First RN job & it's pay

[Stephen.Stevens]

Hello everyone,

I would like as many responses as possible. I am located in Houston, Texas but looking to working to work anywhere in the US. I am about to get my RN license and I have started looking for a job. What should I expect my salaray or my wage/hr at my first job as a RN with no experience? If people would tell me their personal pay they received at there first job would be helpful. I've researched the web and found just a scattered range of pays. Your responses will be very appreciated. Thanks!

[GM2RN]

I am not a new nurse but when I graduated from nursing school 20 years ago starting pay was $20.00. I see starting pay has not increase dramatically. Just curious how much did you expect to get paid. $40,000 starting pay out of college is not bad! Nurses often don't get raises every year and when they do it is very little!

That's true. New grads with bachelors degrees in other fields often make only 20-30 thousand dollars for an entry level position.

New grads in my state start between $22 and $27 per hour before shift diff, which varies between hospitals.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

NG with a bachelor's in another field, am an ADN. As a new grad my first job was $28/h.

[Sl1011]

I have an ADN... as a new nurse I'm making $18.90 on regular days and weekends I make $23.90. It's ok pay.

*** Oh, and I live in SC

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

18/hour. Have 2 years exp. Just left but looking for a job. This is in the southeast rural. I have a BSN--made mid 30's last year. Back in school--cannot live on that amount.

Good luck!

[BronxRN28]

In the NYC area I know new grads who started between $68K-$72K.

However, I know upstate NY around the Binghamton area new grads start at about $20-$23/hr.

[UPSBossman]

$40k isnt bad money, and if you need more then you can work a 4th shift one week (which would be all OT.) My wife made over $45 last year, and she wasn't working as an RN until mid April.

OP, why are you asking? From some of your responses, it sounds like you're trying to justify working as a nurse based on the pay... that's the wrong reason to be a nurse. Its good enough of a reason that there are a lot of nurses who do the job just for the money, but they're the nurses who end up on my desk [risk management] often and end up bouncing from facility to facility for related reasons.

Look at why you want to be a nurse. If the only thing you come up with is green and fits nicely into a wallet, please don't care for my loved ones.

[Lissa,RN]

Do you plan on going to school or is making $40,00o sufficient enough to you?

Well I actually bring home A lot more per year as we work mandatory overtime. Anyway, I am going to go back for my masters, but not till my bun in the oven is a few years old. My daughter was a baby when I started nursing school. I was a single mom, and it was really hard.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

I'll ask YOU a question, since you seem very obviously disappointed by the responses you're getting:

How much did you EXPECT to make, starting off as a new grad with no experience?

(I also have to add, since I can see it being possible....don't take the highest amount posted here and pin your hopes on it: pay rates vary GREATLY in different regions of the country, so don't look at one number here that looks like what you want, and expect to get it.)

[Lissa,RN]

Also, $24 x 40 hours per week x 52 weeks per year is fifty thousand per year. Might wanna brush up on your algebra? Just teasing

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

Also, $24 x 40 hours per week x 52 weeks per year is fifty thousand per year. Might wanna brush up on your algebra? Just teasing

The OP specified that she was calculating after taxes. Plus, most nurses get paid for 36 hours per week if they work 12 hour shifts, which is nearly 5,000 dollars less.

OP, I've found that glassdoor.com and salary.com give pretty accurate estimates for salaries in specific areas. Glassdoor.com also gives salaries for specific facilities. These might be good websites for you to look at for the areas you are interested in. Pay does vary greatly based, not only on location, but the type of facility you are working for.

[I♥Dexter]

I am an ADN, new grad in the Seattle area. Two different LTC facilities offered me positions and both quoted the starting wage for new grads as $23/hr. The job I accepted is an RN Residency position in a HUGE hospital and it pays new grads $26.97/hr plus differentials for eves/nocs/weekends. Also, just in case you aren't familiar with the area, the cost of living in Seattle is quite high so I think it would be difficult to live off of and repay student loans with the LTC wage.

Hope that helps!

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

Years ago people thought RNs made a lot of money. Unfortunately, though responsibilities have increased for the RN wage has not. My first job I got $15 an hour at a LTC place 16 years ago. My union counterparts were getting $22.50 just down the road.

It all depends on which state you're in and what facility you work at and if it's union or not. If it's union they must pay current union wage. Do a search for union wages all 50 states and it will show you current union pay trends for each state. Also the previous poster's suggestion about the glassdoor.com. In the end we really don't make that much IMO.