Associates Degree in Nursing: Popular Fast-Track to a Solid Career
The two-year Associates of Science in Nursing, a.k.a. Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN), is possibly the number one most popular degree track for entry to the Nursing profession. Countless RNs have launched rock solid careers in healthcare armed with the skills and know-how packaged into any Associates or ADN degree.
Where to Get the Associates in Nursing Degree Program
You’ll find the ADN offered at the following types of schools:
- Community Colleges: Most Associates in Nursing degrees are conferred at the community college level. The CC system offers uniform programs that have become solid stepping-stones for countless new nurses. Some of the better advantages to community college study are convenience and flexibility. You may have the option to choose from classes offered during the daytime, in the evening, or even over the weekend. Because the program is career-centric and emphasizes skills for today’s healthcare settings you are ultra-prepared to perform to the highest nursing standards.
- Four-year Nursing Schools: Many of the four-year nursing schools also offer an Associates degree. You also have the option to jump right into your RN-to-BSN if you choose.
ADN Curriculum
Despite the fact that the Associates degree in Nursing is skills-centered, you also get bundled into the curriculum a generous amount of liberal arts courses. The curriculum generally covers the following:
- Human anatomy and physiology
- Microbiology
- Anthropology
- Psychology
- Basic Pharmacology
- Various nursing clinicals or practicum in a medley of patient care environments
The nursing clinicals are key to getting accustomed to working at the patient bedside. You’ll study nursing skills first in a controlled lab environment where you’ll be checked on each and every skill necessary for meeting nursing standards of care. This includes:
- Making up a patient bed
- Breath sounds – normal vs. abnormal
- Nursing nomenclature or important abbreviations for pt charting
- Heart sounds – normal vs. abnormal
- Systems of the body – normal vs. abnormal
- Catheters
- Tube feeding systems
- Math for giving medicine
- and more.
It’s common for nursing schools to partner with local healthcare providers—hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient medical centers—where they place nursing students into clinical situations. You work under the close supervision of a clinical instructor and nurse assigned to you during your clinical experience.
Career Strategy with an Associates Degree
An Associates degree in Nursing positions you for a couple of career options, now or in the future:
- Use your ADN to get your RN licensure
- Use your Associates degree as stepping stone to your Bachelors degree. Common degree programs include the RN-to-BSN. Alone the Associates can provide you with a long and rewarding professional career, but with a BSN you open other doors to advancement. Many employers will reimburse you for school and reward you with pay increases.
National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (NOADN) is the professional organization that supports and promotes the study of nursing at this level.
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