Since a substantial body of research indicates that nurses with bachelor’s degrees have better problem-solving skills and provide a higher level of patient care, the Institute of Medicine has recommended that 80% of the country’s RNs hold BSNs by 2020. BSN-educated nurses earn higher salaries for their expertise and are more likely to advance to leadership positions that those with ADN degrees.
Although the mission statement for the Connecticut Nurses Association calls for all nurses in the state to hold at least a bachelor’s degree, there is a long way to go before this goal is reached. Only 32.2% of Connecticut’s nurses had a BSN in 2013 according to a workforce survey conducted by the Connecticut Nursing Collaborative-Action Coalition.
In an effort to obtain a high quality education that will result in higher earnings, 2,768 students were enrolled in bachelor’s-level nursing programs in Connecticut in 2013 according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The government of Connecticut realizes the critical importance of training nurses at the bachelor’s level, and officials in the Fourth Congressional District provided $57,857 in financial assistance to nurses enrolled in BSN programs in fiscal year 2013.
A Comparison of Salaries for ADN and BSN Prepared RNs in Connecticut
Since the educational level of nurses correlates with their income level, BSN-educated RNs are known to earn much higher salaries than those with ADNs. This is evident in a US Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis of Connecticut nurses in the top salary brackets, which represents those with a BSN degree:
In contrast, the Connecticut Department of Labor indicated that the average salary for a nurse with an ADN was $56,118 in 2014.
The 2012 salary survey of RNs in the Northeastern US conducted by the Advance Healthcare Network for Nurses provides further evidence of the salary differences between BSNs and those with ADNs. The results of this survey also indicate that BSN-educated RNs in Connecticut tend to earn considerably more on average than their peers in the remainder of the Northeastern US:
- BSN $72,665
- ADN $64,598
Salaries for BSN-Educated RNs Throughout Connecticut
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an analysis of the salaries of nurses with BSNs throughout Connecticut (2013):