Average Salary for ADN vs BSN

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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I know this will vary greatly by region, but what is the average pay for an entry-level nurse (right out of school) with an Associates in Nursing versus a Bachelors in Nursing? Has anyone found that it has been difficult to find a job if you have an ADN? I'm trying to figure out the best educational path, while juggling a full-time job and small child.

Thanks!

I would recommend an accelerated MSN for initial RN certification. Will take the same amount of time, except you will have a master's at the end. May be some good online programs for that, and many schools allow in-state tuition for their online programs. For basic clinical practice it will be the same. At my hospital it wouldn't matter what your BS is in, for management. There are a few accelerated BSN programs also for people already with a BS.

You people who believe that you have to have a BSN to be thought of and respected as a professional ARE CRAZY! To get reconized as a professional you have to ACT like it, and be a professional when it comes to patient care. And for another note you DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BSN DEGREE TO GET A JOB, THAT IS A LIE! An ADN degree is just as equivalent as a BSN degree when it comes to PATIENT CARE. The only difference between a BSN and ADN nursing program is the time it takes to complete it and the reason the BSN student takes longer in the program is because they not only learn the patient care skills needed, just like the ADN, but they take the extra time to learn stuff about management skills as well. You people need to get a clue if you think you are better just because you have a BSN over someone who has an ADN... Cause guess what when you get hired in that hospital that patient isnt gonna know the difference between the two degrees, NOBODY IS! Even the ADN and BSN name tags all say RN!!! It doesnt distinguish between the two.

I also believe that the degree doesnt make the mortaility rate go up or down. There are alot of things that contribute to this like, attitude, how well you and co-workers work together as a team, how well you ask question when you dont know something( I mean come on if your a new grad and you dont know how to do something always ASK, it's better than killing someone), also depends on which section of the hospital you work in, if your short handed or not, how well your SUPERVISOR ACTUALLY DOES THERE JOB AND DOESNT JUST SIT ON THERE A**(this can make a big impact on mortaility rates, because in all honesty they are responsible for everything that goes on on their unit and if they feel like someone is not educated enough just yet to work by themselves but lets them anyways they are just as responsible for what happens as the RN who caused the problem). There are a ton of things that contribute to mortaility rates and statics are never fully accurate. I can guarantee you that out there some where is a BSN who as more deaths than an ADN, a MSN with more deaths than an ADN, a MSN with more deaths than a BSN and an ADN with more than an MSN.... and so forth and so on.

Never for one second think your a better Nurse than me just because you have a BSN.

Huh!!I think the only way this ADN vs BSN endless feud will come to an end is when the Board of Nursing requires only BSN holders take the Nursing Board Exam. Until then both ADN and BSN holders will both be treated the same in the eyes of the healthcare system.

You people who believe that you have to have a BSN to be thought of and respected as a professional ARE CRAZY! To get reconized as a professional you have to ACT like it, and be a professional when it comes to patient care. And for another note you DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BSN DEGREE TO GET A JOB, THAT IS A LIE! An ADN degree is just as equivalent as a BSN degree when it comes to PATIENT CARE. The only difference between a BSN and ADN nursing program is the time it takes to complete it and the reason the BSN student takes longer in the program is because they not only learn the patient care skills needed, just like the ADN, but they take the extra time to learn stuff about management skills as well. You people need to get a clue if you think you are better just because you have a BSN over someone who has an ADN... Cause guess what when you get hired in that hospital that patient isnt gonna know the difference between the two degrees, NOBODY IS! Even the ADN and BSN name tags all say RN!!! It doesnt distinguish between the two.

