You can see yourself as a nurse. The thought of working every day to really help people, to save someone’s life, to bring comfort, to stand by people at the moments when they are most vulnerable—that would change how you get out of bed in the morning.
An associate degree is an ideal choice for people who want to start working as a registered nurse on a faster timeline since these programs can be completed in as few as 21 months.1
One of the coolest quirks about the nursing industry is the way you can phase in and out of education as your career progresses. The more your experience grows, the more you might want to study, specialize in or advance. Nursing education could definitely be part of your nursing career until you retire.
But if you are looking for a nursing program that will help you become a registered nurse (RN), an associate degree is the quickest way to start.
So what can you do with an associate degree in nursing? Read on to find out.
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What can you do with an associate's degree in nursing?
An associate degree in nursing will qualify you to take the NCLEX-RN® exam. This standardized test is a national requirement for registered nurses. After you graduate, you'll be able to apply to take the exam, and if you pass, you can receive your registered nursing license.
Registered nurses work at healthcare facilities of all kinds. This is one of the most exciting things about nursing career paths! Specialized roles in nursing often require work experience and/or certifications dedicated to a specific area. But they all start with that RN licensure.
1. Pediatrics
If you want to become a pediatric nurse and work with children, you can look for registered nursing positions in pediatric healthcare facilities like children's hospitals and pediatric outpatient specialty centers.
Pediatric nurses are typically RNs who've spent some time working in a pediatric environment, then obtained certification through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB). There are also critical practice hour requirements you need to meet to apply for certification in pediatric nursing.
You need to document a minimum total of 1800 hours as an RN in a pediatric nursing specialty in US or Canadian facilities, but if you have a current unencumbered US RN license, international practice experience is also accepted. These practice hours include direct patient care in pediatrics and/or indirect care such as teaching, administration, clinical research, or consultation in pediatric nursing.
2. Mental health
If you are passionate about mental health, you could become a psychiatric nurse. Psychiatric mental health nurses have important roles in hospitals, addiction recovery centers and mental health clinics.
Mental health nurses need to fulfill additional requirements, according to Nursing World. These are:
- Hold a current, active RN license in a state or territory of the United States or hold the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country
- Have practiced the equivalent of 2 years full-time as a registered nurse
- Have a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice in psychiatric–mental health nursing within the last 3 years
- Have completed 30 hours of continuing education in psychiatric–mental health nursing within the last 3 years.
3. Oncology
If you want to treat cancer patients, you can work as an oncology nurse after becoming an RN—with additional training like an oncology certified nurse credential. Oncology nurses work in cancer treatment centers and other oncology healthcare facilities.
To gain certification as an oncology nurse, you need to fulfill direct practice hour requirements in oncology. To get more detail on the requirements, check out this oncology nurse career guide.
4. Long-term care
Registered nurses who want to treat patients long-term can look into all sorts of different job opportunities! Gerontology and other elder care roles have significant demand for nurses as the baby boomer generation ages into retirement.
Look into RN positions at nursing homes, assisted living communities and even hospice homes. (Palliative care is an entirely different approach to healthcare! Check out What I Wish I Knew Before Working in Hospice Nursing for more on that).
And if you want a steady, 9-5 kind of deal where you won't have to work on weekends, working at a doctor's office or local clinic is the perfect way to build long term relationships with patients and entire families as they come by for immunizations, wellness exams and checkups for years.
5. Choose your own adventure!
RNs can also become travel nurses and take advantage of highly-competitive pay, new locations and the chance to experience new nursing roles.
Speaking of adventure...have you ever heard of critical care transport nursing? Like, nurses on helicopters doing emergency evacuations? With work experience as an RN, fascinating jobs like this become a possibility.
There's just SO much out there.
Where can you work with an associate degree in nursing?
All those examples probably got your imagination going. What other healthcare facilities can you think of? Would they employ nurses? The odds are in your favor.
According to research from the Burning Glass Institute, here are some of the top locations where nurses with ADNs work.2
Here are a few places you can work as an RN with an ADN:
- Home healthcare services
- Insurance carriers
- Hospitals
- Nursing care facilities
- Doctor’s offices
- Outpatient care centers
- Colleges, universities and professional schools
- Offices of other health practitioners
- Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities
- Specialty hospitals
Honestly, this barely scratches the surface. Check out 14 Types of Healthcare Facilities Where Medical Professionals Provide Care for more ideas.
ADN vs. ASN vs. AAS/AASN: What is going on with nursing associate’s degrees?
There's a lot of confusing information out there about nursing degrees. ADN, which stands for Associate Degree in Nursing, acts as a collective term for associate-level nursing programs that allow you to take the NCLEX-RN® exam
And the actual acronym of your associate degree in nursing usually doesn’t matter as long as the program you graduated from qualifies you for RN licensure.
