2-, 4-year nurses' competencies similar

WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- There is a similarity of professional competency for both two-year and four-year nurses, a policy brief by the American Association of Community Colleges says.

The brief analyzes the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and weighs in on a decades-long debate about whether the bachelor's degree in nursing should be the required threshold for entry to practice.

Although there are assertions that four-year nurses are better skilled, the brief underscores the programs do comparable jobs in preparing nurses for licensing.

In 2009, 88.7 percent of bachelor's degree holders passed the nursing license exam and 86.6 percent of associate degree nurses passed, the brief says.

The policy also notes employers are equally likely to hire associate and bachelor's degree educated registered nurses, though a slightly greater percentage of associate degree nurses are employed full time (68.4 percent) compared with those with a bachelor's degree (64.2 percent).

Walter G. Bumphus, president of AACC, says on average, it will cost a nursing student $6,120 in tuition for an associate degree in nursing at a community college, $16,648 for an associate degree in nursing at a public four-year college and $28,080 for bachelor's degree at a public four-year college.