Comparing A Nurses' Salary

[Joe V]

According to Indeed, Registered Nurses (RNs) earn between $55,726 (< than 1 year experience) - $72,833 (10+ years of experience) per year in 2021.

Forbes reported back in 2019, that top hospital CEOs were making $1 million+. Payscale currently lists the average Hospital Chief Executive Officer salary at $153,479.

How do you feel about your salary compared to other professions?

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[RCBR]

BrandonLPN said:

I don't get your point. Of course the nurses all don't make the same amount. A nurse who's been working for 20 years deserves to make more than the new grad. You move up the pay scale with experience. But BSNs do not deserve a separate, higher pay scale than the ADNs.

My point is that your point that exact same job should equal exact same pay ("Why should you get paid more if you're doing the exact same job?") doesn't hold water, as even you acknowleged that more experienced nurses deserve (and get) higher pay for performing the exact same job. By the way, after you get more experience and think of negotiating a higher pay, please remember what you told me: "If you think you deserve more, then go find a management position..."

If the health care market financially rewards nurses who bring more experience to the job, I think it should also reward nurses who bring more education to the job. Sounds logical to me.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

RCBR said:

My point is that your point that exact same job should equal exact same pay ("Why should you get paid more if you're doing the exact same job?") doesn't hold water, as even you acknowleged that more experienced nurses deserve (and get) higher

pay for performing the exact same job. By the way, after you get more experience and think of negotiating a higher pay, please remember what you told me: "If you think you deserve more, then go find a management position..."If the

health care market financially

rewards nurses who bring more experience to the job, I think it should also reward nurses who bring more education to the job. Sounds logical to me.

Well, if they thought you could bring more to the table than a new grad ADN they would pay you more. Guess they don't think you do. A month of actual nursing experience is with more than a year of education.

You can't seriously be comparing your extra coursework in the BSN program to the hands on experience of a seasoned nurse.

[RCBR]

BrandonLPN said:

Well, if they thought you could bring more to the table than a new grad ADN they would pay you more. Guess they don't think you do. A month of actual nursing experience is with more than a year of education.

You can't seriously be comparing your extra coursework in the BSN program to the hands on experience of a seasoned nurse.

They are not equivalent, but more education means more qualification and more qualification should mean more pay, in my books at least.

Now, even though that is what I think is fair, I do not think that we will see a significant BSN differential anytime soon. The way the health care market seems to be rewarding the extra education of BSN graduates is by hiring BSN graduates in the first place instead of ASN/ADN/Diploma graduates, as evidenced by the "BSN preferred" or "BSN required" new grad positions positions posted. That is how I think the market will deal with this issue.

[Wild Irish LPN, LPN]

BrandonLPN said:

A month of actual nursing experience is with more than a year of education.

very well said, and so very true....

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

RCBR said:

They are not equivalent, but more education means more qualification and more qualification should mean more pay, in my books at least.Now, even though that is what I think is fair, I do not think that wewill see a significant BSN differential anytime

soon. The way the health care market seems to be rewarding the extra education of BSN graduates is by hiring BSN graduates in the first place instead of ASN/ADN/Diploma graduates, as evidenced by the "BSN preferred" or "BSN required"

new grad positions positions posted. That is how I think the market will deal with this issue.

I agree that having a BSN is a career boost and, everything else being equal, it will give you an edge over new ADN grads. But how are

you more qualified? The ADNs have the exact same nursing license as you, with the exact same scope of practice. What can you do that they can't?

Having two very different levels of eudation for the exact same licensure muddies the waters. There is no easy solution. Do we declare the ADNs underqulaified to do bedside acute care and lump them into a dependent, "technical" role along with LPNs? Or do we declare the BSNs overqualified and push them away from the bedside? Neither scenario is satisfactory.

Some would say just phase out the ADN programs, grandfather the current ADNs practicing and make the BSN the sole route to RN. The problem with this is you don't *need* a four year university education to provide excellent bedside care. Millions of ADN and diploma RNs prove this every second of every day. To suggest otherwise is both naive and a slap in the face to countless practicing RNs.

The role of the basic bedside nurse will always be dominated by nurses with less than a four year education. Only time will tell if the bedside nurse of the future is an ADN a LPN or some combination of the two roles. But I strongly believe the push for "BSN only RNs" will push the RN role firmly away from the bedside and into supervision, case management, research, etc. And maybe that's for the best.....

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

nhnursie said:

"The system is rigged so that those on the top get far more than they deserve, and while I resent that, it is how it is."

Maybe when you are 30 years into your career, you will re think your position....

Unless I am the CNO of a hospital in 30 years, I'll still make less than any hospital executive.

[NewGoalRN]

How many hours do you work? Do you get overtime or do you work a 2nd job? That is a high salary for Florida. Good for you!!

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

BrandonLPN said:

I agree that having a BSN is a career boost and, everything else being equal, it will give you an edge over new ADN grads. But how are

you more qualified? The ADNs have the exact same nursing license as you, with the exact same scope of practice. What can you do that they can't?

