Why aren't there better incentives for obtaining a BSN degree?

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I'm a BSN nurse, and I was just wondering why is it that there are so few incentives for obtaining a BSN degree as opposed to an ADN degree? I know that an RN is an RN, but I feel there should be greater incentives for obtaining a BSN degree. BSN nurses only get paid generally an extra 50 cents to $1 an hour than ADN nurses from what I've seen so far, but it doesn't make sense to me. On top of that, MSN prepared nurses don't seem to make much more than BSN nurses. At various hospitals I saw that their MSN differential is $1300 a year. I 've also seen that certification differentials at these same hospitals are around $1200 (not much different than a BSN or MSN differential).

Why is this the case? I've come across nurses with ADN's who would like to get there BSN but don't because there are no real incentives, given the additional schooling and extra tuition involved. From ADN to BSN to MSN to Doctorate there should be much larger wages as one progresses from one degree to the next. I think there should be at least a $10,000 difference in yearly salary. In many ways, money talks, and it seems that what facilities that hire nurses are saying to us is that they only wan't ADN nurses.

I bet that an OT with a masters would be paid significantly more than an OT with a bachelors

*** Uh, no they do not. The BS prepared OT's are the older ones with more years of service and experience thus they make more money.

and that a pharmacist with a doctoral degree would be paid more than a Pharmacist with a PharmD, even if the two are doing the same job and all are licensed.

*** This makes no sense PharmD = doctorate. You are saying a pharmacists with a doctorate makes more than a pharmacists with a doctorate?????????????

A PharmD is not a doctoral degree, it is not a graduate degree either. It is a Doctor of Pharmacy degree for entry level practice. After someone obtains a PharmD, if they want a doctoral degree, they must first earn a masters degree, and then a doctoral degree.

As for OT's, there are not only experienced OTs with bachelors degrees, there are also experienced OTs with masters degrees as well.

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aside from some of the senior nurses who would most likely be grandfathered in, anyone who recently entered the profession will require their bsn at some point, if they hope to advance.

*** i would agree that the chances of advancing are better for those with a bsn. however bedside nursing is the desire and goal for a great many nurses. those who want to advance can do 18 months of easy, part time, online classes like i did to get their bsn.

you've often posted about how little you learned in your rn-bsn program. has it occurred to you, that if you chose another program instead of the "18months of easy, part time, online classes" you took, you may have gotten more out of it?

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aside from some of the senior nurses who would most likely be grandfathered in, anyone who recently entered the profession will require their bsn at some point, if they hope to advance.

*** i would agree that the chances of advancing are better for those with a bsn. however bedside nursing is the desire and goal for a great many nurses. those who want to advance can do 18 months of easy, part time, online classes like i did to get their bsn.

you've often posted about how little you learned in your rn-bsn program. has it occurred to you, that if you chose another program instead of the "18months of easy, part time, online classes" you took, you may have gotten more out of it?

right? this is such a pet peeve of mine- people complain about how worthless bsn education is because they didn't learn anything from their rn-bsn that was designed to require the least amount of work out of them.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Regarding the post above...in response:

It doesn't matter that you were able to obtain a position in 2009. This is 2011, and the whole point of this discussion is the fact that more facilities are requiring BSNs, but not willing to offer "incentives."

To say that "this is the US", and who cares, basically what other countries require (or to that effect)...well, if you are content in your career, that's great. Ultimately, it's an individual decision regarding a particular career path. However, given that we all live in a global economy, the trends in nursing, and business, affect ALL of us, regardless of borders. So when a degree becomes the standard for a given profession, it's only a matter of time before everyone is affected, in some way. Which, is clearly the case. People have the choice to accept this or not.

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Consider yourselves lucky, that there are on line programs for those who are going back from RN to BSN. When I went back to school to earn my BSN, I was a diploma graduate. No one had computers in 1981.