I also believe that the degree doesnt make the mortaility rate go up or down. There are alot of things that contribute to this like, attitude, how well you and co-workers work together as a team, how well you ask question when you dont know something( I mean come on if your a new grad and you dont know how to do something always ASK, it's better than killing someone), also depends on which section of the hospital you work in, if your short handed or not, how well your SUPERVISOR ACTUALLY DOES THERE JOB AND DOESNT JUST SIT ON THERE A**(this can make a big impact on mortaility rates, because in all honesty they are responsible for everything that goes on on their unit and if they feel like someone is not educated enough just yet to work by themselves but lets them anyways they are just as responsible for what happens as the RN who caused the problem). There are a ton of things that contribute to mortaility rates and statics are never fully accurate. I can guarantee you that out there some where is a BSN who as more deaths than an ADN, a MSN with more deaths than an ADN, a MSN with more deaths than a BSN and an ADN with more than an MSN.... and so forth and so on.

Never for one second think your a better Nurse than me just because you have a BSN.

Methinks you would like a valium?

Huh!!I think the only way this ADN vs BSN endless feud will come to an end is when the Board of Nursing requires only BSN holders take the Nursing Board Exam. Until then both ADN and BSN holders will both be treated the same in the eyes of the healthcare system.

I agree completely!

I worked at a hospital that would put the credentials on the badges - i.e. Nancy Nurse, RN or Nancy Nurse RN,BSN or Nancy Nurse RN, MSN, then they took that away and went to Nancy Nurse RN for all RN's regardless of education. I'm guessing it was either a personnel issue or maybe it was confusing to the patients as many are not aware there are many entry points for RN's - diploma, ADN, or BSN.

One of my co-workers was talking one day about how all nurses should have their BSN, blah,blah - she was very vocal because she had been a scrub tech, went for her BSN, then onto a MSN. She said she was appalled that they continued to allow ADN programs. She said "Don't you agree?" My response, "I have an Associate degree in nursing and that's all I could afford to do at the time. The local CC was a couple of miles from me, the University was a 2.5 hour drive one way. I choose the path that was right for me at that time. And truthfully, I feel that as long as there is a nursing need, there will be ADNs; once the market is saturated they will make a BSN the entry point for all nurses." She was shocked. We didn't argue because there was no need to. It is what it is, and most things take a long time to change. Take a look at medical residency - when they need orthopedic surgeons (or any other specialty) they make the program shorter, when they have too many they tack on a year or two more. GP's don't even have to do a residency.

ADN started because of a nursing shortage and they needed a lot of nurses in a short amount of time, so they made some curriculum changes in the 4 year BSN degree, keeping the core nursing intact, but eliminated the extras (for lack of a better word). If the market becomes grossly saturated and nurses are screaming for jobs, they will scale back tremendously on ADN programs, most likely only keeping them in more rural areas at local CC's.

As for pay differences, that varies from facility to facility, some pay more, some pay the same. The VA Hospital is the only one that I can say has a defined pay structure, as an ADN cannot advance out of a Nurse I to the Nurse II or Nurse III levels and that is a big pay difference.

Specializes in med surg, critical care.

I am currently working on my RN to BSN degree with the intention of becoming a certified wound care nurse. A bachelors degree is required for this but does not have to be in nursing. BCRNA has a good point though, you may be able to get a MSN in close to the same amt of time as a ADN. In our area I think it is easier to get into an accelerated degree program anyway.

I originally obtained my LPN and worked for 2 years before I earned my ADN and worked for 15 years. I earned my BSN 6 months ago. My current employer does not offer any more pay for a BSN. We are located by a large teaching hospital that does not pay a difference for ADN vs. BSN. However, they prefer to only hire BSN's. In the late 90's they tried to only hire BSN's but were not able to obtain enough staff and removed the stipulation. I am in a management role that requires a BSN at this institution. I hire and train our new nurses and have also precepted for various schools over the last 10 years. I can tell you that my students from an ADN program (I have had 4 different schools) were more prepared to be at the bedside and my students from the BSN program (I have had 3 different schools) were able to explain the reason behind what they were doing and their care was based on more timely evidence based practice. What I mean, is that the BSN curriculum seemed to change more rapidly than the ADN curriculum. The BSN students usually found their groove, they just weren't exposed to the bedside care as timely as the ADN students. Or were exposed in earlier semesters and then had little exposure in later semesters.

