Do Bachelor's Degrees Save Lives? - The Facts about Earning a BSN

[Rasmussen University]

Some assert that there are some pretty distinct differences in the capabilities, responsibilities and patient outcomes that come with each educational milestone. It's no secret that more voices in the field are citing those differences as a driving force behind the push to convince more RNs to pursue BSN degrees. But are the benefits as clear-cut as they've been made out to be?

Here's what we found from doing some research on what has been written.

The push for more BSNs

Initiatives like "80 by '20" and "BSN in 10" have become hot topics in the nursing world, but they're often misunderstood. Here's a quick breakdown of the differences:

• 80 by '20 is a call-to-action that requires 80 percent of nurses to hold bachelor's degrees by 2020. This initiative has been put in place by the Institute of Medicine in tandem with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• BSN in 10 is a proposed policy that would require new nurses to obtain their BSN within 10 years of entering the field if they wish to continue practicing. The initiative originated with the New York State Nurses Association and has received support from the House of Delegates of the American Nurses Association.

The motivation for initiatives like these is threefold. Proponents hope to see improvements in patient care; increased prospects and longevity in nursing careers; and efficiencies in the ability of healthcare facilities to manage increasing patient loads.

It hasn't taken long for other healthcare organizations to align with these commitments. Many hospitals may be drawn by the motivation to uphold high standards of patient care and professional development in order to achieve magnet status, while others can't seem to ignore the question, "Do bachelor's degrees really save more lives?"

The link between education & mortality rates

Healthcare organizations and hospital leadership continually recognize the contributions made by nurses of all educational levels. But many have acknowledged reports that suggest qualifications impact mortality rates.

What does the data say?

Studies suggest a correlation between patient mortality rates and the level of education achieved by their nurses. A 2014 study supported by the National Institutes of Health reported a 7 percent decline in patient mortality for each 10 percent increase in the number of nurses who hold bachelor's degrees. Put simply, nurses with more education appear to have better patient outcomes.

The study brought the conversation a step further by comparing patient outcomes with nursing workload. Hospitals in which 60 percent of nurses hold bachelor's degrees and care for six or fewer patients saw a 33 percent decrease in patient mortality when compared to hospitals in which only a third of nurses hold a bachelor's degree and care for up to eight patients.

This suggests a significant decrease in the number of patient deaths for nurses who have more education and also care for fewer patients. The data suggests that healthcare organizations recognize the need to not only increase RN qualifications, but also increase the number of nurses available to care for patients.

The added benefits of earning a BSN

Because many healthcare facilities are prioritizing a bachelor's level education for RN candidates, the number job prospects for nurses with bachelor's degrees has seen a huge surge in recent years.

In fact, Burning-Glass was used to identify more than a million RN job postings from the past year and found that candidates holding a bachelor's degree qualified for 78 percent of them, while diploma and associate degree holders qualified for just 53 percent.1

The prospects are also greatly increased for RNs hoping to progress into advanced nursing positions later in their careers. For example, we examined nearly 100,000 nurse manager job postings from the last 12 months. The data revealed that candidates with bachelor's degrees qualified for 70 percent of the jobs available, while associate degree holders qualified for just 25 percent of them.2

But the job vacancies don't tell the only story here. There is also increased earning potential for bachelor's degree holders. Nurse manager candidates with bachelor's degrees can expect a $7,000 increase in mean annual salary.3

Are BSNs worth more than the hype?

The initiatives in place to encourage more RNs to earn bachelor's degrees are hard to ignore, but there are two sides to every coin. Some professionals are pushing back despite support from leading healthcare organizations. It's a debate that continues to rage throughout the comment streams of nursing blogs across the Internet.

So what do you think? Are there tangible benefits to a nursing workforce with a higher percentage of bachelor's degrees? Is the jump from RN-BSN worth it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Sponsored by Rasmussen College

Is RN-BSN Worth It? 9 Reasons to Level Up.

Earn Your BSN Degree - Your Way

[La'sBlueSky]

The relationship between patient safety and nurse education level has implications for current and prospective nurses, hospital administrators, policy makers, and nurse educators. This integrative literature review assesses the current state of science on the topic during a 20-year period, using the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality's Patient Safety Indicators to measure outcomes. Twenty-four studies of variable quality were included. Although studies suggest that increasing RN dose (I.e., number of care hours) and skill mix (versus LPN) are associated with improved patient safety, evidence linking RN education level (I.e., BSN, ADN, diploma) is sorely lacking.

The relationship between nurse education level and patient safety: an integrative review. - PubMed - NCBI

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

My B.S. with a major in nursing (apparently different than a BSN) definitely prepared me better for my career than the ADN programs in my area would have. I have worked in three specialties, LTC, Hospice and School nursing. My full semesters in community health and peds included clinical rotations with a school nurse and hospice company. My geriatric course helped prepare me for working with the elderly. My program definitely laid the foundation for my ability to analyze research and apply it to practice.

I don't believe my program was "fluff"... Did it make me a better nurse? Who knows.. but it helped prepare me for my career.