Having two very different levels of eudation for the exact same licensure muddies the waters. There is no easy solution. Do we declare the ADNs underqulaified to do bedside acute care and lump them into a dependent, "technical" role along with LPNs? Or do we declare the BSNs overqualified and push them away from the bedside? Neither scenario is satisfactory.

Some would say just phase out the ADN programs, grandfather the current ADNs practicing and make the BSN the sole route to RN. The problem with this is you don't *need* a four year university education to provide excellent bedside care. Millions of ADN and diploma RNs prove this every second of every day. To suggest otherwise is both naive and a slap in the face to countless practicing RNs.

The role of the basic bedside nurse will always be dominated by nurses with less than a four year education. Only time will tell if the bedside nurse of the future is an ADN a LPN or some combination of the two roles. But I strongly believe the push for "BSN only RNs" will push the RN role firmly away from the bedside and into supervision, case management, research, etc. And maybe that's for the best.....

They are not trying to push BSN's away from the bedside. If anything, the hospitals concerned with magnet status are attempting to bring in more and more BSNs to the floor, hence the lack of jobs out there for ADN graduates. When I was hired in, the talk was all about those with ADNs going back to school - they are actually mandated to do so at my institution - and how there was research about improved patient outcomes with higher percentages of BSN-prepared nurses on the floor. I think you are more likely to see the ADN's scope decreased than the BSNs being pushed away from the bedside. It honestly is naive to think that there are enough positions out there for BSNs to only be working in management and research.

I don't think I'm better than anyone for having my BSN, and I listen to my ADN co-workers with more experience when I have a question. But I also grow tired of people who haven't gone through a BSN program thinking that it was superfluous. I'd rather have a professional that was "overqualified" than "bare minimum" taking care of me if you want to compare it that way. I do not compare the two because I see them on a continuum. I prefer to think of it as teaching degrees. Many places will hire you (maybe not so much anymore) with a bachelor's education degree, especially for substitute teaching. However, there is an expectation in my state that you go back and get your Master's degree after a certain period of time. Much like nurses, teachers are expected to continuously evolve and grow and learn new techniques and ideas. I feel like going from ADN to BSN, etc, is actually a great way to grow as a nurse rather than stagnating. Academics can expose you to things that the workplace cannot, and a big part of that is a little bit of idealism and theory which deserves a place in our agenda if we want to change things for the better in our work communities.

Just my opinion.

[Surgery182]

@RCBR

Why would you go to a larger university and pay tens of thousands of dollars to get the same degree that you could have gotten much cheaper at a community college? You can't necessarily argue that you got a better education because the content of nursing school is arguably the same. The NCLEX is a pretty standardized test that everyone must pass. So really the only one to blame about having tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt is yourself. And should you be paid more for having a BSN? I would say no. Someone already mentioned that experience typically trumps classroom education. Go to any nursing manager and ask who their best/hardest working nurses are and I bet the answer will be a mix of BSN and ADN nurses (along with diploma grads). Some ADN nurses may not be able to write an excellent paper on the microbial skin count near an incision on postop day two, but they will run circles around a BSN nurse who got an 'A' on said paper.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

Surgery182 said:

@RCBR

Why would you go to a larger university and pay tens of thousands of dollars to get the same degree that you could have gotten much cheaper at a community college? You can't necessarily argue that you got a better education because the content of nursing school is arguably the same. The NCLEX is a pretty standardized test that everyone must pass. So really the only one to blame about having tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt is yourself. And should you be paid more for having a BSN? I would say no. Someone already mentioned that experience typically trumps classroom education. Go to any nursing manager and ask who their best/hardest working nurses are and I bet the answer will be a mix of BSN and ADN nurses (along with diploma grads). Some ADN nurses may not be able to write an excellent paper on the microbial skin count near an incision on postop day two, but they will run circles around a BSN nurse who got an 'A' on said paper.

I just don't understand the need to categorize either degree. Not all ADNs barely literate skill fiends and not all BSNs are bumbling wordsmiths headed for management. A good nurse is a good nurse. THIS attitude is part of the problem.

[lbrn22]

Nurses salaries should start out at $50K. I agree with fjellgren when he says, "magnitude of risks, and stress, involved in providing patient care regardless of the care setting."

I am new to nursing at 50 getting my BSN. I have never seen people work so hard with so much stress all at once, and constantly throughout their day. $50,000 to start!!

[RN1Each]

After graduating as an RN I was hired on a Telemetry floor at a base rate of $22.18/hr. I chose to work overnights (for the huge shift diff), and all told I average about $25.50 an hour exclusive of unlimited overtime. My highest hourly rate is $26.62 on weekend overnights.

The most I ever made before I became an RN was $16.25 an hour as an overnight stock manager...and that was after slogging through 10 years in retail.

I make alot more money now; and my family and I are eternally grateful.

And I sometimes feel that as competent as I am, I'm still a bit overpaid for what I do .

That's just my opinion: NOT looking for backlash here!