Many employers reward RNs that have bachelor's degrees with higher hourly pay rates and/or a yearly differential worth thousands of dollars over their associates or diploma degreed counterparts. These educational differentials, similar to shift differentials, may be paid as a sign-on bonus, followed by additional bonuses at six month or one year anniversary dates of employment.
In addition, some hospitals and specialty care centers in geographic areas where nurses are in high demand offer sign on bonus packages featuring loan forgiveness for nurses who have a four-year degree.
Management perception may be that nurses who have the higher education are more valuable because they have greater potential to grow within the organization and therefore, take a greater ownership in decision making that impacts the bottom line. Depending on the school attended, more education could also mean more well rounded skills in critical thinking, diversity and conflict resolution. These skills are particularly valuable when managing teams for the benefit of patient care, as one would do in the role of charge nurse or head nurse.
Although practically any RN may get a job in a physician's office, as a floor nurse in a hospital setting, or in home health, the person who has chosen the non-BSN route will have to go back to school in order to achieve higher professional goals. Often, the furthest a person with an associates or diploma in nursing can go in the hospital ranks is achieving the title of charge nurse or lower level nursing administration. Even then, more hospitals are beginning to require additional schooling to reach these levels of employment.
For a nurse who wishes to take her career further, a BSN is required to specialize and become a certified midwife, school nurse or nurse educator. The degree also offers a competitive edge if applying to graduate school to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist or a nurse practitioner.
If you are interested in relocation, a BSN will increase your chances of an employer picking up the tab for your move--particularly to areas where the senior population is high, such as Arizona and Florida.
Bachelor's degrees also open the door to greater possibilities for employment locales that include greater possibilities for part time hours with holidays off. These positions include, but are not limited to roles such as clinical research, medical writing, insurance consulting, physicians office management and hospice clinical supervision.