Politics, Nursing Practice.