Why do RN's with ASN and BSN make the same?

CHPN1680 · Feb 26, 2005

In my experience, BSN's have often been paid more than ADN's. Admittedly not much but there is usually some difference. I think education makes more difference in terms of opportunity. BSN's often have more positions to choose from and are considered more strongly for certain positions because of advanced education.

I am an ASN an I am quite comfortable with my skill/knowledge level in my position. I am a hospice nurse and I am not convinced that having a BSN would make me a better hospice nurse. However, I do think that advancing ones education shows initiative and more knowledge can only make you a more well rounded person. This should be worth something.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Feb 26, 2005

I personally think it stems from the fact of the supposed 'nursing shortage', and the fact that an ADN takes the same state board exam as a BSN...

As I seem to feel about it...the ADN is put through a excelerated program to get them out and working...less theory, less electives needed, and sadly to say less pharmacology (which I made up on my own...yes I am ADN). We don't take two years before we can see a patient, we start work right away and start treatments very early, so we get to the chase a bit sooner...

But the BSN takes more classes, gets theory down, learns other administrative tasks of nursing...and if you feel you are being shorted, then keep an eye out for employement trended towards a BSN like administrative nursing! (which is what I like, is what I am doing most days..and I am just as qualified as a BSN in this regards because I honed in on it because I loved it...I just don't have the paper to prove my own research/education I have strived on my own!).

Heck, I can say the same right now of new grads (either degree!). I am 5 years out and am making only a buck more an hour than a new grad out of school! NOW that is unfair! And sadly my company pays better than most out there...eeeeekkk!

I have great respect for nurses with their BSN's and had planned on getting mine if I enjoyed nursing..which sadly I do not enjoy it (mainly because of where I work...and no shortage here so you have to keep your jobs held tight!!!) and have no desire to pay for more education just to be called "a nurse" by a management team that doesn't separate BSN's from ADN's...they just call you an RN and expect the same of you no matter what your degree (yet another reason for the same pay!). Maybe if I find my niche, I will continue to my BSN..but like you say..it is more for me, less for monitary reasons since we are paid the same either way...

BUT...I have seen a trend of hiring only BSN's out there...so there is a perk, a BSN has better chances of actually landing a job than an ADN!

But I really like my ADN, it was a great choice for me (and I was granted to get it so yeah!) since I didn't know squat about nursing when I said okay to it...and now I can test the waters before investing too much time into something that I can do and do well...but do not enjoy as much as I had hoped! I can move on or change careers and only loose 4 years of education (two in electives) vs the 6 or so for the BSN!

RN34TX · Feb 26, 2005

In my experience, BSN's have often been paid more than ADN's. Admittedly not much but there is usually some difference. I think education makes more difference in terms of opportunity. BSN's often have more positions to choose from and are considered more strongly for certain positions because of advanced education.
I am an ASN an I am quite comfortable with my skill/knowledge level in my position. I am a hospice nurse and I am not convinced that having a BSN would make me a better hospice nurse. However, I do think that advancing ones education shows initiative and more knowledge can only make you a more well rounded person. This should be worth something.

In my experience, that difference has been .50-$1.00/hour more. Big deal.

I'm trying to stay motivated taking classes toward my BSN but it's not easy when that is what you have to look forward to and you have no desire to move into management.

When I was an LPN, it was much easier to stay motivated to get my ASN because everywhere I worked, no matter how good I was or how bad my co-workers were, it was always rubbed in my face that a hospital will always value the RN and have mediocre (at best) value for the LPN.

BTW, that's a LOT of extra coursework, time, effort, money, etc. just to be able to call yourself a "well-rounded" person. Again, big deal.

BETSRN · Feb 26, 2005

In most other careers those with Bachelors make more then those with Associates, and I don't quite understand why it is different in nursing???? Can someone please clear this up, thanks :)

Probably because in the clinical setting at the bedside, they both do the same job.

RN34TX · Feb 26, 2005

Probably because in the clinical setting at the bedside, they both do the same job.

That might be true but shouldn't the BSN's have something to show for their extra education? You certainly can't throw them into management right out of school so what do you do while they are working at the bedside?

