What about the curriculum? Is that standardized across all programs that award the BSN or ADN?
Let me put it this way, for better or worse, the programs are such that the ADN and BSN take the exact same licensing exam. The major difference with BSN is that they include more community health, research based nursing, leadership nursing, and a lot more writing-intensive coursework. In terms of clinical practice, the same information for clinical practice is there. If they were dramatically different from a clinical perspective, they would not be sitting for the same NCLEX examination. I am not saying I agree with it, but it has been this way forever practically. It's just that the ADN programs give you all the nursing process and disease/treatment based courses early. They both include A&P I & II< Microbiology, bio, and some chemistry and social sciences.
The BSN programs add coursework to fit bachelor degree requirements--so again, leadership/mgt course/s, statistics, a limited pathophys--in most pathophys ADN programs, that part is incorporated with each area, such as Medical Surgical Nursing, Maternity, meds, psych. nursing, etc. These are included in both programs with the exception of, again, more community health nursing, leadership, research, a global health course--all of which the latter are in certain programs, more writing intensive, to include data-base research and APA formatting for the research, and there is a senior thesis project or something similar and more humanity electives in order to fill bachelor's degree requirements-->~ 120 credits. Personally, as much as I liked my BSN program, the pathophys could have been more substantial, but a person can fill more of that in on their own, if they are so inclined to learn it.
Everything you need to function effectively as a RN professional is given is a good ADN program from jump street, where as, in the generic BSN programs, you don't get to the meat and potatoes of diseases, treatment, and use of planning and nursing process until the latter half of the program--pretty much last two years. The ADNs get it fast and furiously from jump street. There can be a lot more weed out of students in ADN programs bc of this. They either jump into it, digest it, and move forward or they don't.
Ultimately it's the individual, and the clinical experience he or she get that makes the difference. Don't miss understand. I am not against BSN programs. I have a BSN; but everything I needed to know to sit for NCLEX and practice nursing as a novice nurse, I gained in my ADN program, which was very competitive and had a high attrition rate. The BSN was nice, with some interesting stuff, but more like icing on the cake, not so much core clinical/functional knowledge. The additional coursework in a good BSN Program today is in place to ready the BSN for Masters to doctoral work in nursing; hence the huge writing intensive focus. That stuff is not tested on the licensing exam. So, after that it depends up on the individual, where he or she chooses to work, learn on their own, study on their own, get experience in, any advanced work for certain certifications after the right amount of hours in practice--for example,e the CCRN, and critical care.
In short in a good ADN program, student and NCLEX licensing does NOT equal LPN. It equals RN, same as for a BSN. It's just that this longstanding argument about school programs has been going on so long, and Magnet and other higher entities have made a huge push for the BSN. Thus, it's harder nowadays to get a job in various areas without the BSN.
It's mostly political; but personally, I think they should just make it one system of education to BSN and be done with it. Just b/c of the politics, or if a person wants to go on in advanced practice, or just to unify the profession. Plus it might help reduce the number of people that score high enough to get into competitive ADN programs (cause there can be waiting lists for the good programs), and just want to get the degree and sit for NCLEX in about ~ 2 years b/c it pays better than the local food mart or department store. And it would also reduce those ADN programs that aren't top-not, consistently showing poor NCLEX (fail rates), and eliminate them altogether.