Being an ADN nurse for 15 years and now having my BSN, I think I can be less biased than some of the comments I have read. My BSN training had more community health, research and management course work than my ADN. My ADN classes were core nursing classes. I feel that the best way for the BSN students to excel at bedside care would be to have the first two years be the support classes and the last two years the core nursing classes and they will be as ready to provide patient care as the ADN students.

As far as the debate of one type of nurse being better than the other. The fact of the matter is that ADN prepared nurses will not be going away. We will be facing an extreme nursing shortage in the coming years from the baby boomers retiring. We will also have an abudance of geriatric patients from the baby boomers aging. There have been many changes that require further education for nursing professors so we will not have enough instructors to teach new nurses, so there is no relief in site for the shortage. I live in Iowa and as of 2015 you have to have your doctorate to be a nurse practitioner and most of our instructors are retiring.

We need to throw away the fight of ADN vs. BSN vs. MSN vs. DNP and come together to fix the problems that face our profession, as a unified group. Yes, there are studies that support BSN's having less mortality rates (I will put some links at the end). However, I think studies are like the bible. You can find a verse or study to support your opinion just as well as someone with the opposite opinion can use the same studies and bible verses to support theirs.

What we need right now are more instructors to start training the new nurses who will be taking care of the nurses who will be retiring in the next 10 years! When I need a bedpan, I want a nurse. It can be an ADN who pushes themself to learn more than required by their school or a BSN who pushes themself to be ready to provide care at the bedside; just get me on the damn pan!

here are the articles

When it comes to lower instances of death in patients, a BSN nurse has a significant advantage over nurses with less formal training. There is also indication of fewer medication errors and happier patients. Ann E. Tourangeau of the University of Toronto states that, "findings indicated that a 10% increase in proportion of baccalaureate prepared nurses was associated with 9 fewer deaths for every 1000 discharged patients (Ann Tourangeau et al (University of Toronto), "Impact of Hospital Nursing Care on 30-day Mortality for Acute Medical Patients" Journal of Advanced Nursing, Jan. 2007)." Additionally, Linda H. Aiken of the Journal of American Medical Associated found that, "a 10% increase in the proportion of hospital staff nurses with baccalaureate degrees is associated with a 5% decline in mortality following common surgical procedures (Linda H. Aiken et al., "Educational Levels of Hospital Nurses and Surgical Patient Mortality", JAMA, Sept. 24, 2003.)" These statistics are beginning to be noticed by hospitals, and Magnet Recognition Programs are evidence. "

I have a degree in Healthcare Administration from the UOP. I am current,y finishing up prereq's for a degree as a ADN. What are my chances of receiving a position in management, if any? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele/CVICU.

At my hospital, BSN gets you a quarter more per hour. I was a single mom doing it all on my own, needed my degree fast, chose an ADN program which has a better rep than the local BSN program, and have never regretted it. My student loans are about $10K less than they would've been w/ the BSN so I couldn't see .25/hour doing me much good.

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele/CVICU.

Deleted to edit.

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele/CVICU.
I have to disagree -ADN and BSN school is not the same. I do believe the BSN should be mandatory. If we want to be thought of as professionals we need to have the education to back it up. Yes , taking care of pts is important , blah blah, blah but the BSN also educates nurses about critical thinking skills and theory. Any one can be taught to put in a foley in -nursing needs to be more than a trade school.

FYI, critical thinking was taught from day one in my ADN program. That's what it's all about. Skills can be taught to a monkey ~ that was a quote from one of my nursing instructors. We were taught to be good nurses, not trade workers.

Im 23 and just finished my BSN and got licensed...so yes it was 4 years, and the nursing core classes are the same, but it is worth the investment! & of course all the rude comments towards BSN nurses come from ADN nurses!

At the end of the day we are a NURSE! Patient care is our main focus, and the advantage of a BSN prepared nurse is that we can go into management, which is huge! & yes we are looked up to as "professionals"

But again patients are our main concern, and thats what matters.

Im from Texas, and the difference in pay is $4.25 as of now..

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