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They aren't! Nursing is one of very few licensed professions you can do with an associates degree. And that 2 years is PACKED with a ton of need-to-know skill

They aren't! Nursing is one of very few licensed professions you can do with an associates degree. And that 2 years is PACKED with a ton of need-to-know skills. The field requires rather incredible breadth just for an entry level position. It's a very demanding program. These are people dealing with the possibility of life and death mistakes constantly without immediate supervision so a licensure is totally appropriate. I'm frankly bewildered at your question. It suggests extreme unfamiliarity with the required nursing skill-set. I was a paramedic, which took me 3 full-time semesters and also required a licensure to practice. And while we had to do a few things outside of the nursing scope, we probably only really covered maybe 1/3 of the skills and knowledge that nurses need to cover in 4 semesters.

nine_zeros 6y ago
There is a skillset required for nursing. But those skills can be taught. They are taught. What's stopping us from teaching them en-masse?
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  The skills required to be a nuclear physicist can be taught, but that doesn't mean that they can be taught to anyone, regardless of aptitude. And nursing, in practice, requires more than just a specific set of trainable intellectual skills, it also requires physical and social skills and aptitudes,for which proficiency is less correlated with those for intellectual skills than it is across intellectual skills. And nursing (viewed broadly) skills are taught in mass, the nursing series of professions employs a huge number of people. RNs alone account for more than 1% of the entire US population, adding CNAs and LPN/LVNs, that goes up to a little under 2%.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> Nursing is one of very few licensed professions you can do with an associates degree. There are lots of licensed professions you can do with a associates degree or less. (In California, the list includes Barber, Commercial Fisherman, Cosmetologist, Dental Hygienist, Drinking Water Plant Operator, Electrician, EMT, Funeral Service Director, General Contractor, ...and that's just through the “Gs” of positions covered by the National Occupational Licensing Database. [0] [0] https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/occupational-licensing-statute-database.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/occupatio... Nursing is actually a set of separately licensed professions, the lowest couple levels (CNA, LPN/LVN) typically require a non-degree certification, though the latter may also be offered in associates degree form in some institutions. RN requires either an associate's or bachelor's (ADN or BSN), and the levels beyond RN require additional education; NP requires at least a BSN, Nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists require at least a Masters.

nine_zeros 6y ago

There is a skillset required for nursing. But those skills can be taught. They are taught. What's stopping us from teaching them en-masse?

dragonwriter 6y ago
The skills required to be a nuclear physicist can be taught, but that doesn't mean that they can be taught to anyone, regardless of aptitude. And nursing, in practice, requires more than just a specific set of trainable intellectual skills, it also requires physical and social skills and aptitudes,for which proficiency is less correlated with those for intellectual skills than it is across intellectual skills. And nursing (viewed broadly) skills are taught in mass, the nursing series of professions employs a huge number of people. RNs alone account for more than 1% of the entire US population, adding CNAs and LPN/LVNs, that goes up to a little under 2%.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> Nursing is one of very few licensed professions you can do with an associates degree. There are lots of licensed professions you can do with a associates degree or less. (In California, the list includes Barber, Commercial Fisherman, Cosmetologist, Dental Hygienist, Drinking Water Plant Operator, Electrician, EMT, Funeral Service Director, General Contractor, ...and that's just through the “Gs” of positions covered by the National Occupational Licensing Database. [0] [0] https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/occupational-licensing-statute-database.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/occupatio... Nursing is actually a set of separately licensed professions, the lowest couple levels (CNA, LPN/LVN) typically require a non-degree certification, though the latter may also be offered in associates degree form in some institutions. RN requires either an associate's or bachelor's (ADN or BSN), and the levels beyond RN require additional education; NP requires at least a BSN, Nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists require at least a Masters.