[luv4nursing]

Just chiming in my .02

Im an LPN in Orlando, and my income before taxes will be around 40-45k this year(I havent paid attention to my pay stub lately but last I checked it was already close to 40k). I make 16.50/hr. This was my first and only nursing job. No shift differencial in home health. I actually make on the low end bc Im lazy (lol). I could make more if I worked in a LTC facility but it wouldnt be worth it to me to work a million times harder and risk my license bc of the conditions. Also my agency pays $20/hr if u go to the group homes (peds) w/ 2-3 patient load, but I havent bc the regular nurses in the homes are territorial and catty and I just dont have the energy or patience to deal with that.

I am w-2. I have friends who work for other agencies who are 1099 and they make $22-$24/hr. My agency offers benefits but they are expensive so I didnt take them. Its cheaper for me to have an individual insurance plan than to buy theirs. I havent really shopped around much, but I hear other agencies offer better packages than mine does. Ill be finished with my RN next December, so I figure I can bite the bullet wait one more year to get a good benefits package.


I like the idea about teaching during the year and doing nursing in the summer. It would really raise your income a lot. You could still even have part of the summer off to travel or rest or whatever and work agency whenever you want....you could work as little or much as you want. I understand how you feel bc my best friend is a teacher and was just talking the other day about how she needs a way to make more money bc it isnt cutting it. She is considering nursing too but I told her dont do it for the money bc you will see you work for every penny and it wont even seem like enough for everything you do...plus she is very anti blood and guts so I totally can not see her in the medical field.

I say go for it and big ups to you for looking at nursing as an option to increase your earning potential whether u do it on the side or you change careers. best of luck once again.

[busylady61]

Hi Luv4Nursing,
Thanks for all of this great info because it is so reassuring to me as I continue to consider all the facets of this....

The more I am hearing about LPN work the more encouraged I feel. I know that no job is perfect. I know that nursing is far from a perfect job. But... if I could earn $40k to $45k per year for an honest day's work and not take home bucket loads of papers every night to grade, I would think I had died and gone to heaven. Even now, as I type this, I am listening to my printer run off dozens of copies of things (with ink and paper I paid for) because my school is too cheap to get our copies back to us in a timely fashion. I mean, I'm only doing it because I care about my students and I want them to have proper materials, but still.

Imagine me spending my downtime studying toward a second degree, rather than working for free on a bunch of paperwork... sounds like a no brainer to me.

I would like to think that I could teach full time and nurse on the side, but honestly, my current job is so draining that I don't see how I would have any energy left over for nursing, except maybe during summer vacation.

I've often had very stressful and fast paced jobs in the past, so if nursing is like that, it won't be anything new to me.... I have always been a work horse so in that regard I would definitely be prepared.

It sounds like you have found a really nice niche, one that allows you to use your down time to continue studying and furthering your education. I hope one day soon I will be in your shoes. Thanks again for sharing all of this *great* info.

Also, as far as your friend who is the teacher... if nursing is too much "blood and guts" for her, maybe there is something else in the medical field she might consider. I was originally thinking of going to Florida Hospital College for the occupational therapist assistant degree, but I couldn't do it because it's a daytime program.

US News/World Report recently did a cover story on excellent careers for the future, and occupational therapy/physical therapy were two of the jobs that made the cut. They are different from nursing because they don't require so much scientific training and the patients tend to have a higher rate of success, according to the article. I may eventually consider becoming a nurse on an occupational therapy unit. Or who knows, I may go for a master's in physical therapy rather than a master's in nursing. The great thing about medical careers are that the possibilities are endless.

Here is the link to the article: USNews.com: Money: Excellent careers for 2006

[Epona]

Hi busylady61. Epona here. I had been hemming and hawing back and forth for a long time b/t teacher and nurse myself. I decided on being a nurse for the main reason that I have loved the medical field for a long time and already knew a decent amount about the discipline. I too come from another career. I start my BSN in Jan. YEAH!!!

So I know how you feel. I have been there!! Just follow your heart!

Best of luck to you!!!!

Happy Holidays!!

:Holly2:

[busylady61]

Thank you Epona!

It has been a difficult and sometimes painful process to finally admit to myself that I need to think about getting out of teaching.

But now that I am learning more about nursing, I am getting so excited about all of the possibilities. My greatest hope is that my teaching experience will end up somehow helping me in nursing...

Anyway, it was nice to hear from you. Good luck with your BSN!!!

:hatparty:

[Epona]

yes busylady61. I will use what I learned in PR and Broadcasting in my new RN career. There are MANY opportunities I am told where I can mariott the two together.

