BSN vs. ADN

Farmer Jane · Oct 10, 2008

Apparently this is a well kept secret, but not everyone gets to go to school for free. Some of us have to pay for it ourselves, all the while providing our own shelter and food. Where I live, a technical college ADN program is a fraction of the cost of a university BSN program.

dinah77, ADN · Oct 13, 2008

Thanks. my thought exactly! Not every school requires you to be BSN to enter an MSN program- you may have to take a bridge course, such as stats, but that's it. To me BSN is only a logical step if you know that is your stopping point. I have a BA already, so for me it was more logical to earn and ADN ratheer then languising on a waitlist for the BSN program.

dreamon · Oct 13, 2008

Personally, I think having a BSN is important. I see so many nurses that go to school just to get it done quickly because they want to make money. Is that the reason why people are nurses? It is insulting when people downgrade having a BSN. Some hospitals will not hire ASNs, escpecially in settings such as critical care. If you have the time, get your BSN. You will have many more opportunities ahead of you. Also, I basically went to school for free and I have my BSN. It takes more committment and time, but you will be proud of yourself in the end for taking the extra step.

It isn't always as simple as people just want to make money.

In my case I left one career to go to school. Being a military spouse, I was relocated all over the country which interfered with my college courses. And I am not one who does well with online courses. After I gave up my job and followed hubby around he up and decides to divorce me to be with his pregnant mistress.

Now I have myself and a child to support on my own. So yes, I would like to have my license sooner rather than later. I never grew up on public assistance and sure don't want to start now. I'd love to have BSN initials one day- but right now my bills and responsibilities demand for me to go down whichever road is the shortest.

Like yourself, I can go to school 'for free' somewhat. I received the Army college fund in my case. So I have about $40,000 to spend on school. The downside is it has an expiration date. So that makes my time issue even more critical.

$fracturenurse$ · Oct 15, 2008

I was a school nurse for 2 years with a ADN. They raised the pay for the BSN's $18,000 and left the ADN's at the same crappy pay. We do the exact same job, same job description. At that point I really wished I had my BSN, and now have decided to go back for it even though I am no longer a school nurse. It just wasn't right... :no:

Slipperman · Oct 16, 2008

If you do decide to go ADN, check out other colleges as some do offer a RN to BSN track. I know the University of Toledo is only an extra 7 classes (on top of other BS core classes, but you can do those during the ADN years). That is the way I'm going since I plan on going for a master's degree.

As others have mentioned, there are ADN to MSN programs. I'm looking at those as well.

Pay at my mom's hospital is around $0.50 extra for BSN over ADN.

short1978 · Oct 17, 2008

I completed my ADN at a major university. My reasoning was timing. My husband is military and the wait list was too long for the BSN.

With the ADN program they only took the top 32 applicants per year so you had to basically carry a 4.0 GPA, score nearly perfect 99% on the Nursing Extrance Exam, have all your prereq classes completed, etc. to make it. I had a 4.0, scored a 98 on the net and had all my classes done before applying. The top ranking points possible was 28 points (u were given points for everything listed above) and the lowest person that made it in had a 25. This basically meant w/out all the classes being done in advance and having nearly perfect grades you couldnt make it in. No wait list, just top 32.

I pd the same amt per semester as a BSN, just a few less classes so that is where the difference in price came. We did our program in 4 semesters and they do theirs in 5 semesters. We did more clinical hours but they did additional classes like a Community Nursing Class and a Research Class. They also had to have Prob and Stat before starting, and an additional Chemistry.

So at my university the programs were fairly similar.

As far as pay goes, I havent seen or heard much of a difference btwn the people I know that work as both ADN nurses and BSN nurses. You can NOT go in the military with an ADN or be a school nurse though. But I didnt have an interest in either so it didnt matter to me.

I plan on doing the completion program as well one day....maybe, when I want to be "tortured" again through school. LOL

PopeJane3rd · Oct 25, 2008

Schools vary in costs as you well know and the 50K you speak of just may be the difference between only a handful of schools. There are some Universities out there that are pretty reasonable. I'm not a nurse but your best bet is to go this route. First, start off at community college especially if your gpa is not really high and your not a top student. If you are an extremely studious person with top notch grades looking for challenges than a university may be for you. When you graduate from the ADN program try to find work in the field before you proceed to BSN because you may not like nursing after all. It is not for everyone. Alot of people go into nursing for the money and job security but it is hard on families as it requires alot of your time to work that career. If you find that you don't like it, you will only be out of 2 yrs and a few thousand dollars and can move on to something else. If you find that you do like it, try to get into a hospital that has tuition reimbursement so you can go back to school whilst you work part time, and get your BSN. Other than that, look at all the money and time spent on a career you may not like.

dreamon · Oct 25, 2008

I was a school nurse for 2 years with a ADN. They raised the pay for the BSN's $18,000 and left the ADN's at the same crappy pay. We do the exact same job, same job description. At that point I really wished I had my BSN, and now have decided to go back for it even though I am no longer a school nurse. It just wasn't right...

I never knew BSN nurses made that much more anywhere- may I ask what state that was?

$fracturenurse$ · Oct 25, 2008

It was in Texas, in a suburb of Fort Worth. I almost didn't apply for the job, because I thought school nurses all had to have BSN's. The first year I worked there, they paid us all the same. The 2nd year I actually caught the increase accidentally. They didn't tell us ADN's about the jump in pay. I was looking at the teacher pay scale and I noticed that it included "BSRN's." I was really upset and called our director, she hemmed and hawed about it for awhile and had me calling HR before she had the guts to tell me. They put the BSN nurses on the teacher pay scale which paid them on average about $18,000 more than the ADN's were making. She promised that this year she would go to the school board and try to get it fixed. My husband got transferred and I left last April, but I still have friends up there, and they never fixed it. Soooo, the same nurse doing the same job at the school next door is still making approximately $18,000 more. We have some LVN's working still in the district from years ago, but they don't have to do the health plans, and they have a RN helping them, so they do get paid less. It was very frusturating, and hard to do a good job when that was going on. If you go to the school website you can even go online and they have the payscale difference there. I can't tell you the name of the district or I would.... I'm now back in the OR where your ADN or BSN doesn't matter, but I am enrolled in a RN-BSN program because of that whole school fiasco. I will tell you that if you want to work in the schools, or public health you do need your BSN. Most schools won't even look at you with an ADN, or health departments.

Thanks for listening to me gripe....:angryfire

peculiarbelle · Oct 28, 2008

This is my question exactly. I am currently finished with the Community College ADN pre reqs. There is about a 1-2 year wait to get into the program, however. I am looking into a University to get my BSN. (They only take 80 students a year. What if I don't get in?!) I have about a year's more pre-reqs for the University program. The ADN at a community college is $6,000 and a BSN at a University is $12,000. The ADN will be 2 years and the BSN will be 16 months. I am weighing the differences and am not sure. I want to become a Nurse Practitioner and once I get my BSN I am starting MSN classes right away. In the long run, getting a BSN right away is great. Reading what all of you say, however, I am at a loss. I am only 20 years old, so I am thinking getting a BSN right away is the way to go. Especially since by the time I am 24, I will have a MSN. What do you guys think?