Using nursing diagnosis to describe the clinical competence of baccalaureate and associate degree graduating students: a comparative study.

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AbstractWhat are the clinical competencies of nursing students graduating with associate degrees (ADN) and those graduating with baccalaureate degrees (BSN) when nursing diagnoses are used to describe clinical practice? The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions of clinical competence of professional and technical nursing students with the expectations of their nursing faculty by using a nursing diagnosis framework. The 102 subjects were graduating ADN and BSN nursing students and their faculties from two schools of nursing. Faculty and student two‐part questionnaires were developed: the first included demographic information, while the second contained the 51 nursing diagnoses listed during the Fifth Conference of the National Croup for Classification of Nursing Diagnosis. Using a Likert‐type scale, the faculty members indicated degree of competence expected from graduates and the students indicated degree of perceived personal competence. The means were tabulated and rank ordered for each group, and the responses of faculty and student groups were compared. The findings indicated considerable agreement among all four sample groups; there were only six diagnoses with a difference in group mean of 0.5 or more between the ADN and the BSN faculty and student groups. Results of this study support the need for further examination of role similarities and differences between those who practice professional nursing and those who practice technical nursing.The multiple roles, practice settings, and education programs in nursing require a common language and framework for the discussion of clinical competence (National League forNursing,1980. This study used a nursing diagnosis framework to examine perceived clinicalcompetence of students graduating with associate degrees (ADN) and those graduating with baccalaureate degrees (BSN) and to compare the students' perceptions of competence with the expectations of their faculty members.