Wishing us both luck!! Epona

[outcomesfirst]

I would double check that salary quote - nursing salary is very location dependent, and also tends to remain flat for cost of living - what sounds like allot in CT, may translate to 35K in TN. Also, most nurses work 12 hour shifts 7a - 7 p or 7p - 7a - nights, weekends, holidays are required. Think about your age - can you run for 12 hours straight, maybe no bathroom, food or water? Can you do this 2 or 3 days in a row? Your original post mentioned a high level of frustration with the system - this is the same, perhaps escalated in health care - lives are dependent. For example you mentioned paying for copies for students to be prepared; how are you going to translate this to not having the ability to check your patients status more than a few times a shift, or not being able to complete a full admission assessment because your other patients need you, or knowing that a patient is being discharged into an environment where they will develop bedsores, infections etc and be right back in, or cannot afford their medications and still eat? Consider these questions carefully. If you believe you can handle it, you can make a difference and not just collect a paycheck - please do become a nurse - but go for your RN - LPNs work just as hard, without the benefit of some great education and the pay. If it is strictly a money/security/future earnings issue, I urge you to look at other fields where the returns may be more in line with your needs. A great advantage for nurses with a few years experience is the diversity of opportunity - schools, teaching, research, pharma, insurance, health policy etc. Good Luck!

[ann-synder]

go for it

[busylady61]

Originally Posted by Epona

yes busylady61. I will use what I learned in PR and Broadcasting in my new RN career. There are MANY opportunities I am told where I can mariott the two together.

Wishing us both luck!! Epona

Epona,
I smiled when I read your message. I also have a background in PR and journalism (prior to teaching, for many years)...funny that we have that in common! I am positive that our prior experience will find a way of making itself useful to us in our future profession!

: )

[slou!]

My friend is a teacher and HATES it. She said she would like to do nursing, but obviously is going to wait it out and make sure a, she really wants to do nursing and b, gives teaching some time. She used to waitress before hand and actually made the same amount of money working as a waitress in Cracker Barrel! That is absolutely rediculous!

[busylady61]

Hi outcomesfirst, somehow I overlooked your comment. Thanks for your response.

Well, I think you've brought up some good points.

I hear everything you're saying. And I think in many ways, nursing sounds a great deal more stressful than teaching.

But I guess it's like comparing apples and oranges.

I have always been a work horse so I don't think nursing would be a shock that way. I often work 12 hour days, five days a week. Tutoring at 7:30 a.m., class all day, then after school it's mandatory staff meetings or parent conferences or just trying to clean up the class room or setting up centers for the next day. All day long I am running around the classroom and the school on my feet. Then when I get home at 7 p.m. I take a one hour break for dinner and have been known to then sit down at the laptop to type lessons or do whatever until 9 or 10 p.m. And then on the weekend, spend Sunday afternoon grading papers and such. No, I don't carry that type of schedule every single week. But I do it a lot.

I am accustomed to 20 minute lunch breaks in the middle of the day, and not being able to use the restroom for long periods. Week after week, I am putting in these 60 and 70 hour workweeks, for $36k per year.

Generally I spend about $1,500 a year of my own money for classroom supplies. One year I spent $2,500. Every year I swear it will be the last year I spend anything for my classroom and students, but I end up breaking down and buying ink cartridges, copy paper, books for the class library, etc.

It's true I get summers off. But at the rate I'm going financially, that will be moot because I'm going to have to take a clerk job at Barnes and Noble during summers to make ends meet.

As a nurse, I would not be real excited about working on weekends or holidays. I know I have gotten spoiled that way as a teacher. I am definitely not excited about having limits placed on the number of sick days you can call in. From what I have read, I am gathering that nurses are given X number of days per year to call out, and if they are sick more than that, they get written up. I am still not real clear on that. Someone please correct me if I am wrong because I would love to be wrong on this one!

Even so, financially I feel I cannot afford to stay in teaching. I am a single woman with a mortgage on a high maintenance house. I am barely making my expenses. I am saving nothing toward my retirement at this time. Not a penny.

My current Social Security retirement benefits are estimated to be $600 /month if I retire at 62. If I stay in teaching, I will be working until I am 80 years old. I need to put away some serious money.

I'm making $36k here in Florida with a bachelor's degree in teaching. I could make $40k here in the same city, with a vocational tech school diploma as an LPN... and be able to have more control over my hours (working evenings), so I could further my education with a BSN or a master's in physical therapy or something...from what I gather, once you get the higher level degrees, then you are looking at $60k and up in this area (Orlando). Depending on the degree, the job, the location where you work, how many hours you put in, what shift you work, etc. etc.

The only way I could make $60k plus in education is if I became a principal, and there is no way you could pay me to do that job.

I don't know whether nursing will be the end of the rainbow for me. But I think getting the LPN status will be an important stepping stone that will allow me to continue my education and move into a higher paying field. And, to not have to work 60 hours a week for the rest of my life.

Anyway, I really do appreciate your taking the time to respond. I really do want to go into this with my eyes wide open and it's important for me to hear all perspectives. Thank you!