It is extremely important for nurses to be professional and well-qualified, and the best and the only way for them to achieve this goal is education. A dilemma is whether to enter a community college and get a degree quicker or enter a university and spend a few more years. In this paper, the similarities and differences of education and the art of teaching in both of these educational establishments are presented.
First of all, let us compare the educational systems. Before entering, students have to meet some requirements. While universities make strict demands, community colleges can accept students without any foundational abilities. According to Cohen and Brawer (2003), nearly half of students who enter community colleges have low math skills, as well as poor reading and writing abilities.
The educational process is also different. Although both college and university graduates pass the same examination to obtain degrees after finishing education, in universities students get a lot of additional content, so they are more cognizant and can work at a much higher level.
In addition to different coursework and preparation, nurses at the universities also have more credit hours. While students in community colleges have to complete only 72 hours, in universities they require 126 of them (Zambroski & Freeman, 2004).
University students not only have a stronger theoretical and science base, but they also deal with more practice and can participate in investigations. Moreover, they often come up with their own research results.
On the other hand, “students in universities are exposed to a richer learning environment related to faculty research projects” (Zambroski & Freeman, 2004, p. 105). Universities also usually have easy access to a lot of resources, such as private libraries, different publications, statistics data and so on. So, those from community colleges are not provided with the same opportunities, which university students have by default. From the very beginning, they do not exist in equal conditions. Besides, a nursing program in a community college sometimes can be more “militaristic” while a university program is sympathetic to students (A Comparison BSN versus ADN Faculty Role, 2007, para. 3).
And now about the art of teaching. To start with, “expertise in teaching in a community college system only partially translates to the university setting” (Zambroski & Freeman, 2004, p. 105). Teaching abilities that are common for both of these environments are coping with new information and leading and evaluating a group. These are the primary skills needed for the educational process as such. However, in addition to all of these, teachers in universities are also able to improvise, create new ways in education and pedagogy, as well as completely meet the requirements of students in situations touching research. University professors make research plans and are familiar with the requirement for publications and articles. They also often have a much more charged workload and are used to the broader curriculum. Although a community college usually does require hard work from its teachers, this work still meets the demands only of this very college.
The main difference between a nurse educated in a community college and the one who graduated from a university is a degree. While colleges provide students with certificates, associate degrees, and education that is desirable to continue, universities offer bachelor’s and master’s (or in some cases even doctoral/professional) degrees. Besides, it was already mentioned before that graduates from universities can work at a much higher level, as they’ve had a lot of additional content, more credit hours, practical tasks and research practice. Considering all of these, it is better to choose a university.
Besides, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2005), there is a lack of well-qualified nurses, especially the ones with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Moreover, universities face a lack of professional teachers in this sphere as well. The demand for nursing and health care, in its turn, is increasing. All of these leave us with the fact that university graduates are needed more than ever.
Reference
A Comparison BSN versus ADN Faculty Role. (2007). Web.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2005). Faculty Shortages in Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs: Scope of the Problem and Strategies for Expanding the Supply. Web.
Cohen, A. M., & Brawer, F. B. (2003). The American Community College (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Zambroski, C. H., & Freeman, L. H. (2004). Faculty Role Transition From a Community College to a Research-Intensive University. Journal of Nursing Education, 43(3), 104-106.