Going into Nursing; what are the benefits of going from RN to BSN?

Nurses General Nursing

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I start next spring on beginning my RN classes at a local community college in Texas; mostly pre-requisites. Want to eventually enter the UT Austin RN to BSN program; but am a little confused. Aren't they basically the same thing? What are the benefits of going for 2 more years? Is it easier to get a job, or is it so you can manage a team of RN's? Does it affect your base pay?

Thanks for all your help!

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

you can get your RN license with an associates or a bachelors degree. BSN offers you more education in research and management. it seems that employers do prefer bachelors degrees, but most do hire RNs with associates degrees. the pay is somewhat increased, it varies by state. from what i've heard, it's about 25 cents more an hour for a new grad with a bachelors than a new grad with an associates.

the higher your degree, the more marketable you become, and the more knowledge you obtain, so it works to your advantage. i am currently in an associates program and have already signed up for my RN to BSN program that will be starting after my graduation.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Many urban hospitals in Texas have ceased to hire new grads unless they have BSNs. Most career advancement pathways and many clinical certifications are open only to BSNs. As a matter of fact, in order to move into nursing management an MSN is required. So - it all depends upon where you want your nursing career to go.

All grads take the same basic licensing exam (NCLEX) because that is designed to ensure that the person has met minimal licensing requirements for direct patient care. BSN curricula includes additional (big picture) subjects such as epidemiology, statistics & research, public health, etc. which prepare students for a larger scope of practice outside the realm of providing direct patient care.

Have you looked at applying to BSN programs after you complete your pre-requisites? Most of them are designed so that the actual nursing classes occur during the last 2 years of the degree; lots of students simply transfer in after they complete pre-reqs as a (less expensive) CC. FYI, UT Austin is very selective - don't put all your eggs in that basket.

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In Texas, I hear it gets you that raise of a whole 10 cents and it may also get you constantly hounded by the higher ups to become one of them.

But it's still on my list of things to do...

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Please do a search on this topic in these forums...there will be so much information, much of it heated, that should give you a general idea of the pros and cons of each.

Here is my personal opinion on the matter:

There are certain specific employers that will higher 'BSN-only' nurses. Very few employers specify it for a regular staff nurse position. Most jobs do say 'BSN preferred.'

As for whether or not its 'worth it' that is a matter of personal opinion. Here is my take on the matter:

It depends on what your goals are. If you are content with being a staff nurse, then I'd say 90+ percent of the time, an ASN will be perfectly fine. The base pay rate for ASN vs BSN is very comparable....the most I've ever heard of a pay increase with a BSN is a dollar more an hour. Yes, you read that correctly.

The biggest advantage for a BSN, in my opinion, is that you have many more doors open to you in terms of career advancement with a BSN. With the high burnout rate of nursing, anything you can do to give yourself more options is awesome.

I myself am taking prereq's for an ADN program. My reasons were mostly financial...I simply can't afford a BSN program. If I had the money and resources, I would have gone straight for my BSN.

You need to look into specific program requirements...I know that for some people it would actually take them longer to get into the ASN program because the community college was more competitive (it is cheaper!).

You really need to look at your individual situation. If you are fortunate and have few barriers (aka you are a high school student looking at what to do upon graduating) I'd say go for the BSN. If you are a 'non-traditional' student.....I'd suggest looking into the ASN program.

One more thing. There are a few people out there who seem to believe that ASN nurses aren't as 'smart' as BSN nurses. There are other people out there who seem to believe that BSN nurses lack common sense and don't have 'real world' nursing skills. Do not generalize....an RN is an RN is an RN. It's just that if you have your BSN, the 'ceiling' to your career is a little higher up.

That's my take on it! Good luck to you!

These boards are a GREAT source of information. You need to look into the SPECIFIC requirements of each program you are looking at...you may be surprised at how different they are! You don't know, the decision may be made for you...you may be a shoe-in at the BSN program and may have to wait years for the ASN program or vice versa so contact the schools you are interested in and see what the admissions policy is!!

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It depends on how high you wish to climb the ladder. Where I am ADN's and BSN's make the same but if you wish to move up then you'll have to go higher in degrees. The only real difference is fluff...a few extra courses like an extra english, science etc. The NCLEX is the exact same for both.

I'm in the first semester of an ADN for several reasons:

1. There are two of us doing this (my daughter and I are both in the program, hence 2 tuitions) OUCH!!

2. It's faster. My program is 5 semesters. Hence I'll be working sooner than a BSN program.

3. I know a bunch of people who did the ADN program and then immediately went back and got their BSN completely online in 6-9 month depending on how much they wanted to do at one time. While they were making money!

4. Several of them got financial assistance through their jobs to help pay for the online coursework.

5. When they were finished not only did they have a higher degree but also the experience to support the higher positions requirements.

Just seemed like a smart choice to me.

Whichever path you decide on.....good luck!!!

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Specializes in L&D, ICU, Family Medicine.