At Rasmussen, if you enroll in the Professional Nursing Associate’s degree (ADN program), your actual degree will have either Professional Nursing Associate of Applied Science or Professional Nursing Associate of Science (ASN or AASN) next to your name when you graduate depending on the state in which you enroll.
Depending upon where you go to school, you could earn an associate degree in nursing (ADN), associate of science in nursing (ASN) or associate of applied science in nursing (AASN) and then take the NCLEX-RN® examination. There are some differences between ADN, ASN, and AASN degrees.
If you are choosing between an ASN or AAS degree, make sure you research the differences in nursing curriculum and the types of courses and clinical rotations you will do—specific to your state. It could be a different type of program in Florida, for example, than in Kansas.
But at the end of the day, if your associate program qualifies you to sit from the NCLEX-RN®, you are getting the degree that is preparing you to become a registered nurse. And that’s great news.
Can nurses with an ADN work in hospitals?
Once you are an RN, you're an RN. And registered nurses are in demand. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects employment of registered nurses overall to grow 6 percent from 2022–2032, a rate faster than the average growth for all occupations.
But if you’ve got your heart set on working in a hospital right out of university, you'll face more barriers with an associate's degree than a bachelor's degree. Typically, hospitals prefer nurses with a bachelors of science in nursing (BSN) over nursing associate’s degrees.
On the bright side, some hospitals might offer tuition reimbursement to their nurses to have them work through a BSN program. It is important to check with possible place of employment to verify if they provide such an option.
(To get more detail on why that is, check out Will a BSN Be Mandatory For Nurses Everywhere?)
For some nurses, it might make sense to start working as an RN with an associate’s degree. However, it is important to check with possible places of employment to verify if a bachelor’s degree is required to work as a RN at those facilities or organizations.
What does an associate nursing degree program look like?
You can expect to spend as few as 21 months in school before graduating with a Professional Nursing Associate of Applied Science (AASN) or Professional Nursing Associate of Science degree (ASN).1
While you earn your ADN, you’ll learn crucial nursing skills like patient care, confidence and clinical decision making, and you’ll gain a well-rounded perspective on nursing and healthcare. Like all associate degrees, you will also take some general education classes mixed into your nursing work.
The latter part of your program will include nursing clinicals. This is where your university partners with local healthcare providers to give you training in their facility. Clinicals give you the chance to observe nurses on the job and start taking on their tasks, getting real life nursing experience under the direct supervision of an RN.
These clinicals can also be a great way to try different nursing roles, get a feel for some local employers and maybe make some important connections for career opportunities.
After you earn your degree, you’ll take the NCLEX-RN exam before actually becoming a registered nurse.
The exam ranges from 75–265 questions and it covers a lot of the information you’ll need to know to be a nurse. Specific test categories include Safe and Effective Care Environment, Health Promotion and Maintenance, Psychosocial Integrity and Physiological Integrity.
ADN vs. BSN: will an associate degree be enough?
After learning a little about the ADN requirements, you might be wondering how it differs from a BSN degree.
If you start from scratch, earning a BSN typically takes four years. Nurses with a BSN have some opportunities that RNs don’t, such as the ability to advance to leadership positions in nurse management and greater preference when it comes to hospital nursing jobs.
The good news is, if you decide you want to earn a BSN after you have an ADN degree, you can. And you won’t even have to give up your job to go back to school. Many schools offer online RN to BSN programs that can be completed in as few as 18–24 months.1
If you’re not comfortable committing to the time and schooling it’d take to complete a BSN program or if you aren’t that drawn to the acute care environment (hospitals and emergency settings) an associate degree is the perfect choice.
Ready for your ADN?
So, what can you do with an associate’s degree in nursing? You can start working as an RN in many different environments. You can become a nurse. You can save lives.
No matter what route you choose to take to a career in nursing, know that we need you.
When you enroll in a nursing program, you are also taking a step toward filling massive gaps in our healthcare system. The nursing shortage is a real barrier to quality care.
If you think you’re ready to get started, visit our ADN Professional Nursing degree page.
If you still need a little more information before deciding which nursing educational path you’d like to take, you’ll want to check out our infographic, “Types of Nursing Degrees: Diagnosing Your Ideal Healthcare Career.”
Additional Relevant Articles:
- What Exactly Does Nursing Licensure by Endorsement Mean?
- ADN vs ASN: Is There Any Difference Between These Nursing Degrees?
- 7 Nursing Courses You Can Expect While Earning Your ADN
- What is an ADN, And Does It Make Sense For Your Nursing Career Goals?
- AAS vs. ADN: What to Choose When You Want to Become a Nurse
NCLEX-RN® is a registered trademark of National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.
PNCB® is a registered trademark of PEDIATRIC NURSING CERTIFICATION BOARD, INC.
1Completion time is dependent on the number of accepted transfer credits and the number of courses completed each term.
2Burning-glass.com (analysis of 1,697,744 nursing job postings, Sept. 01, 2016 – August 31, 2017)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in May 2015. It has since been updated to reflect information relevant to 2024.
