How much difference in pay do two year rn's get than four yr??

Cindy_A · Mar 23, 2008

I think BSN (4 year) may get more than 2 year (ASN), but not that much. I think it depends on where you work.

BrayaRN · Mar 23, 2008

I am an ADN graduate nurse. The BSN prepared nurses make $0.30 more an hour than I do where I work.

Euskadi1946 · Mar 23, 2008

The BSN is what you want if you want to go into management, work for the government or go into the military. That is where the BSN means more money but in alot of acute care and long term care facilities the BSN makes the same as an ADN and if they do get more I doubt that it's very much more.

Kristin_collegemom · Mar 23, 2008

No pay difference where I work! RN is RN...

lindarn · Mar 23, 2008

Why is the attitude that a BSN is earned only if you want to go into management, the military, etc. No one encourages BSNs to ask for a higher starting wage to reward the higher edication (and in fact, most nurses resent that BSNs want to be paid more). Are our patients not deserving of health care provider who has a four year college degree? Would you accept teachers for your children who only had an Associates Degree in Teaching? Or a three year diploma in teaching? Or a one year, "Licensed Practical/Vocational Teacher?

Why do nurses continue to propagate the myth that a BSN is only if you want to work away from the bedside, or direct patient care? Why do nurses not encourage young men and women to earn a BSN from the get go, and not do the "slow boat to china" route to become RNs? It has been our down fall that we do not insist that a BSN is the entry into practice. Other health care professionals have moved on, and are now light years ahead of us, in terms of education, control of their profession, and have the respect of other members of the health care team. They are not caught up in "shoud I get a Bachelors Degree, or should I go the shorter route and hope that I will be in a position to earn the higher degree when I am in a differant station in my life- married, kids, etc.

We continue to exert much more energy to only chase our tails to try to get where we want/need to be. Twenty years ago, when DRGs became the rule in hospitals, other health care professions increased their level of education, mainained control or their profession, and are now sitting pretty, compared to nursing. How did they accomplish this? Their educational insitutions re-assed what to teach in their programs, and added the business classes that were needed to survive in this new era of health care.

Nurses is not even to first base, and we will continue to suffer the consequences until we do. JMHO, and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, washington

Euskadi1946 · Mar 23, 2008

Lindarn I'm an ADN and proud to be an ADN and anyone who has gone through the fires of hell of nursing school and passed NCLEX whether they be ADN or BSN have earned RN after their names and deserve the utmost respest. I stand by my words in my post.

lindarn · Mar 24, 2008

Lindarn I'm an ADN and proud to be an ADN and anyone who has gone through the fires of hell of nursing school and passed NCLEX whether they be ADN or BSN have earned RN after their names and deserve the utmost respest. I stand by my words in my post.

I did not say that there was something wrong with you, or that you did not work hard in your ADN program, or that you did not pass the NCLEX. I said that a BSN is not just for individuals who want to go into management, or work for the military. A BSN is also for working as a bedside nurse. I have in said previous posts that many BSN grads go into management, or go on to advanced degrees because they want a return on their investment, that bedside nurses does not get you.

If nurses with BSNs were paid a higher salary many would not leave bedside nursing. Seeing that more and more students, (although not enough) are going for a BSN for a first degree, the nursing profession is not helping itself if a third of their new grads leave to make more money with their degrees. I know I did. It does not mean that we think that we are better than anyone else, I just wanted return on what I put into my college degree. That is what other health care professionals do when they increase their education and level of training in their specialty. They expect, and demand, more money. CT techs and Ultrasound techs make more money than a regular X-Ray tech. Doctors who go through surgical residencies and become specialists, charge more money to compensate them for their higher education, and commitment to a long residency, that delays their entry into the job market. A higher risk specialty that comes with a higher level of risk for getting sued, also charges more than a GP. Teachers, as well, get paid more money for their higher degrees.

It should be that way in nursing as well. Unfortunately, we will have no power to enforce this working/pay structure until nurses routinely bill for our services, which of course hospitals don't want us to do. And an individual nurse cannot demand a higher rate of pay for a BSN, or working in high risk areas like ICU, because there are still too many nurses who do not value education ("ADN/BSN- we are all the same", or make a plethora of excuses why they went for an ADN not a BSN), and resent nurses who have gone on to achieve these paths. They resent any one who wants to make more money for these efforts- "if I can't make more money because I only have an ADN, and I only work on med surg, than who does he/she think they are for wanting more money for a higher degree, and has a higher level of nursing expertise than I do working on Med Surg".

That attitude has kept nursing in the basement for salaries, respect, etc. We will not retain nurses who have a drive to achieve other goals, and as more nurses are earning a BSN, the number of nurses who will stay at bedside nursing will continue to decrease. The best are leaving in droves.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

Miss Mab · Mar 24, 2008

The BSN is what you want if you want to go into management, work for the government or go into the military. .

I often forget that this website is available to the public, which certainly includes young students, transitioning career folk and lots of other interested parties.

Since that's the case, I try to remember to preface declarative statements like the above with a healthy dose of "In my opinion...."

As a Bachelor's degree is considered the base educational standard for professional careers in the United States, well, except for nursing, I would hate to dissuade a young student from pursuing this path based on an outdated view of the degree and its value within nursing.

To the OP, the BSN is what you might want if you desire a well rounded, pre-professional curriculum that will both enhance your career as a nurse and also afford you additional options in the wider professional world should you choose to pursue something else at a later time.

When i hear complaints about the additional costs of a 4 year program I am always reminded that what you are actually paying for are more options.

Options give you power.

In the workplace and world.

In my opinion....

Tweety, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2008

All things being equal it's a 4% difference where I work. I got a 4% raise when I got my BSN and kept the same job. The BSN isn't about making money as a new grad nurse, as both ADNs and BSNs are going to take entry level RN jobs with the same job desccription.

Don't feel like you're going to be missing out slary-wise by getting your ADN.

Good luck!!!

zitro56 · Mar 25, 2008

There is only a slight difference in pay in my facility(50 cents/hr.). My experience has been that there are many who are just seeking to showcase the "BSN" after the name on their badge. I am proud of my ADN. On our unit, many of the the training preceptors are ADN or Diploma nurses. What you learn on the job is something that cannot be taught in school.

queenjean · Mar 25, 2008

No difference at my hospital. I know some area hospitals offer an additional 5-10% of base RN pay for BSN.