Should BSNs be paid more?

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I know ADNs and BSNs both sit for the same NCLEX exam, both have approximately four years of education, and at best have negligible differences (over time) in their nursing skills. BSNs take courses than broaden their overall knowledge; however, ADNs have more clinical experience prior to entering the workforce. Should there be a differential for BSNs, or should the reward for obtaining a BSN lie in the ability to advance one's career?

I'm not trying to start an ADN vs BSN bashing, I'm just curious to see what you all think.

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

It doesn't make sense that ADN's and BSN's do the exact same job in the first place, it's just part of the mess nursing has gotten itself into by not defining itself. Eventually, all nurses will be BSN's and the problem will correct itself, but until then, equal work means equal pay.

I do think those who perform extra duties, like precepting or those in specialized areas deserve extra $$ for their expertise, but if the BSN wants to work side by side with me, she doesn't get extra money for taking a few extra courses. Years of experince deserve compensation because there is a real time investment here. I might grumble that the 25 year nurse may not be pulling her weight, but that's a management issue. I won't deny that she deserves more than me for being in the profession that much longer, though. Each year she got a merit increase, she has just received more of them than I, because she has earned them. Pretty staightforward to me.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
I attended a BSN program, and I don't remember too much of the "fluff" that you speak of. What do you mean by "fluff"?

For me, the local BSN program was not NLN accredited, had a significant lower NCLEX pass rate and had requirements of 9 credit hours of religion classes. It also cost about 4 times as much per credit hour and required first year students to live on campus unless "special circumstances" were demonstrated, also raising the cost.

I would say ...that constitutes "fluff". And while not all BSN programs have that, neither are all ADN programs all merely training and not well rounded.

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I'm an ADN nurse and I have never had the desire to spend thousands of dollars more to get the BSN only to make 50 cents/hr more for it. I work in the ED along with BSN's and even one MSN prepared nurse and only because of my 30 + years of nursing am I able to run circles around them, not because of any degree I have or don't have.

I look at the BSN as a gateway to management positions or a step towards advanced nursing practices.....neither of which appeal to me personally. I think my nurse manager knew what she was doing when she graduated with a BSN, spent 2 months as a staff nurse then took her first nurse manager position. The problem came when she became our nurse manager in the ED and didn't know what it meant to triage or charge, didn't know how to titrate drips or lavage a patient. But that's how it is in our hospital....show me the degree and you have a leadership position regardless of what your experience is. (But that's a whole different topic....sorry)

Anyway, doesn't bother me any. As long as you pull your weight and keep things moving in the unit, you can keep the 50 cents.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ER.
I'm an ADN nurse and I have never had the desire to spend thousands of dollars more to get the BSN only to make 50 cents/hr more for it. I work in the ED along with BSN's and even one MSN prepared nurse and only because of my 30 + years of nursing am I able to run circles around them, not because of any degree I have or don't have.

I look at the BSN as a gateway to management positions or a step towards advanced nursing practices.....neither of which appeal to me personally. I think my nurse manager knew what she was doing when she graduated with a BSN, spent 2 months as a staff nurse then took her first nurse manager position. The problem came when she became our nurse manager in the ED and didn't know what it meant to triage or charge, didn't know how to titrate drips or lavage a patient. But that's how it is in our hospital....show me the degree and you have a leadership position regardless of what your experience is. (But that's a whole different topic....sorry)

Anyway, doesn't bother me any. As long as you pull your weight and keep things moving in the unit, you can keep the 50 cents.

Well, that's completely ridiculous. No one with that little experience is going to know how to do the job, degree or no degree. Whoever hired her as a manager was kinda to blame for that one. My personal belief is that, as you state, advancement to higher degrees is the only benefit of a BSN.

As a BSN myself, I think that higher pay and all this talk of requiring BSNs is complete hogwash. The proof is in the practice, period. I do however disagree with the OP's statement that the ADN's have more clinical time than BSNs_ I don't believe this is true. I think what happens sometimes is that BSN programs choose advanced practice nurses as clinical instructors instead of hard core super experienced bedside nurses like the ADN programs do so you spend alot of time discussing diagnostic and pathophys type issues instead of, say, how to best organize your time on a busy unit, or practical drug- related issues. Clearly the latter are more useful to entry-level RNs.

