Don't scare me...i start n Fall....how much do u make?

U.S.A. California

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A touchy subject-hmm maybe not. I start school in Fall and out of curiosity i was wondering what do nurses in California make??

CALLING ALL CALIFORNIA NURSES!!!!!!:nurse:

How much do you make and where at???

Thanks!

I'm in Southern Cali (LA)-Love it wouldn't change it for the world!!:redbeathe:redbeathe

Once in awhile, NurseADVANCE or NurseWeek will post regional salaries and the cost of living in their magazines. Companies (aka hospitals) will pay according to national measurements, competition, costs of living, etc. Also depends on the facility, if they have procedures/equipment that require specialized training, you may see a little increase in your wage compared to other facilities who don't offer speacialty treatment. Also, wages increase with years of experience. When I started, I made about 22/hr at a straight pay facility with evening and weekend differential.

Be fearful of this though: IFYOUDONTPASSSCHOOLYOUWONTMAKE$$$OMGWTFBBQ!!! :eek:

:lol2:

That's true!! i gotta finish school ;) or else????:eek: :bugeyes: believe me i've waited oto dang long to let go of this! Thanks! By the way i like your username :cool:

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

I'd keep tabs on the nationwide trends, but you have 4 full years of school. What is out there now will be an entirely new picture once the health care changes start inacting. This also is very dependent unon the economy.

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Since you'll be starting as a new grad OP, I'll tell you new grad wages.

I work in the San Francisco bay area where new grads start between $45 and $50 an hour. When I was a new grad here I started at $56.66/hr on nights, which works out to about $106,000 a year before taxes.

The Sacramento area is $40 to $45, LA is $27 to $35, and the central valley usually falls between the two.

I would never want to work as a nurse in Los Angeles. The cost of living there is comparable to the bay area but RN's here make almost double what they do in LA.

You gotta be kidding me, the Bay area is more costly wouldn't you say?? I live not right in LA but an hour a way, we have a lot of good hospitals out here, i'm crossing my fingers and gonna work real hard to make a difference.

You guys do pretty well up there in your pay, it's gorgeous up there i use to live in Berekely.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.

I too used to live in Berkeley. And Hayweird, Alameda, Fremont. YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THE TRAFFIC UP THERE! Talk about crazy! I can never go back

Nurses in San Diego make less. $28-$33. some higher probably

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.
You gotta be kidding me, the Bay area is more costly wouldn't you say??

No, I'm serious. I grew up in Los Angeles and lived/worked there up until six years ago when I moved to the bay area, so I have a pretty good idea of the cost of living in both places. The cost of living here is almost the same when you look at comparable neighborhoods, i.e. Santa Clarita versus Walnut Creek.

I too used to live in Berkeley. And Hayweird, Alameda, Fremont. YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THE TRAFFIC UP THERE!

Now you must be kidding. Bay area traffic is nothing compared to Los Angeles. Take it from someone who used to commute from the San Fernando Valley to South LA on the 405, and now commutes from the east bay to SF, LA is far worse.

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"Nursing is the most stressful, exhausting (physically & emotionally) and disapointing thing I have ever done. If you do it for the money, I promise you, you will quit in your first year."

You couldn't have said it better. There are way too many people looking into nursing for the wrong reasons and it only ends in misery.

Thing is that just depends on where you work, Public Health nursing is a piece of cake and most psych nursing is too, on night crew someplaces I do nothing for 5-6 hours and get paid for it. It just depends.

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Sac Area is 41-45 a hour with night premium, Prison is 45.50 plus bonuses no matter where in CA you work. The farther from the bay area you get the lower the pay gets.

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I just moved back to Southern California in the San Bernardino/Redlands area. I am very shocked to find that LVN's make more in the southern states. I just am totally shocked . And I have had difficulty even finding a job area seems to be flooded with LVN's . Not sure what the problem is with the wages is it just that there's so much competition that they can offer a low-wage? I'd be curious to get any ideas from some of you.

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.
I just moved back to Southern California in the San Bernardino/Redlands area. I am very shocked to find that LVN's make more in the southern states. I just am totally shocked . And I have had difficulty even finding a job area seems to be flooded with LVN's . Not sure what the problem is with the wages is it just that there's so much competition that they can offer a low-wage? I'd be curious to get any ideas from some of you.

CA is the only state in the country with mandated RN-to-patient ratios. LVNs do not count towards these ratios. Because of this, LVNs are generally not hired in any acute care facilities, which means that available positions for LVNs are not very prevalent, which allows the facilities that do hire LVNs to pay less. You may want to consider completing an LVN-to-RN bridge if you are planning to stay in CA for an extended length of time.

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I did Excelsior in NC and took all the courses. I stopped short of the CPNE since I was moving to California and then no longer accept Excelsior grads in California. I am looking into some other local programs. Thank you for your quick response. I have a couple things on the line but again, pay isn't exceptional. But what you said about RN to patient ratio makes sense. Again, thank you for this insight.

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