ADN vs BSN pay for RN

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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I have always heard that no matter what level of education you have if you are working on the floor as an RN then you get paid the same if you have your ADN or your BSN, (not considering floors, locations, experience, ect. just education). Is this true?

Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

True...not enough spaces and not enough instructors.

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Specializes in Everything!.

I think it all depends on where you are in life when deciding if ASN or BSN is right for you. If you have the time and money then get the BSN as soon as possible. If you don't then just obtain your ASN and go on with your life. The starting pay rate here in California is not really that different.

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
true...not enough spaces and not enough instructors.

the community college that i attended back in the late 70's to late 80's required their professors -- including nursing professors -- to be master degreed and above. i had one nursing instructor that was at the end of her masters program in nursing and worked mother/baby/labor and delivery.... she was extremely good! very impressive! the school hired her to fill a vacancy for maternal/child clinical rotation. i learned so much from her that semester. not only was she very knowledgeable in her field, she was a born teacher - in both classroom and clinical instruction.

one thing that would draw master degreed and above nurses with a minimum of five years nursing experience in their prospective field that they would be hired to teach and enter the clinical setting with their students would be to pay them for their experience at their master degree level.

i do not want to have instructors with masters in other fields and no hands-on clinical background as nurses instructing me on how to be a nurse.

i worked at a hospital five years ago that required their nurse managers to have five years clinical experience plus have a masters degree in nursing. i'm all for this at that level.

colleges found a way to increase money in their colleges by offering nursing programs at every level. this is one of the reasons there is so much indecision and feelings of animosity in the nursing field. hospitals had it going on with the diploma program. maybe we should have left well enough alone then because those programs turned out some the best nurses i've ever worked with (and no...i'm not a diploma grad).

then along came the associate program drawing the diploma grads away from the hospital programs -- decreasing diploma enrollment to the point of pretty much phasing out diploma programs across the united states.

following the diploma program of study for nurses came the associate program of study for nurses, then "the powers that be that wanted a piece of the action" started franchising/capitalizing on students to come to their colleges and universities for a "real degree". :uhoh3:

"hear ye, hear ye, hear ye...get your bachelors degree in nursing and supercede the diploma and associate grads by being educated to graduate and take over the field of nursing at business and management levels..."

the ajn started the war between educational pathways to nursing...strongly vocalizing their opinions about how they could take over the nursing field by promoting bsn as the way to go so maybe...just maybe...nurses would be seen as professionals alongside doctors, lawyers, etc..., then perhaps...just maybe...nurses salaries and treatment of nurses would increase to a level of recognition in the professional realm.... however.........all i see is one big fallout from what they started years ago in an effort to gain more respect and recognition among other professionals in healthcare.

teachers are professionals, yet...their pay is awful...not much change since i was a youngster. and they take a lot of abuse...much more than nurses (imo). hats off to all teachers! :up:

male dominant professions and skilled trade fields -- apprentice grads -- make oodles of money...more than nurses make.

when i was just starting out as a nurse, i learned that janitors at general motors were making 15 bucks an hour, and i was only making 11 bucks an hour (and that was on nightshift).

there is an unfairness...a great disservice to nurses all around...in pay...in being respected and acknowledged as worthy of better treatment, better pay, better benefits, more say in the shifts we work; more say about having 45 to 60 minute mealbreaks vs. the age old standard of 30 minutes (which we all know is a joke...how can we go from the unit to the cafeteria to eat, and back -- all under 30 minutes without choking on what we swallow...not even able to enjoy the break...then potty breaks...what are we nurses? who is doing this to us? education is not the cause of what is happening to nurses, nor what has been happening to nurses all these years. it's a man's world, and nursing is a job many people correlate with "dirty work"...blue collar work...no matter how educated we are.

i've made more than many of the nurse managers i've had over the years, but i've made that money working shiftwork -- just like factory workers who work shiftwork -- overtime not asked for because when our shift as nurses ends "on paper", we're still there punching away, tired, ready to drop, and don't have a life.

when we get to the real reason of what is crushing us as nurses, that's when we'll have a platform in which to change things for us for the better. we are not going to do this by "one upmanship"...going the route of "i'm a better nurse than you because i have my...." pull together as one force...the nursing force...what power we could have to make a difference if we could only stop eating one another, and become one team...one force...to be reckoned with.

that's my :twocents: two cents, and i'm sticking by it. :yeah::prdnrs:urwlcm::tku:

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does anyone know if there is a big difference ADN vs BSN in jacksonville florida?

thanks!

