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

Published

I'm a 22yr old male and going into a two year rn degree. I've heard that the only main difference is promotions and such. I'm really just trying to get through school and get some decent money to pay off the debt, then go back and get my masters if i want? Any advice?

Specializes in mostly in the basement.
My experience has been that there are many who are just seeking to showcase the "BSN" after the name on their badge.

I find this sad on so many levels.....

Just sayin'

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.
I find this sad on so many levels.....

Just sayin'

I agree. Working that hard just to parade "BSN" on the namebage? Puleeze.

It's not that way around here, probably because we don't have BSN on our name badges. I'd like to think that if we did people wouldn't waste time and money just to show off.

Around here, BSNs are used to advance to positions beyond just management and the military. BSNs are preferred in many non-bedside positions from research, safety, quality, pharmaceutical, teaching, on and on and on.

I didn't complete my BSN just to sitck my nose up at my coworkers. I was a proud ADN graduate for 16 years and decided that I needed to think about my future away from the bedside as I age. This was reinforced as I was denied a job as a unit/hospital educator because I didn't have a BSN even though I was working on it at the time.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Two points:

First, education is not solely a means to a pay check. It's about informing your life, learning to think critically, and gaining perspective on who we are and how we got here. It's about becoming a citizen of the world. That impacts everything you do, not just what you're eligible to do for a living. If you have the opportunity to expand your knowledge by earning a four-year degree, you should go for it -- not because of what it will do for your nursing career, but what it will do for your life. Otherwise, please don't belittle the value of something you've chosen not to obtain. That's a common theme on this board.

Second, for what it's worth, I no longer buy the argument that a BSN is necessary only if you want to work in management. Now that the major hospital in my area has gone magnet, all of the other hospitals are trying to achieve the same status. The upshot is that the ADNs who graduate from the only hospital school of nursing in my area are no longer preferred by that same hospital for jobs in the ED, critical care and other specialties. If you want a good shot at a job on a specialty floor, you need a BSN at minimum.

The best thing nursing could do for itself as a profession is to make BSN the minimum academic credential and grandfather all of those who are already licensed or enrolled in nursing programs. That is not a comment on the quality of associate or diploma programs. It is to say that we cannot argue that nurses merit higher pay when the majority have not or will not seek the higher education that typifies other professionals, such as teachers and engineers. We are holding ourselves back by not having a single minimum standard.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

No pay difference at entry level at my hospital.

BSN is required to move up the clinical ladder, however. Moving up used to be based on experience only; now it's also based on degree, continuing education, committee work, etc.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.

We're magnet here and there is no difference between ADN and BSN as far as pay. BSN grads don't get preferential treatment as far as finding jobs, either; no matter the care area.

Do what works best for you :).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU/MICU/NeuroICU, life flight.

I have worked in places where there was a modest differential, 25 and 50 cents. My present work place does not offer any difference, and AFAIK there are only a handful of BSNs in the hospital. Our VP/Dir of Nsg is one of them, and she is returning for her MSN next fall. There are no MSNs presently in any capacity (my hospital will not credential NPs or CNS).

That said, ITA with all the inciteful comments regarding the inherent value of a college degree, and ITA that the BSN ought to be the minimum for entry.

Iconoclast, RN, CCRN (BSN in progress)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Education, Medical/Surgical.

LindaRN again you seem to miss the point. Do you ever post other than to get on the baccalaureate bandwagon? The question is how much difference in pay...........not BSN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Are our patients not deserving of health care provider who has a four year college degree?

Great Point, I agree 100%

I was shocked to learn, that a RN only needed an Associates Degree and a NCLEX pass to become a RN.

I am not a Nurse, but just an average patient, now doing research into the nursing field.

I think the general public in the USA thinks a RN means at least a Bachelors if not a Masters degree.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
I think the general public in the USA thinks a RN means at least a Bachelors if not a Masters degree.

Really? Because it's been my experience that the general public does not have a CLUE what being a nurse entails at all, nor that there is a difference between a LPN and an RN.

:twocents:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU/MICU/NeuroICU, life flight.

I know a nephrologist who thinks nurses get can their RN from Sally Struthers. His position is, why should we "respect" nurses or pay them more? After all, they haven't even been to college.... Another doctor some years ago, after I called him about changes in his pt's assessment told me to "stick to wiping asses until you have been been to college, I'll decide what's best for my patients." Pt turned out to have infarcted bowel, so i was right, do you think he aplogized? Sort of. He acknowledfged that I did in fact know what I was talking about and concluded that I was "too smart to be a nurse."

anyway, there are a lot of misconceptions out there.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have a bachelors in another field; maybe that's why I am not terribly concerned with getting my BSN. I honestly do not see a difference in the care provided. I've seen the coursework, I am infact going back to jump through the hoops at some point in the next year. As far as I can tell, it's the same things I've already learned. I personally don't mind going back and reviewing--you always pick up things you didn't get before, or your understanding goes to a new level; but I don't see that insight in the new grads that we get, whether they are from an ASN or a BSN program. It comes with experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Personally I'd rather have a RN that has 2 yrs. of school + 2 yrs. of experience, then just 4 yrs. of school. I see the pros and cons of both and I'v also heard several clinics paying the employee's tution for going back to get a better degree if promising to work with that employer.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion