A registered nurse working at a big city hospital – on average – can earn more than $40/hour, though a licensed practical nurse in a small-town rest home might not make half that wage.
A BSN may open more doors and opportunities to the nurse, as it shows the ability to handle increasingly complex nursing responsibilities. Additionally, BSN-prepared nurses typically earn more. Hospitals offer pay differentials and greater opportunities for advancement to registered nurses with BSN degrees.
Once you pass those prerequisites and enter
nursing school, these
classes tend to be
hardest: Pathophysiology.
The Hardest Classes in Nursing School
- Anatomy and Physiology (1 & 2)
- Probability and Statistics.
- Organic (or regular) Chemistry.
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is now the preferred degree of a majority of hospitals. This degree requires four years of college study as opposed to the two required for an ADN.
The average BSN Nurse Salary in California is $125,430, with an hourly wage of $60.30.
The average starting BSN salary is $55,805. This represents the average amount you can earn during your first year as a registered nurse with a BSN. Things like the state, city, and your employer of choice will have the most impact on your salary immediately after you graduate.
BSN education is designed to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. Studies have shown that in hospitals with higher proportions of nurses educated at the baccalaureate level or higher, surgical patients experienced lower mortality and failure-to-rescue rates.
On average, the 2-year nursing degree salary is just over $56,000 per year or $26.45 per hour. Geography plays a role in nursing salaries, with nurses in large cities like New York and Los Angeles earning more than 25 percent above the national average.
The highest paying nursing jobs are:
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist - $167,950.
- General Nurse Practitioner - $107,030.
- Clinical Nurse Specialist - $106,028.
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner - $105,658.
- Certified Nurse Midwife - $103,770.
- Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse - $102,487.
- Pain Management Nurse - $101,916.
While you can still become an RN without earning a BSN, the major difference is the path and time commitment required. You can go straight to the job market as an ADN-RN, or you can opt to further your education with a BSN degree.
All nursing programs will teach you the basics on providing clinical care, but nurses with a BSN are exposed to curriculum that covers communication, critical thinking, and leadership—all essential skills if you want to move up in your career as a nurse. These skills also translate to better patient care.
The BSN Makes You a Better Nurse & Gives You Credibility
The nursing field is continuously advancing, developing new systems and discovering new methods of treating patients. Nurses are constantly challenged to become lifelong learners to serve better patient care and improve healthcare throughout their community.There actually are simple I believe RN-BSN programs are much easier than obtaining an associate degree. You already have the training to be a nurse, and to pass boards. At least the last I knew the statistics, associate degree nurses passed boards at a higher rate than bachelor degree nurses.
In addition to registered nursing, individuals with BSN degrees are qualified for many roles, including:
- Nurse Manager.
- Health Educator.
- Case Manager.
- Quality Coordinator.
- Director.
- Pediatric Nurse.
- Public Health Nurse.
- Critical Care Nurse.
Nurses with a BSN have better patient outcomes, including lower mortality rates and lower failure to rescue rates as well. The research also indicates that BSN holders have higher proficiency in making good diagnoses.
What is the average salary for a registered nurse with a BSN?
| State | Per year | Per hour |
|---|
| California | $106,950 | $51.42 |
| Colorado | $74,240 | $35.69 |
| Connecticut | $81,220 | $39.05 |
| Delaware | $74,800 | $35.96 |
Associate's degree in nursing (ADN).
Similar to a BSN, you will earn your associate's degree from a licensed program, than earn your RN upon program completion and NCLEX passage, so you will have an ADN-RN.- CNA / Certified Nursing Assistant.
- LPN / LVN.
- RN / Registered Nurse.
- NP / Nurse Practitioner.
- CNM / Certified Nurse-Midwife.
- CRNA / Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.
- DNP / Doctor of Nursing Practice.
(l) "Registered nurse - level 4" shall mean a registered nurse who may be referred to as an assistant director of nursing - clinical, assistant director of nursing - management, assistant director of nursing - education, assistant director of nursing - clinical/management/education.
With further experience, specialty training, or education, your pay grade and rank climbs up. For example, as a military nurse in the Army, you would start as Second Lieutenant, then First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and so on. With each earned rank, different responsibilities and higher pay grade are awarded.
Just because an RN or NP is providing health services does not mean they are providing nursing services. When providing nursing services in Alberta, an RN or NP must be registered and hold an active practice permit with CARNA in order to: use the protected titles “registered nurse”, “nurse practitioner”, “RN”, or “NP”.
The idea behind the change was to help patients and visitors have a better understanding of who their caregivers are based on the color of their scrubs. For example, their nurses wear white or navy blue; aides wear dark blue, and janitorial staff wears brown or khaki.
Whereas the RN cannot prescribe medications, the nurse practitioner is licensed to do so, as well as diagnose conditions. Some states and cities have differing laws and regulations that require physicians to oversee NPs, but other areas allow NPs to work without oversight.
About a bachelor's degree in nursing
A bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree prepares you for a job as a registered nurse. While you can work as an RN with an associate's degree, nurses with a BSN are typically given more responsibility, supervisory roles and higher salaries.Nurse practitioners are more patient-centered; Physician assistants are more disease-centered. Nurse practitioners tend to have a long-term approach to working with patients. This is increasingly important when you look at the role of chronic disease in America.
National Average
| Salary Range (Percentile) |
|---|
| 25th | 75th |
|---|
| Annual Salary | $47,000 | $67,500 |
| Monthly Salary | $3,917 | $5,625 |
| Weekly Salary | $904 | $1,298 |
In terms of a daily schedule registered nurses can often be found working 5-8 hour days, 4-10 hour days or 3-12 hour days per week. RN's that work 8 or 10 hour days typically work about 40 hours or so per week, however nurses that work 12 hour days may end up working around 36 hours per week.
Depending upon your level of dedication, a nursing degree can take the following time to complete: Associate's degree programs, which provide entry-level opportunities, usually take two years. A bachelor's degree program takes four years. A bachelor's degree with direct entry typically takes three years.
The U.S. Average Registered Nurse RN Salary is $73,550
In the United States the average annual salary for a Registered Nurse is currently $73,550 which breaks down as an average of $35.36 per hour, $1,414 per week and a monthly salary of $6,129. Have a look at how this compares to the national average wage figures.While RNs report earning lucrative annual salaries, taking the time to earn an MSN in a specialized field can greatly increase that earning power. In fact, MSN graduates average an annual salary of $92,000, according to PayScale. Generally, earning an MSN takes two years for completion.
