For nurses, education should be a lifelong pursuit. It will help you do the following:

Open new opportunities

• Advanced degrees open new job opportunities, such as advanced practice nursing and nurse educator.
• Schools are turning away students due to lack of adequate faculty. From 2012 to 2022, projected job growth for nurs- ing instructors will increase 35% (much faster than average).

Stay Competitive

• The Institute of Medicine set a goal of 80% of nurses having BSNs by 2020.
• 44% of hospitals and other healthcare setting now require new nurse hires to have a BSN.
• Nurses with BSNs are more likely to be hired.

Earn More

Nurses with BSNs can earn as much as $9,000 per year more than those with ADNs.

Give the best care possible

Studies show a BSN increases quality of care. For instance:

• A 10% higher proportion of BSN-prepared nurses on hospital units was linked to a 10.9% drop in patient mortality.
• A 10% increase in hospital nurses with BSNs was linked to an average reduction of 2.12 deaths per 1,000 patients—and for a subset of patients with complications, an average reduction of 7.47 deaths per 1,000 patients.