How much did you earn your first year?

Nurses New Nurse

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Hello, I am interested in nursing and am currently getting my 2 yr degree to be an RN. I am really interested in how much do the nurses make because some people say they make good money and others say they do not.

How much did you approx. make your first year/ or how much are you going to make and where do you live?

Specializes in ICU Nursing.

I've been a nurse for two months and have started out making 24.69 (+ night and weekend diff.) per hour in the ICU. That evens out to about 42,000-45,000 per year.

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Specializes in GYN/GON/Med-Surg/Oncology/Tele.
I graduated in May and started working in June of this year, so far, my year to date earnings are $27,345.00.

Okay...so what state are you in? Because obviously I need to move there once I'm accepted and graduate.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.
Okay...so what state are you in? Because obviously I need to move there once I'm accepted and graduate.

Texas

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Specializes in GYN/GON/Med-Surg/Oncology/Tele.
I just graduated at the end of summer and yesterday I got offered a job in an ICU in the Bay Area of California. They are starting me off at $42.75 for days and a night differential of six dollars more. But I have a friend working in San Francisco who is also a new grad and she is making $53/hr on a night shift in Postpartum. Now THAT'S good money!

That "good" money could be the reason one of our "bad" nurses is planning to transfer out that way at the end of the year!

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Specializes in GYN/GON/Med-Surg/Oncology/Tele.
thats some good pay, what is it like here in cali, 62k sounds good,but rent is 2400

Rent here in NC for a so called "luxury" 1 br is approximately $650. If I'm not mistaken starting pay in NC is somewhere between $18 and $23

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Orange county, CA:

Telemetry

New Grad days: 29.70

New Grad nights: 34.70

Unfortunately the cost of living eats a lot of that right up, *sigh*. I suppose the gorgeous weather and beaches make up for it though....;)

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I always thought CA paid sooo much more.. the person from LA makes about what I make in Houston.

Unfortunately we do have the higher cost of living here, but the payrate certainly doesn't make up for it! I lived in SC and had a 4 bedroom house, 2000+ sq ft, and my mortgage was about 1200/month. Then I moved to the OC, California and got a teeny tiny 2bdrm apartment for 1600/month. Am buying a 1700 sq foot 3 bdrm home here and my mortgage will be 3000/month. So my paycheck is basically obliterated!!

However, I do think it should be taken into account that we have such great nursing ratios. I have 4 patients maximum, and if I don't have a PCT, then I only have 3 maximum. That is worth not completely making up for cost of living. Back in SC there were times the nurses had 8-9pts each! No way!!:bugeyes:

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When do you start making really good money in Orange County? That's where I'll be working, and right now, I'm taking home around 3500 a month in tips waitressing. I'm starting to second guess quitting work for nursing school if I'm going to be making less than I do now.

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When do you start making really good money in Orange County? That's where I'll be working, and right now, I'm taking home around 3500 a month in tips waitressing. I'm starting to second guess quitting work for nursing school if I'm going to be making less than I do now.

What are your hours when waitressing? I work three 12 hr shifts per week. I also have about 80% of my insurance paid (including dental and vision), I get like 180 hrs PTO a year from the start (which is over a month of paid time off), and bonuses (3000 sign on) and regular raises. My take home is usually 4000/month after everything with me pulling in about 2-3 hrs overtime total. So, yeah, it isn't a lot more than you bring in (good for you!:up:) but I bet you don't get those kind of benefits. And that is consistant pay-I never make less. So it might be worth it. You can always pull an extra shift which ends up bringing in about another 600/night. Not to mention job security....

Good luck in whatever you do!

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What are your hours when waitressing? I work three 12 hr shifts per week. I also have about 80% of my insurance paid (including dental and vision), I get like 180 hrs PTO a year from the start (which is over a month of paid time off), and bonuses (3000 sign on) and regular raises. My take home is usually 4000/month after everything with me pulling in about 2-3 hrs overtime total. So, yeah, it isn't a lot more than you bring in (good for you!:up:) but I bet you don't get those kind of benefits. And that is consistant pay-I never make less. So it might be worth it. You can always pull an extra shift which ends up bringing in about another 600/night. Not to mention job security....

Good luck in whatever you do!

Great points!! I usually end up working around 35 hours a week, but like you said, the money I bring in CAN be less every once in a while when there's a bad month.

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Oh, Petunia, I also meant to ask how long you've been nursing? Thanks!

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