[Nursynursenurse, ADN, RN]

Who can afford a BSN? Ideally, I would like to find employment in a hospital that offers tuition reimbursement so I could complete my BSN but who knows if I ever will. In the meantime, I'm working at a nursing home and will pay off my student loan in 54 years based on my current lousy income. I went to community college not a private one either. I could go into massive debt, be homeless, have my family starve until I complete my BSN and all that would offer me is potential job security at a hospital. Maybe if there was a notable pay increase somewhere but I refuse to go into more debt to get there.

[Rasmussen University]

MunoRN said:

While I get Rasmussen's desire to sell their $47,000 BSN program

Our BSN program actually costs less than half of that and we're continually seeking innovative ways to minimize costs and improve curriculum for our students. We appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback and insights this post has generated thus far. As we predicted, this is a hot topic in the industry which is why we love hearing the viewpoints of those on the front lines! Keep them coming, everyone! ?

[Cowboyardee]

AlphaM said:

The problem, I believe, is that people think the only good nurses are bedside nurses. If that's what you want to do, then fine, do that but don't tell the rest of us looking at specializing in other areas away from bedside that a BSN, MSN or DNP doesn't make you a better nurse, because it certainly DOES. It may not make you a better "bedside" nurse but that is not the point.

I think you'll find very few ADNs and diploma RNs complaining that they're barred from nursing administration. Most of us either have little interest in administration or else suck it up like big boys/girls and get more education if and when we want to alter our career paths. That's fair. The hostility on the part of ADNs and diploma nurses comes from the fear that we'll be pushed out of bedside nursing over our degree, that our professional experience (which certainly does make you a better bedside nurse) is being overlooked and undervalued, or that we're being forced to make big sacrifices in time and money for classes that don't improve our bedside practice.

Bedside nursing is the point of this particular conversation.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I have an associate degree.

I am smart enough to know this is a freaking COMMERCIAL and changed the channel.

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

Rasmussen College said:

Our BSN program actually costs less than half of that and we're continually seeking innovative ways to minimize costs and improve curriculum for our students. We appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback and insights this post has generated thus far. As we predicted, this is a hot topic in the industry which is why we love hearing the viewpoints of those on the front lines! Keep them coming, everyone! ?

I HIGHLY recommend for folks to skip the BSN and go to MSN. It has not slowed me down in the least in regards to any position or career trajectory I have in mind.

[MunoRN, RN]

Rasmussen College said:

Our BSN program actually costs less than half of that and we're continually seeking innovative ways to minimize costs and improve curriculum for our students. We appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback and insights this post has generated thus far. As we predicted, this is a hot topic in the industry which is why we love hearing the viewpoints of those on the front lines! Keep them coming, everyone! ?

While the information that appears on your website is a bit hard to believe, it does say that the BSN program is 181 credits which would be in addition to, not including credits obtained in the students previous RN degree. The defined starting point is an RN, so according to your site, from RN degree to completion of an RN-BSN would be 4 years of full time school. 181 credits times the quoted cost of $260 per credit is $47,060. While it does appear many of these credits should be considered as already completed as part of the RN program, the inability to properly communicate is still concerning, even if it makes it half price.

RN-BSN Bachelor's Degree - Rasmussen College

[2mint]

There are lots of good points made.

So I'd also like a study that compares the three:

new grad BSN's with 2 years experience vs. new grad ADN with 2 yrs exp vs. new grad *BSN's that completed RN-BSN with 2 yrs exp.

Now, since I only read the first two pages, anyone think this is silly?:

"Hospitals in which 60 percent of nurses hold bachelor's degrees and care for six or fewer patients saw a 33 percent decrease in patient mortality when compared to hospitals in which only a third of nurses hold a bachelor's degree and care for up to eight patients."

Good job comparing apples to oranges...that study is pretty ******.

[TriciaJ, RN]

2mint said:

There are lots of good points made.

So I'd also like a study that compares the three:

new grad BSN's with 2 years experience vs. new grad ADN with 2 yrs exp vs. new grad *BSN's that completed RN-BSN with 2 yrs exp.

Now, since I only read the first two pages, anyone think this is silly?:

"Hospitals in which 60 percent of nurses hold bachelor's degrees and care for six or fewer patients saw a 33 percent decrease in patient mortality when compared to hospitals in which only a third of nurses hold a bachelor's degree and care for up to eight patients."

Good job comparing apples to oranges...that study is pretty ******.

Thank you thank you. When I first read the study years ago, I wondered if I was missing something. Yet it gets trotted out regularly. And someone made a very good point: since higher degree nurses are supposed to have a stronger background in research and statistics, why are they not seeing the glaring hole in this study?

[Dogen]

Weeeeell, as with most things in research it's not as straight forward as it sounds. The researchers looked at nurse staffing and nurse education separately and together. Which is typical when you're studying multiple variables. What they don't mention is that in the study, specifically table 4, they found that neither education nor staffing was statistically significant alone, which means that the number of patients wasn't the single determining factor.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

Rasmussen College said:

We're continually seeking innovative ways to minimize costs

Sure, in order to maximize profits. That's first-semester business school material.

Rasmussen is *not* a public-service organization, it is a profit-driven organization. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, but it is disingenuous to pretend that this is anything but marketing.