The impact of bachelor degree completion programs on career development of nurses in Israel

The study compares aspects of the career development of working nurses, graduates of a BA degree program, which runs on two tracks--university (UG) and college (CG). Two hundred nurses participated in the study, 86 of them (43%) UG and 114 (57%) CG. Participants were asked about their academic backgrounds, career advancement and satisfaction with their studies. Results indicated no major differences in professional advancement between the graduates of the two tracks. College-graduates were significantly older with lower previous academic achievements. Both BA programs promoted nurses and enabled career advancement, especially so for the college-graduates who would not, otherwise, have been able to make this progress.