I went to school for two days a week at CSULB, and worked part time three 12 hour shifts in ICU, for SIX YEARS to earn my BSN. I was lucky, that at the time, the tuition at the California state colleges was dirt cheap.

I was able to graduate debt free, as I was able to pay my way with the cheap tuition. I have no sympathy for the nurses who complain that they cannot go back to school with all of the options available together, that were not available when I went back to school.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

you've often posted about how little you learned in your rn-bsn program. has it occurred to you, that if you chose another program instead of the "18months of easy, part time, online classes" you took, you may have gotten more out of it?

*** has it ever occurred to you that there simply wasn't much for me, an educated, experienced, multi-certified rn to learn in any bsn program? i didn't look for an easy bsn program. i went down to my local state university (university of wisconsin madison) and enrolled. i didn't spend much time looking into rn to bsn programs. why would i? a bsn is a bsn is a bsn. the program was rigorous enough, it just didn't cover any new ground for me in the nursing field. i did learn to painlessly write an apa paper. the research class was just a review of what i learned in the ceu classes i took here:

http://www.tchpeducation.com/

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has it ever occurred to you that there simply wasn't much for me, an educated, experienced, multi-certified rn to learn in any bsn program? i didn't look for an easy bsn program. i went down to my local state university (university of wisconsin madison) and enrolled. i didn't spend much time looking into rn to bsn programs. why would i? a bsn is a bsn is a bsn. the program was rigorous enough, it just didn't cover any new ground for me in the nursing field. i did learn to painlessly write an apa paper. the research class was just a review of what i learned in the ceu classes i took here:

http://www.tchpeducation.com/

it appears we have different approaches to education. when choosing a program, i research the program. yes, a bsn is a bsn....but not all bsn programs give the same experience. i wasn't shopping for a degree, but for an education.

perhaps you're right, and you knew everything already....it's possible.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Right? This is such a pet peeve of mine- people complain about how worthless BSN education is because they didn't learn anything from their RN-BSN that was designed to require the least amount of work out of them.

*** I didn't go to the University of Phoenix or one of the for profit online schools. I went to a University of Wisconsin program that was most certainly not desined to require a little as possible. It is much more the case that there simply wasn't much for me to learn about nursing in a BSN program (not the same as saying there isn't much for me learn about nursing, there is ton's and tons of stuff I need to learn, but it's not offered in a BSN program), not that the program had much nursing content.

In any event I didn't say it was worthless.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Lindarn. I returned to school at the age of 31. This took me 5 years, because I had to take prerequisities first, and then 4 years of university and clinicals. Including working part time all the way through. There is no online BSN up here. You sit in class and learn. An online BSN seems kind of sketchy, IMO. What are you learning? And the people who resist it the most will be the same ones complaining down the road when they realize that they can't get the positions they want.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
It appears we have different approaches to education. When choosing a program, I research the program. Yes, a BSN is a BSN....but not all BSN programs give the same experience. I wasn't shopping for a degree, but for an education.

Perhaps you're right, and you knew everything already....it's possible.

*** We don't have a different approach to education. When I was looking for an education I was very careful about the school I picked. I attained an education at that school when I earned my first undergrad degree.

I most certainly do NOT know everything. I did however already know the BASIC nursing education that is taught in a BSN program.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

The whole point of BSN only entry to practice for RNs is to exclude as many men and other non-traditional types of people from the field of nursing as possible as far as I can see.

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*** we don't have a different approach to education. when i was looking for an education i was very careful about the school i picked. i attained an education at that school when i earned my first undergrad degree.

i most certainly do not know everything. i did however already know the basic nursing education that is taught in a bsn program.

i made the statement from your comment "i didn't spend much time looking into rn to bsn programs. why would i? a bsn is a bsn is a bsn."

if you mistated and you did spend time researching rn to bsn programs, then i stand corrected.

i didn't research schools, but programs and what each curriculum entailed. you could be right that all bsn programs would only present basic information you already knew....

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