Benefits of a BSN
While multiple paths to a nursing career exist, the long-term benefits of earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree are proven and numerous.
Unlike what you’ll learn in an associate degree program, a BSN degree program such as UST’s ABSN program covers a wider range of nursing topics, taking a deeper dive into research, management and community health. With a BSN, you’ll also stand to gain more:
Marketability
In its 2010 report called “The Future of Nursing”, the Institute of Medicine recommended increasing the number of BSN holders in the U.S. workforce from 50 to 80 percent by 2020. That goal was not met, but the report did have a lasting impact. Since then, healthcare employers have been making an even greater effort to hire BSN-educated nurses, showing a strong preference for job candidates with this level of education over candidates educated at the associate degree level. Some employers eager to achieve Magnet status have even taken this preference a step further and are now requiring a BSN as a minimum qualification for nursing jobs.
Earning Potential
Demand for their skillset and the level of autonomy and trust that they enjoy, the benefits of a BSN education are that nurses can often secure higher earnings than their ADN-educated counterparts. The annual mean wage for nurses in Texas, for example, was $84,320 as of May 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It’s also worth mentioning that a BSN degree is a stepping stone for the advanced nursing degrees required for such high-paying nursing roles as:
- Nurse anesthetist
- Nurse midwife
- Nurse practitioner
Autonomy
Leaders in the healthcare field continue to recognize the vital role BSN-educated nurses play in improving patient outcomes, empowering them to make more critical care decisions than ever before.
This is because BSN degree programs go beyond associate degree level education, instructing students on developing key critical thinking and leadership skills that earn them the respect of healthcare leaders.
Many studies, including an oft-cited report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, also find that the more BSN-prepared nurses a hospital has on its staff, the lower its patient mortality rates and healthcare costs and the shorter its average patient stays. This study has been backed by more recent studies, including one as recent as 2023 from the Human Resources for Health journal, that came to the same conclusion.
Other studies also point to a connection between the greater presence of BSN-educated nurses and a lower incidence of:
- Pressure ulcers.
- Postoperative deep vein thrombosis.
- Hospital-acquired infections.
