higher pay for BSN grads?

mart18642 · Sep 20, 2006

Ha Ha! Appalling? All I know is that I take my cheap little ADN degree to my unit every night and work my butt off. Appalling? Appalling is people's attitudes about something so trivial when we got people hurting and possibly dying. Come on, does it really matter whether somebody can afford to pay a lot more money than I could for an education. It's the same old "have" and "have-not" class issue that has been around since time immemorial. I made straight A's, passed with highest honors, and will now gladly let my employer pay for my BSN, which I will work equally hard for. Appalling is the people who don't work in the trenches and who have forgotten what skills are really required, making the rules and setting the tone for these ugly BSN vs. ADN arguments (that seem to pop up at the drop of a hat)...that's appalling. My first job is in a Level I BICU and guess what...even with my "limited" education...I can actually do my job. Oh, yeah, BSN's make 50 cents more an hour, which over a shift buys a really good cup of coffee! Like someone once asked years ago..."Can't we all just get along?"

A BSN degree is not a way to get money or more clinical skills;is a way to enhance and further up the career , and believe me is pretty rewarding.

I was a 2 year RN and worked for many years as such, then one day I realized that it was not enought, I got my BSN ( and yes I only got .50 cent more.). Now Im going to be a Nurse Practitioner and I could not have done it without my BSN. You can get skills all day long as a RN or LPN, but in order to further up your education and see what is out there, you have to become a BSN first and then is not telling what could happened next.....

Just my 2

user9876 · Sep 21, 2006

Originally Posted by aph401
i'm currently a nursing student, but the hospitals affiliated with our university (i'm in BSN program) pay .25/hr more for having a a BSN. so, if you figure that up, you make about $525 more a year than your co-workers with an ADN, which in 5 years won't even cover the cost of the tuition of the extra education you got. is that fair? absolutely not. but, unfortunately, you learn really quickly that life isn't fair.
-----
Again, you're soooo missing the point. You may eventually be rewarded for the education you received in the form of a Bachelor's Degree...but as a new grad...RN...your job is NO DIFFERENT than someone with only an Associate's Degree. Don't cry because you "feel cheated" that you had to spend "X" amount for your education...and that what little you may make "more" doesn't even make up for your more advanced degree. It was, after all, your decision to get a BSN in the first place. I suspect that many people choose the ADN route because it's A. More common B. Has a quicker entry into nursing. If I think of a C, I'll let you know.
Just count yourself lucky that you're part of a BSN program, and that opportunities will be plentiful for you once you are a nurse.
vamedic4
He's asleep! Time to study.

i'm sooo missing the point?? EVERY other field pays their workers with bachelors degrees more than those with an associates degrees, so maybe NURSING is missing the point? guess what, whether anyone with an associates degree wants to admit it or not, bachelors programs at universities are more difficult, plain and simple. you should be rewarded for that in a higher salary - you took the longer, more difficult route to nursing and got your BSN when you could've just gone to the local community college to have it easier and faster, like most nurses do. why should you not get paid more? as with any degree, the harder the schooling, the more money you make. why do doctors, pscyhologists, etc make so much money? they picked careers with extensive, difficult schooling. my father is a engineer and works with many designers who complain that they do the same job, WHY shouldn't they get paid the same? they have to know ALL of the same things, yet they don't make as much money. why wouldn't nursing reward more education with higher salary?

kellerpatty · Sep 21, 2006

i'm sooo missing the point?? EVERY other field pays their workers with bachelors degrees more than those with an associates degrees, so maybe NURSING is missing the point? guess what, whether anyone with an associates degree wants to admit it or not, bachelors programs at universities are more difficult, plain and simple. you should be rewarded for that in a higher salary - you took the longer, more difficult route to nursing and got your BSN when you could've just gone to the local community college to have it easier and faster, like most nurses do. why should you not get paid more? as with any degree, the harder the schooling, the more money you make. why do doctors, pscyhologists, etc make so much money? they picked careers with extensive, difficult schooling. my father is a engineer and works with many designers who complain that they do the same job, WHY shouldn't they get paid the same? they have to know ALL of the same things, yet they don't make as much money. why wouldn't nursing reward more education with higher salary?

The POINT is that when a new nurse takes the NCLEX (yes, the same exam that every new nurse takes to become a RN) and gets their first job, they are ALL doing the SAME job. I can't think of any BSN nurses that I know who have been saddled with more expectations or responsibilities straight out of school than any other new nurse.

