As nurses continue to realize that BSN degrees equate to higher salaries, more nursing students are participating in BSN programs in North Dakota.
The American Association of Colleges of Nurses reported that 1,042 students enrolled in bachelor’s-level nursing programs throughout North Dakota in 2013. In that same year, the state also successfully graduated 567 students from local bachelor and graduate nursing programs.
When the North Dakota Nurses Association announced their advocacy platform in 2014, educational access for nurses interested in earning higher degrees was named as its chief objective. The growing interest in BSN education among nurses has made bachelor degree programs in Dickinson, Minot, and Fargo especially popular.
As of February 2015, the largest employers of registered nurses in North Dakota included Sanford Health, Essentia Health, Trinity Health, and Altru Health Systems. However, positions and salaries offered by these healthcare powerhouses remain highly competitive and preferential hiring treatment is awarded to BSN-educated job candidates.
ADN vs. BSN Salary and Wage Comparisons
According to the North Dakota Workforce Intelligence Network, nurses that complete BSN programs are exposed to more extensive education in physical and social sciences, communication, leadership, and critical thinking, as well as gain more extensive clinical training.
These inherently crucial career skills cause employers to offer BSN nurses more generous salaries than their ADN educated co-workers. For example, in 2013, ADN nurses working in North Dakota earned an average annual salary of $45,960 and an average hourly wage of $22.10.
By comparison, in that same year, BSN-educated nurses earned an average annual salary of $61,060 and an average hourly wage of $29.36.
Along with more exceptional salaries, nurses in North Dakota that hold BSNs have a greater opportunity for career advancement to become medical health and service managers, nurse practitioners, and postsecondary nursing instructors and teachers.
Regional Salary and Wage Averages Among BSNs in North Dakota
Nurses with BSNs typically earn the highest salaries in their licensure classification, typically representing the 75th and 90th earning percentiles among all non-advanced practice RNs. Still, a BSN nurse’s occupational income often shifts according to their geographic location.
As such, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics published the data shown in the following table to depict BSN salaries across North Dakota’s major metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in 2013: