Industry Statistics related to the BSN Nurses

Here are a few general statistics associated with the nursing industry, focusing on BSN nurses.

• The nursing field continues to demand ever-increasing numbers of Registered Nurses. Even in periods of economic decline the healthcare field demands that jobs be filled. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011), reports that health care jobs are on the rise in November 2011. By their account the healthcare industry gained 27,000 jobs per month in the past twelve months.
• The nursing shortage continues to plague the U.S. To help alleviate the pain Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, made over $70 million dollars in grants available to help educate and train more nurses (Health and Human Services, 2011).
• Nurses make up the largest sector of healthcare jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). They are currently 2.6 million strong, with over 60% employed in the hospital environment.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the need for RNs will grow approximately 22% from its current rate by 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). This growth will support a growing need to nurses with advanced degrees.
• Controversy heats up over the minimal educational requirement for an RN. Nurse.com (Nurse.com, 2011) reports that even though there is no formal legislation, employers prefer to go with BSN prepared nurses.
• BSN nurses make up 60% of the bedside workforce in states like Florida, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania according the Nurse.Com (Nurse.com, 2011).
• The Associate’s degree pathway continues to be the more popular educational program according the National League of Nursing (National League of Nursing, 2011). They also report that one of the biggest barriers to training is lack of qualified instructors with advanced degrees.
• The average salary range for a new graduate BSN is $36,000 to $44,000 per year per BSN.org (BSN, 2011). There are, of course, many variables such as years of experience, certifications, and other training. Other considerations would be geographical location, local number of nurses in the workforce, and other pertinent data.
• The average cost of an online RN to BSN program varies wildly. Estimates include figures as low as $10,000 to over $40,000. The high salary return makes the cost of an RN to BSN education an attractive trade-off.
• Go.college.com (Go College, 2011) looked at the effectiveness of nursing educational programs. To do this they investigated things such as the rate of passage for the license exam. According to their research the top three nursing colleges in the country are: University of Virginia, University of California at Los Angeles, and Berkley.