My point is that hospitals dream of having an all BSN staff yet give us very little incentive to get it.

ayndim · Feb 26, 2005

This is how I think employers look at it. First, there is no difference in their job duties. Employers want to pay as little as possible. And not all employers in other fields pay more for higher degrees. And accountant with doctrate/CPA does not get paid moer than a MBA/CPA. Now a MBA does get paid more than a BS in Acctg. But when you have an MBA you have additional education that will give you the skills to do more. And believe me if you have a sharp BS Accountant an employer is not going to offer more to the MBA who does the same job. It is not about the degree but what additional skills it brings along. So a bedside BSN does not have any more bedside nursing skills than a BSN. And in some cases the ADN courses are more heavily clinically loaded so the ADN is better prepared in that case. Of course some BSN's might also be heavily clinically loaded. But in my state the actual time after pre-reqs are the same. Yet the ADN is almost all nursing courses while the BSN are taking extra humanities, management and other things. So I guess it depends on the school but I can only go by the research I did on my state colleges. Personally I chose the ADN because 1) I already have a degree, 2) because I already have a degree and we make to much so we are paying for my school ourselves and it is cheaper and 3) I will let the hospital pay for an RN to BSN for me.

mattsmom81 · Feb 26, 2005

Why do BSN's and ADN's make the same? Because hospitals don't want to pay BSN's more (they don't want to pay ANY of us more than they have to.) and there is no incentive for them to do so. I'm sure this recent 'study' created to attermpt to demonstrate BSN's give superior care was an attempt to provide incentive to employers.

Now some facilities DO pay a bit more for SOME extra education. I get a buck for my certification in critical care. But my BSN coworkers will not automatically get more $$$ (they can always negotiate for more but there are no promises)

memphispanda, RN · Feb 26, 2005

You are paid for the job you do.

I have a BA in social science. I worked for years teaching preschool in a daycare so I could be near my kids during the day but still make money. I was one of two or three with a degree of any sort working there. We were all paid basically the same money. Education doesn't always = money.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 26, 2005

BSNs make a bit more where I work as well. But they pay the same for certification as they do for the BSN. So right now I'm certified, and when I finish my BSN in a couple of years, if I do, I won't make any more money. Crazy huh?

As long as both degrees get you the same RN designation, and the hospital is only looking for that designation, not whether it's an ASN or a BSN, then the pay for having the same designation and performing the same job is going to be relatively the same.

live4today, RN · Feb 26, 2005

there will always be something to debate in nursing education.....whose got what when where and why type comparisons. :uhoh3:

when i started going to the community college many moons ago, i was thrilled to be going to college period! i loved books, learning, expanding my horizons, meeting other people and learning about their differences, cultures, etc., and that was an education in and of itself.

first i obtained business courses, then a lot of psych and sociology classes, english and math........then, i met a pre-nursing student who asked me if i had ever given any thought to becoming a nurse, and i said no rather quickly. :chuckle several years later, i graduated from the nursing program. who would have ever thought of me as a nurse! i sure didn't.

it wasn't until recently that i wished i had continued on in college for a doctorate's degree in something rather than settle for bedside nursing. now i cant' seem to find a job that doesn't require more education than i have. of course, there is no promise of making big bucks with more education, but the opportunities are more the more degrees one has.

if you are going to be a nurse today, keep going with your education. don't assume you don't need it. if possible diversify along the way and get a dual degree so if you don't like nursing you can try business or something else, and still have a degree to show for it. :)

ayndim · Feb 26, 2005

there will always be something to debate in nursing education.....whose got what when where and why type comparisons.
when i started going to the community college many moons ago, i was thrilled to be going to college period! i loved books, learning, expanding my horizons, meeting other people and learning about their differences, cultures, etc., and that was an education in and of itself.
first i obtained business courses, then a lot of psych and sociology classes, english and math........then, i met a pre-nursing student who asked me if i had ever given any thought to becoming a nurse, and i said no rather quickly. :chuckle several years later, i graduated from the nursing program. who would have ever thought of me as a nurse! i sure didn't.
it wasn't until recently that i wished i had continued on in college for a doctorate's degree in something rather than settle for bedside nursing. now i cant' seem to find a job that doesn't require more education than i have. of course, there is no promise of making big bucks with more education, but the opportunities are more the more degrees one has.
if you are going to be a nurse today, keep going with your education. don't assume you don't need it. if possible diversify along the way and get a dual degree so if you don't like nursing you can try business or something else, and still have a degree to show for it. :)

i plan on getting my masters eventually. not for the pay but because i want to be a cnm and it is required. if i were young and eligible for grants i might to the bsn as the first stop. but i am not young and single. and with 3 kids to support it just doesn't make sense for us to pay for the bsn. i am a sahm/student right now. for me to do the bsn i would have to work while in college. i am not prepared to spend that much time away from my kids. i will be gone enough during clincals.

i agree that you should get the education whether your pay is more or not. if you cannot do beside anymore because of the physical demands then you can go onto school nursing, teaching nursing or cna programs and management.

as for the adn/bsn debate i can only say what i found at my state schools. still the nclex pass rates are both pretty good and about the same. i have just heard some nurses saying they wished that the bsn had more nursing classes. but i suppose they must also met the requirements of the college for graduation. i have also heard several nurses and instructors say the best nurses are the cna to lpn to rn to bsn nurses. but to be honest i cannot tell you what degree any nurse who i have seen when a pt or mom of the pt in the hospital had. if they were a nurse then i was happy. i assumed they were rn's but for all i know they could have been lpn's. a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.