I just graduated from a nursing program and am looking for jobs in NC- specifically in the Triangle (yeah, I know, "good luck on that one =P"). I was wondering if anyone who was a new grad (within the past few years) would be willing to give me a rough idea of what their annual salary (I DON'T mean dollars/hour) was in their first year as a new grad. I'm trying to get a ball-park idea of what I would make down here in relation to my loan payments from school. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I tried to find this information in other threads, but could only find salary information in terms of the hourly wage amounts new graduates made.

Anywhere from 40-50k. Thats including Shift diff for nights.

I know you don't want $$ per hour but I thought this might help you.

CHS/CMC pays $19.68/hr base for new grads. You get $3/hr extra for evenings after 3pm. You get $4/hr for weekends.

So say you worked 7a-7pm M/W/F (no weekends/nights, just weekday). The least you would make is 8hrs x 3 days at $19.68 ($472) + 4hrs x 3 days at $22.68 ($272) = $744/week x 52 weeks =

$38,688 per year. MINIMUM

At the max you could work F/S/S weekends nights. (I'm not sure if Sunday over night is considered a weekend for the entire shift so this may be slightly more than what is correct). $26.68 x 36 = $960 x 52 weeks =

$49,920. MAXIMUM.

so $38k -50k is the range depending on the hours/shift you are willing to work. This doesn't include overtime which is gonna be even more (time and a half). So you have potential to make more than the minimum and maximum listed here if you work overtime. I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info- quite helpful. One of my friends said he knew someone at a local hospital (in the Triangle) who made nearly $60k in their first year, but that doesn't make sense when you do the math. Maybe there's something about their salary that I don't know? It sucks that loan payments aren't adjusted for cost of living or salary (unless, of course, you can renegotiate the terms). :/

Thanks for the info- quite helpful. One of my friends said he knew someone at a local hospital (in the Triangle) who made nearly $60k in their first year, but that doesn't make sense when you do the math. Maybe there's something about their salary that I don't know? It sucks that loan payments aren't adjusted for cost of living or salary (unless, of course, you can renegotiate the terms). :/

Maybe your friend worked alot of overtime but your not making $60k on regular time. As a new grad most employers are not going to let you work alot of OT at first.To be honest, Your not going to want work OT because hospital nursing is stressful. Its hard enough for me to work three nights. I definetly don't want to work four. I think WakeMed Raleigh has a great Shift differential. That what keeps me on nights. because I make $800 more a month.

Is it possible he was a new grad like more than a couple years ago? Cause I do believe starting pay for new grads was higher (like maybe closer to $22/hr). I could be mistaken but I believe its gone down over the years.

Anyhow, like the previous poster stated, he had to be doing lots of overtime or working extra PRN at another place?? I'm not sure.

You can definitely make that much in CA or NY but I don't think here.

Oh yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to work overtime if I didn't have to. After working as a nurse aide in a few different high-acuity settings (even before nursing school), I kind of have an idea of how stressful it is to take care of people in a unit for 12 hours at a time. If I was that tired after working 3 12's in a row, I can only imagine how tired the RNs were after working 36 hours.

Is it possible he was a new grad like more than a couple years ago? Cause I do believe starting pay for new grads was higher (like maybe closer to $22/hr). I could be mistaken but I believe its gone down over the years.

Anyhow, like the previous poster stated, he had to be doing lots of overtime or working extra PRN at another place?? I'm not sure.

You can definitely make that much in CA or NY but I don't think here.

This friend of a friend is definitely a recent new grad. The hospital they work at has definitely not given their nurses a pay cut- their starting pay has stayed more or less constant over the last few years (probably with minor increases for inflation). But like I said, the information is second-hand, so there may be an inaccuracy or something I don't know.