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In some hospitals BSN pay may be a few cents higher I think.

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My hospital pays about 2k a year extra for BSN. Many schools are now offering accelerated MSN programs for students with previous four year degrees outside of nursing. I think the trend of education is upward and the pay may or may not follow. Nonetheless, ADNs are a thing of the past. What is an LPN?

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I have a BS. I am starting the ADN program this fall. I spoke to recruiters at UAb and was told there would be no difference in pay.

AND yes, UAB now has a MSN program for 2nd degree students.

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Well Magnolia, it is the University of Alabama you are attending..... ;)

If they told you there would be no diff. in pay, they are absolutely fibbing. Call some of the larger hospitals and ask them. Here in GA, it is harder and harder for an ADN (without exp) to get employment in top hospitals. I have a friend at JH and she has an ADN. It took an act of congress to get her a job at that institution. WIth that said, she is an example that there are exceptions to the evolving rules. I know I will not be popular for asking this but, isn't it time the people who take care of us when we are down and out have more education? If nursing is to say the course of bedpan toating, then so be it. Minimize the learning to the most dummied down cirriculum. If we want nursing to be more, let's answer the call and dedicate ourselves to a life of learning. Right?

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I think she meant no difference in pay for my situation, since I already have a BS. I totally agree on the more education thing. Although I am opting for the ADN route, if I did not already have a BS I would by ALL MEANS be doing the BSN. I think that the ADN nurses get a good nursing education but are left in the cold with the other subjects of life that a full bachelors education at a real university allows you. I will probably not be liked for saying that either!

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I have many hours towards my BSN, but life and health issues have kept me from completing it. One thing for sure, it is not always the degree that matters, it is the character of the nurse. I admire anyone who has gone on and gotten a higher degree, most are dedicated, good teachers in most settings, and want to impart knowledge and a sense of caring and ethics to their fellow workers/students. But the sad truth is, after over 28 years as a nurse, I can usually spot many nurses who feel the job is just a paycheck. I recently took care of a nursing instructors mother, just did my job, no special treatment, upon discharge she told the unit manager, if I had not been the nurse during the critical time her mother had for a few days she would have removed her from the facility. Seems she liked my dedication to doing the job a patient needs, not just collecting a pay check. That made me feel good. After all of this time, I needed to hear a good word, and to be recognized as a good nurse. No matter the degree it is still the person character and committment to the job of nursing that counts. I do not know what or how that will ever be imparted to administrations.

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It wont...cirriculums can't teach it. This includes all types of degree levels.

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Ok I know this might cause someone getting upset but here it goes...I have friends that are BSN nurses and work with both ADN and BSN nurses. They tell me some of the BSN nurses do not really know what they are doing as opposed to some ADN nurses that know more.

I had gallbladder surgery July of this year. I had a BSN nurse taking care of me--can you believe that she did not that know what a gallbladder surgery was? She freaked me out because I had recently come out of surgery and she was giving me wrong information! Later that day I had an ADN nurse taking care of me and she told me everything was okay and made sure to get the doctor to explain to me that everything was okay. The funny thing is that where I had it done they have this kind of surgery on a daily basis; it's very frustrating to see that some nurses with higher education aren't all that well prepared...

I know I will not be popular for asking this but, isn't it time the people who take care of us when we are down and out have more education? If nursing is to say the course of bedpan toating, then so be it. Minimize the learning to the most dummied down cirriculum. If we want nursing to be more, let's answer the call and dedicate ourselves to a life of learning. Right?
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