It is not until the BSN (or ADN student, for that matter) student advances themselves in the workplace, that they should be compensated for their performance and responsibilities on that NEW advanced position for which they are qualified...and not before.

Nurses should be focusing on the clinical and managerial skills gained from proven performance, experience and hard work, and not solely on the letters they have behind their name. I don't understand why having a BSN behind one's name suddenly makes that person more knowledgeable and qualified directly from nursing school (notice the "directly from school" part). I could go on and on about my experiences with BSN students and new nurses, but that's like beating a dead horse (and for every BSN student there would be an ADN student doing or not doing the same thing).

Even a doctor, lawyer, or say, an engineer, doesn't start out at the top. If that highly-educated doctor or lawyer doesn't perform appropriately in their responsibilities they are not going to go far with that higher education...be it doctor, lawyer, nurse, or whoever.

I must take exception to the premise that a BSN degree is more difficult...becoming and being a nurse is diffucult no matter where you study.

The difference, in my opinion, between those with ADNs and those with BSNs is money, pure and simple. Of course, everyone would love to have an advanced degree, wouldn't they? But there are those who simply can't afford it...parents can't pay, middle class people who can't qualify for grants, and those who would prefer not to spend the beginning of their careers in deep debt when they know their employer will provide them with tuition reimbursement for further education. Why aren't the issues of enhanced subsidies and grants with equal access to further education for nursing students discussed in these US vs. THEM debates

Again, I believe that we have a perfect example of the so-called HAVES and HAVE NOTS (for whatever reason)...with the HAVES once again thinking the HAVE NOTS are somehow inferior. Performance is performance, both in technical and managerial situations. Is a BSN with a C average still superior to an ADN with an A average.

People seem to be implying, here, that the quality of nurses should be based solely on the school they went to and their so-called level of education and not the quality of their commitment to patients and the prevention and treatment of illnesses in all settings...managerial or technical.

Why can't we stop this superiority complex syndrome on all sides? I'd like to know how many of us became nurses JUST for the money...

Okay, okay...I'll get off my soapbox now, it's time for work anyway!

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Sep 23, 2006

Your hospital doesn't pay more for a BSN, but they encourage you to get it?
What??
Without any additional compensation involved, how exactly do they go about "encouraging" your staff RN's to get their BSN?
.

I think corporations say it just to sound good. When I was working as a medical assistant they always said that they encouraged continued education. They reimbursed me when I took my nutrition class. Yet, it is a very 9 to 5 job so when I first started my Pre-reqs I essentially had to quit because they would not work with my schedule. The last semester I went back to work because I only had two classes left so I could work part time; both of my classes were in the morning and only twice a week. Of course they did not pay me back because I was only working part time...took all my benefits away etc ect...My friend that works there was signed up for an EMT class that was going to be after work, then they switched doctors on her with one that worked late and they made her drop her class...they like to say they want you to further yourself but not at their inconvenience and it is not at all at your convince when it is at theirs. I am not working right now that I am in the BSN program. I am in school four days a week and all my labs are 5+ hours, after studying I hardly have time for hubby, let alone a job that does not appreciate me. I am pretty sure I am going to just take it easy on winter break and not work at all unlike I originally planned. My pay checks are small enough for to justify sitting on my butt for a month (ok not really I will have a lot of stuff to to do)

Oh yeah, when I was first higherd I only had a certificate of completion in medical assisting from the JC. After I finished my nursing pre-reqs I had an AS degree and they did not pay me a cent more.

OB_or_NICU_hopeful · Sep 23, 2006

The POINT is that when a new nurse takes the NCLEX (yes, the same exam that every new nurse takes to become a RN) and gets their first job, they are ALL doing the SAME job. I can't think of any BSN nurses that I know who have been saddled with more expectations or responsibilities straight out of school than any other new nurse.
........

I doubt anyone cares since I already posted this, but.......

