A BSc nurse is one who has attained a four year degree in nursing. The curriculum structure of this program requires completion of nursing prerequisites during the first two years of study. The university conferring the degree also stipulates general education requirements for all bachelor degree candidates. The nursing student must schedule these courses throughout the first two years of the curriculum plan. Examples of general education requirements include: foreign language, philosophy, politics, English, mathematics and sociology. In the U.S., all BSc graduates complete courses in chemistry, anatomy and physiology, statistics, developmental psychology, microbiology, biology and nutrition as their nursing prerequisites. The final two years of study comprise clinical rotations and advanced nursing coursework that pertains to special patient populations and topics such as maternity care, pediatrics, geriatrics, pharmacology and psychiatric/mental health.
An ADN program differs from a BSc in that it condenses the curriculum by eliminating the non-nursing coursework that makes up a large portion of the BSc curriculum plan. The ADN program requires two years of study, although some schools may extend the curriculum over three years. The first year is devoted to fulfilling the basic education courses of the community college, which generally only involve English Composition and a mathematics courses. The rest of the first year's curriculum plan is devoted to completion of the nursing prerequisites: anatomy and physiology, developmental psychology and microbiology. The nursing coursework completed during the second year of study involves learning basic nursing fundamentals of practice and protocol over the course of four classes.
A diploma in nursing follows the same curriculum plan as the ADN program. The difference between the programs is that a diploma in nursing is administered by a teaching hospital, while an ADN is administered by a community college. ADN programs are the most common form of earning a two-year nursing degree, due to the greater number of community colleges versus teaching hospitals.
Though there are significant differences between the curriculum plan of a BSc program and an ADN/Diploma program, there are opportunities for non-BSc graduates to bridge their educations towards the completion of a BSc program. Many schools of nursing offer ADN to BSc transition programs that may be completed with only two years of study. The curriculum of these programs requires completion of further general education and advanced nursing coursework.
Though BSc and ADN/Diploma programs differ in curriculum structure, graduates from all three programs are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN in order to attain registered nurse licensure.