I did a traditional 4 year ADN program in AZ, then continued on for my RN-BSN after getting a job as an RN. The benefits are great, my hospital paid for my tuition up to $5K/year, and the theory and concepts that were discussed in class were tangible, as I had already put them into use in my clinical practice. When you are a student going for your BSN, you have minimal clinical practice to correlate with the theory, so some concepts are more challenging to understand. The pace was slow and steady in the RN-BSN program, so I wasn't TOO stressed. Unfortunately, it didn't make a difference in my base pay, but it does open up other doors for opportunities in education, case management, nursing informatics, and continuing on even further. Many will say that there is not a difference between an ADN & a BSN nurse, but it's simply not true. Clinical care may be the same, but the depth of thought processes are deeper and more holistic. I think an RN-BSN is the most effective way to absorb the concepts and theory and apply to clinical practice.

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It depends on how high you wish to climb the ladder. Where I am ADN's and BSN's make the same but if you wish to move up then you'll have to go higher in degrees. The only real difference is fluff...a few extra courses like an extra english, science etc. The NCLEX is the exact same for both.

I'm in the first semester of an ADN for several reasons:

1. There are two of us doing this (my daughter and I are both in the program, hence 2 tuitions) OUCH!!

2. It's faster. My program is 5 semesters. Hence I'll be working sooner than a BSN program.

3. I know a bunch of people who did the ADN program and then immediately went back and got their BSN completely online in 6-9 month depending on how much they wanted to do at one time. While they were making money!

4. Several of them got financial assistance through their jobs to help pay for the online coursework.

5. When they were finished not only did they have a higher degree but also the experience to support the higher positions requirements.

Just seemed like a smart choice to me.

Whichever path you decide on.....good luck!!!

Most RN-BSN are 2 year long.

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I did a traditional 4 year ADN program in AZ, then continued on for my RN-BSN after getting a job as an RN. The benefits are great, my hospital paid for my tuition up to $5K/year, and the theory and concepts that were discussed in class were tangible, as I had already put them into use in my clinical practice. When you are a student going for your BSN, you have minimal clinical practice to correlate with the theory, so some concepts are more challenging to understand. The pace was slow and steady in the RN-BSN program, so I wasn't TOO stressed. Unfortunately, it didn't make a difference in my base pay, but it does open up other doors for opportunities in education, case management, nursing informatics, and continuing on even further. Many will say that there is not a difference between an ADN & a BSN nurse, but it's simply not true. Clinical care may be the same, but the depth of thought processes are deeper and more holistic. I think an RN-BSN is the most effective way to absorb the concepts and theory and apply to clinical practice.

"Kudo's" just isn't enough !!

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I'll leave the discussions about whether the BSN improves one's abilities as a nurse for others. Let me just talk about the job market.

There is currently a push to go to all-BSN by (I believe) 2015 in several states. In the northeast, I know that New Jersey and New York are talking about it. So, if this legislation comes to pass (a big if) then entire states would be closed off to you without a BSN.

In addition to legislative and/or BON initiatives, there is the magnet issue. Rightly or wrongly, many hospitals have come to the conclusion that their chances of achieving magnet designation are improved by having an all-BSN staff. In Philly, for example, several of the large systems will no longer hire ASNs, primarily because of the magnet issue. Some are telling their current ASNs that they have a fixed amount of time to earn a BSN in order to keep their jobs. Magnet is something the hospital can market, and marketing means money, and if you get between a hospital and its money you will get steamrolled.

Now they can get away with all of this during the recession, because so many nurses have delayed retirement, or picked up more hours because of a spouse's employment difficulties. When the job market picks up, and those spouses get rehired, so those nurses decide they can go back to part time hours, those hospitals are going to be staring into the face of another nursing shortage. It will be made all the worse by the fact that entire class years of nursing school graduates have given up finding work and left nursing. Whether the hospitals will still be able to insist on all-BSN hiring at that point is arguable. Presumably, the big, well regarded systems will still be able to do so, but the smaller community hospitals might not be able to pull it off.

So what it boils down to is this: there is no place on earth that will hire an ASN but not hire a BSN, but there are quite a few places that will hire a BSN but not hire an ASN. So just from a job availability perspective there's value in the BSN. How much value probably varies a lot by geographic area (in a lot of the northeast not having a BSN can be a real liability, while in Texas that may or may not be the case.)

So whether or not the BSN makes you a better nurse, it makes you a more employable nurse. And that's a big deal right now, when even the BSN graduates are having trouble finding work.

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There is currently a push to go to all-BSN by (I believe) 2015 in several states. In the northeast, I know that New Jersey and New York are talking about it. So, if this legislation comes to pass (a big if) then entire states would be closed off to you without a BSN.

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A big if is right - although given the current economic climate, they have a better chance at this time. I know New York has been working on this or thinking about this for years. IF they do succeed, current RNs would either be grandfathered in or have 10 years to get their BSN.

But all in all it does depend on where you want to work. ADNs have no issue getting a job in my area - even at magnet hospitals. But that could change if the economic conditions don't ease up.

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Most RN-BSN are 2 year long.

In my area it's 3-3.5 from start to finish including prereq's. If you don't count the prereq's then yes it's 2, but there is 1-2 years of prereq's.

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