I've witnessed in another profession equally as important as nursing that people are rewarded for additional education. My husband transitioned from an engineer to a teacher. He is a brand new teacher with no teaching experience. All teacher candidates take an exam called the Praxis I. All Math candidates take THE SAME exam called the Praxis II in order to receive certification. Most school districts have pay scales for all employees, including those with zero experience. They have Bachelor's only, Bacherlor's 150, Master's only, Master's +15, and on and on up to PhD. My husband ranks as Bach 150, which earned him more money from the start. He has no additional responsibilities as a teacher.

kellerpatty · Sep 23, 2006

I doubt anyone cares since I already posted this, but.......
I've witnessed in another profession equally as important as nursing that people are rewarded for additional education. My husband transitioned from an engineer to a teacher. He is a brand new teacher with no teaching experience. All teacher candidates take an exam called the Praxis I. All Math candidates take THE SAME exam called the Praxis II in order to receive certification. Most school districts have pay scales for all employees, including those with zero experience. They have Bachelor's only, Bacherlor's 150, Master's only, Master's +15, and on and on up to PhD. My husband ranks as Bach 150, which earned him more money from the start. He has no additional responsibilities as a teacher.

I guess I'll just have to quit nursing and become a teacher...where everything is SO MUCH FAIRER!!! ha ha

OB_or_NICU_hopeful · Sep 23, 2006

I guess I'll just have to quit nursing and become a teacher...where everything is SO MUCH FAIRER!!! ha ha

I definitely was not saying that teaching is a better profession than nursing (obviously not ).....just wanted to point out that other careers do reward for more education :)

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 24, 2006

same pay for BSN as ADN at my hospital. Only see an increase for MSN, and even that's an insulting pittance. Not much of an incentive if you ask me.....however, that's when comparing a floor nurse ADN to a floor nurse BSN to a floor nurse MSN. Obviously if the JOB is different, so is the pay.

So, I guess it's reasonable to say that if you're applying for a certain position, the level of education isn't as important as the qualification to do the specific job. If you're "overqualified", doesn't mean you get paid more.

romie · Sep 24, 2006

I doubt anyone cares since I already posted this, but.......
I've witnessed in another profession equally as important as nursing that people are rewarded for additional education. My husband transitioned from an engineer to a teacher. He is a brand new teacher with no teaching experience. All teacher candidates take an exam called the Praxis I. All Math candidates take THE SAME exam called the Praxis II in order to receive certification. Most school districts have pay scales for all employees, including those with zero experience. They have Bachelor's only, Bacherlor's 150, Master's only, Master's +15, and on and on up to PhD. My husband ranks as Bach 150, which earned him more money from the start. He has no additional responsibilities as a teacher.

Thank you OB_or_NICU_hopeful, you clearly illustrated a point that I, too, was trying to make earlier. In alot of fields, two people working side by side performing the exact same job will make different pay depending on their level of education. Every since I earned my degrees, my salary offers have been much larger and I was told by hiring personnel that it was because my higher education merited higher pay. Why the field of nursing doesn't get with the program is beyond me.

It isn't a matter of "haves" vs. "have nots". (Perhaps the ADNs represent the have nots?) I personally would consider myself a "have not", even though I managed to earn a master's degree. How did I do it? I did it without a single cent from my parents and by getting scholarships and taking out a frightening amount of student loans.

Yes, it is appalling.

CJRN02 · Sep 24, 2006

I personally think that BSN prepared nurses should get a higher pay. At least $2/hr. As has been mentioned in the above posts, they went to school longer and in all other professions, regardless of the job description, people with a bachelors get paid more. Fair or not, that is how it is. At the hospital where I work, you do get $1-3/hr more but you have to be involved in what they call a career ladder where you have to do other things like be on commitees, be a preceptor, have other certificates s/a specialty certs etc to get that extra pay. The BSN/MSN just gives you more points towrds your total to get the compensation. You can actually earn up to $6-8 more per hour by doing all those things. I think it is a great way of encouraging upward education, learning and leadership. I only have an ADN and have actually, until this hospital, have had no desire to get my BSN bc they didn't pay more. Now, with this incentive, I am enrolling in a BSN completion program.

romie · Sep 24, 2006

Good luck CJRN02 with getting your BSN. I do hope that you eventually become a preceptor because I am sure that you can teach a lot of new nurses a thing or two with your experience.

KLStudent · Sep 24, 2006

Before going to nursing school, I worked in Human Resources (at a hospital). And yes, we paid 5% more for students that had a BSN. That seems to be the way the trend is moving. Especially on the west coast.

Many hospitals are now paying another 5% increase if you are blingual (in Spanish).

Hope this helps.