ADN vs BSN salary

PsychNurse24, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2021

I can only speak to my experience. I had my ADN and worked at a hospital. After several years I received my BSN and a board certification around the same time. I was surprised when I received an eight dollar an hour raise. I even called HR to confirm it was correct. It was.

I now work at an acute treatment unit, which is not considered a hospital. They don’t care whether you have a BSN or a board certification. They don’t automatically pay more for either one.

So, it can depend on where you will be working. In general, I think it is a big advantage to get your BSN. Generally, I think you’ll get more money and possibly more opportunities for advancement. More and more hospitals are requiring a BSN to be hired or within a certain time after hiring. I’m sure a lot of other people answering this thread will have more details.

Good luck!

BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2021

No pay difference where I work.

ADN is faster and cheaper, if they hire you with ADN, you can do RN-BSN bridge with tuition reimbursement vs. paying for entire BSN yourself. It's doable, and all online.

AdobeRN · Mar 24, 2021

No difference when I worked in hospital either. ADN or BSN start pay was the same. The hospital I worked at did give us $1 more/hour if you were certified in your specialty.

caliotter3 · Mar 24, 2021

It's not the pay difference, if any, it is the better job opportunities out there that having a BSN will make possible. If at all possible, get a BSN and ease that search for your first nursing job.

marienm, RN, CCRN · Mar 24, 2021

New York requires a BSN within 10 years of finishing an ADN program (only passed a few years ago so enforcement hasn't been an issue yet!). I got my ADN before the law but figured I should get the BSN (paid for by my employer) so I wouldn't be competing against new grads with BSNs in the future! Similar laws may be in the works in other states. Also, my hospital requires a BSN to advance to higher-level bedside RN positions so even without wanting to be a manager I needed it.

My hospital counts it as a year of experience in terms of salary, for every year *after* your very first year. So when you hit your 1-year anniversary, you start getting paid like you've been there 2 years already. It's probably an average of $1-$1.50/hour ($2000-3000/year if you're full-time) depending on your shift.

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2021

All four facilities I’ve worked at in my 15 years have NEVER paid more for having my BSN vs ADN. But I agree with other posters that BSN in general opens more opportunities for other positions and jobs. At the same time if you are in an area with a true nursing shortage you likely won’t have any difficulty finding a job with an ADN.

vintagegal, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Mar 27, 2021

Hospitals that are magnet status or attempting to become magnet only hire BSNs. The training is only one semester longer, it gives you a competitive edge over other applicants. I have had friends do ADN at the local community college whereas I went to a state university. My program was more supportive and they joked it was even easier than the ADN, because the professors at the community college were mean and unsupportive. Team BSN!

Editorial Team / Admin · Mar 27, 2021

Up until a few years ago, it didn't matter what your degree was where I work. There is now a decent boost to have a BSN- they are up one pay grade over diploma/ADN. BSN + certification required for top tier of the clinical ladder program, so can earn more that way too.

marienm, RN, CCRN · Mar 27, 2021

8 hours ago, vintagegal said:

Hospitals that are magnet status or attempting to become magnet only hire BSNs.

That's a myth, though magnet hospitals need to have a plan in place to increase the number of BSNs held by their nurses (so some hospitals could choose to only hire BSNs as a part of that plan.)

Source: employed at a hospital that just successfully applied for magnet status. Not all of our RNs (new hires or not) have BSNs.

It's still a good idea, OP! And doing a BSN at a "traditional" 4-year school that offers other degrees will be a very different experience from doing it at a 2-year nursing school.

QqGgKk, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 28, 2021

My facility gives 2% bonus to a BSN RN. My facility also helps to pay off some tuition, but I finished my BSN before being hired so I basically self-paid about $14 K.

**CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN** · Mar 30, 2021

On 3/27/2021 at 11:03 AM, vintagegal said:

Hospitals that are magnet status or attempting to become magnet only hire BSNs. The training is only one semester longer, it gives you a competitive edge over other applicants. I have had friends do ADN at the local community college whereas I went to a state university. My program was more supportive and they joked it was even easier than the ADN, because the professors at the community college were mean and unsupportive. Team BSN!

I agree with this. I have my BSN (it was accelerated though so that muddies the waters too) and our program was very professional— by which I mean, the professors treated us like adults and were respectful of us and our time. I’ve known a few people in ADN programs which sort of seemed to think it was supposed to be boot camp. Like, they wanted to weed people out, they’d “write you up” (what does that even mean?) if your shoes weren’t the right shade of white or whatever.