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It doesn't make sense that ADN's and BSN's do the exact same job in the first place, it's just part of the mess nursing has gotten itself into by not defining itself. Eventually, all nurses will be BSN's and the problem will correct itself, but until then, equal work means equal pay.

I do think those who perform extra duties, like precepting or those in specialized areas deserve extra $$ for their expertise, but if the BSN wants to work side by side with me, she doesn't get extra money for taking a few extra courses. Years of experince deserve compensation because there is a real time investment here. I might grumble that the 25 year nurse may not be pulling her weight, but that's a management issue. I won't deny that she deserves more than me for being in the profession that much longer, though. Each year she got a merit increase, she has just received more of them than I, because she has earned them. Pretty staightforward to me.

I do not think the "all BSN" thing will ever happen. It's not practical.

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.
I do not think the "all BSN" thing will ever happen. It's not practical.

I agree

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
I do not think the "all BSN" thing will ever happen. It's not practical.

No, not practical right now at all, but eventually it will happen. I remember when I got my LPN in '84 and they said they were phasing out the program. Yeah, right. :chuckle Over the years, I took many charge positions as "just an LPN" :rolleyes: , did L&D and did psych nursing that I certainly couldn't do today as an LPN. It took 20 years to get to this, but finally LPN's are pretty much limited to home health and LTC; job security is exactly why I went on to get my ADN. There were few BSN's around 20 years ago, too, but that has sure changed. So, yes, BSN will eventually be the minimum requirement, but I'm not holding my breath! (And certainly not going to worry about going for it myself at 49!)

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

It may or may not happen. But it would take some serious doing. In some places in the USA, up to 70% of RN's are prepared at the AD level for professional nursing........

in some cases, a bit of "tweaking" is all that it would take to make an ADN a BSN program, really. But that would also take money, manpower and some time.

So yes, it may well happen. But it's a long time coming. And I don't think it would necessarily be a bad thing.

Still standing by my belief that BSN's should receive an education differential until that happens. There needs to be an incentive/reward for additional education in nursing, just as in any field. And I don't believe BSN is "all fluff" either. Personally, I would like to see additional education rewarded-----I would like to see RN's hold baccalaureate degrees in varying related disciplines, actually. Coupled with an ADN, many bachelor degrees would be rather useful. Additional education to me, is never, ever a waste of time.

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Personally, I would like to see additional education rewarded-----I would like to see RN's hold baccalaureate degrees in varying related disciplines, actually. Coupled with an ADN, many bachelor degrees would be rather useful. Additional education to me, is never, ever a waste of time.

Might I ask, What varying disciplines? I am curious.

I agree with you, education in whatever form, is never a waste of time.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Well, the sciences, for one----chemistry, biology, microbiology, etc.. I knew a gal who held a BS degree in biology in my ADN program. You can't tell me she was not at least as well, if not better-educated, than many BSN nurses were.

And perhaps, business/economics degrees would couple nicely with an ADN. More of us would do well to understand economics/business, since that is what hospitals have become, really. Would you agree?

And other disciplines may couple well with AD degrees, several come to mind. I would personally like to seek a degree in a more liberal arts capacity (studying foreign languages/anthropology). A degree in psychology ---I can't help but think THAT background would be excellent for a professional nurse to have.

There are others---I am just giving examples.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Well, the sciences, for one----chemistry, biology, microbiology, etc.. I knew a gal who held a BS degree in biology in my ADN program. You can't tell me she was not at least as well, if not better-educated, than many BSN nurses were.

And perhaps, business/economics degrees would couple nicely with an ADN. More of us would do well to understand economics/business, since that is what hospitals have become, really. Would you agree?

And other disciplines may couple well with AD degrees, several come to mind. I would personally like to seek a degree in a more liberal arts capacity (studying foreign languages/anthropology). A degree in psychology ---I can't help but think THAT background would be excellent for a professional nurse to have.

There are others---I am just giving examples.

Personally for differentials, I would draw the line at the BSN, but depending on the job description.

But the case can be argued if peers are getting diff's for BSNs and you have an alternative degree. For instance in nursing informatics. A nurse doing that job who has an ADN should qualify for the education differential if her/his degree is in computer science. A nurse working on the Pysch unit with an ADN should perhaps get a diff for a pyschology degree.

So I see your point. But you gotta draw the line somewhere. A nurse at the bedside who has a degree in computer science or accounting probably shouldn't get the diff.

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