Being a registered nurse is great. But, think of yourself as a registered nurse with a BSN degree. You will be in higher demand with your BSN. However, the number of opportunities does not matter, but it is the number of desirable opportunities that matter. With a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, you will get these desired opportunities. When you are planning to start a new career path, the road to success will not be easy at all. When it comes to nursing, there are multiple paths that can lead to a career in nursing. But, the need for highly skilled professionals is on the rise. The following are the paths you can take to become a nurse:

• Certified Nursing Assistant Program
• Licensed Practical Nurse Program
• Registered Nurse Program
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program
• Master of Science in Nursing Program

But, compared to other paths, a BSN degree is associated with several advantages. Let’s try to understand here.

Make more money

When we compare the median salary of an RN and a BSN, we can see a major salary difference between them. For instance, during 2014, payscale.com reports showed that the RN was earning a median salary of $39,100, while the BSN holder was making more than $69,000. As you may see, this is not a small difference. The BSN holders are making a huge difference when it comes to salary and pay. Just like other graduate programs, the BSN degree also will open the doors to higher paying positions for you. Some of the job positions you can get after earning a BSN are:

• Nurse practitioner
• Nurse midwife
• Nurse anesthetist
• Clinical nurse specialist

Acquire more knowledge

This might be more obvious to you that if you get a certain degree you will receive more knowledge. But remember, a BSN can improve your knowledge on nursing strategies dramatically. The major reason for this is because a BSN program would focus on more than just providing patient care. This is not the case with an RN. Your BSN program would focus on many other aspects of nursing like:

• Legal information on healthcare
• Clinical decision-making
• Management of registered nurses
• Formulating patient care plans
• Assisting physicians during surgeries and other treatment procedures
• Other aspects of the healthcare sector

This in-depth knowledge you could gain from your BSN program would allow you to become more than just an RN and also would enable you to provide better patient care.

Improve your nursing skills

A number of research studies have been conducted to determine how a BSN degree can improve the nursing skills when compared to other nursing programs. As such, the aggregated results showed that the BSN program could improve the following skills in a nurse:

• Decreased mortality rates in patients
• Decreased failure-to-rescue rates in patients
• Increased proficiency at diagnoses
• Increased proficiency in evaluating nursing interventions
• Enhanced professional integration
• Enhanced research, as well as evaluation skills

We could agree that the above listed enhanced skills would be impressive. Also, let’s not forget the primary purpose of higher education, which is to make nurses more skillful and proficient in their jobs. Here’s the evidence to prove this. Thus, earning a BSN degree will make you better as a nurse.

Great step towards a master’s program

Some of you might be truly interested in furthering your education in nursing. In such cases, a BSN degree could be a terrific start. Almost all the MSN programs require a BSN degree as a prerequisite because the specialization in your BSN will determine your concentration for a master’s degree. For those candidates who do not proceed to an MSN degree, your BSN will be still useful. If you gain a BSN degree and decide you don’t want to go back to school, you would have still earned a higher credential that could offer you a forward path in a hospital/clinic and this way, it would boost your earning potential too.

Apply to more jobs

As mentioned earlier, a BSN degree would open doors to more jobs. Several nursing jobs, especially management and specialty positions, require a BSN. Nowadays, the bachelor’s degree is identified as essential by many health care organizations, and it is required for any position in some health care organizations. The organizations and institutions have started to understand the value of a more educated staff and it has become a common practice for them to seek employees with at least a bachelor’s degree. Therefore, if you have a BSN degree, then you will be eligible for the vast majority of nursing jobs posted.

Can be a requirement in the near future

A study that was published on nursing encouraged the nurses to get their BSN degrees within 5 years of earning a diploma/associate’s degree. It’s noted that the larger medical institutions are making these recommendations recently. Therefore, we can expect that employers would also follow the same trend in coming years. This would mean that the employers could want their nurses to have a BSN in the near future.

Thus, a BSN degree could be always better than your associate’s degree or certifications. Therefore, if you want a brighter career journey in nursing, earn a BSN degree as early as possible.