Nursing Degree

There are more and more people reaching retirement age in the U.S. every day. Baby boomers are beginning to retire and people are living longer today than ever before. For these reasons, there has become a greater need for healthcare professionals in the United States. One health-care field desperately in need of more workers is Nursing. The Nursing industry has been forced to make some changes to keep up with the demand for more qualified staff members. One way the industry has changed is by offering Nursing students more educational opportunities, options, and career choices.

Nursing schools have recently started to offer the associates degree to students in the Nursing field. Since the associates degree only requires two years study to complete the program, it allows for a faster influx of new Nurses into the workforce. Naturally there are differences between the associates degree program and the bachelors degree program. With the demand for new nurses so great, health care agencies are realizing that these new associate degree Nurses are perfectly capable of completing most of the same duties and responsibilities of those Nurses with a bachelors degree.

So, what are the differences between the two degrees? While an associates degree is usually completed in just two years, a bachelor's degree in Nursing is generally a four year program. The demanded by the health-care industry for Nursing staff has encouraged schools to make changes in order to get qualified candidates into the workforce sooner. The associates degree Nursing program is commonly referred to as the fast track degree and is available through most technical schools, community colleges, and even through some four-year universities.

The four year bachelors degree in Nursing offers students a more well-rounded education. Those students who earn their bachelors degree in Nursing will have taken classes in subjects like history, psychology, communication, English, science, mathematics, as well as other subjects not directly related to the Nursing field. In comparison, the associate degree Nursing program will offer shorter blocks of classes that focus on the ways that history, psychology, communication, English, science, and mathematics relate to the field of nursing.

So, if you can earn an associates degree in Nursing in only two years and most health care facilities are willing to accept associates degree graduates, why would you spend the extra two years to earn a bachelors degree? Nurses who graduate with a bachelors degree can expect to earn more than those who graduate with an associates degree. However, the nurses who decide to obtain an associates degree in order to join the workforce sooner are always able and encouraged to continue their education and work towards achieving a bachelors degree. Some hospitals and clinics even offer to pay the tuition fees and other costs associated with the continued education of their Nurses. For this reason it may be in the student's interest to start out with an Associates degree in Nursing.

As the demand for Nurses and other health-care professionals continues to rise, programs that offer faster training will become more prevalent. The health-care industry will continue to see an ever-growing demand for new staff.