[funnynurse]

I chose to go casual which is the best decision I ever made! You work when you want to work and the pay is waaay better (you can even still get shift diff!) If you don't need the insurance it is the way to go.

[Teshiee]

I THINK THE COOLEST THING ABOUT WORKING REGISTRY IS THE FREEDOM. TO WORK WHEN ONE WANTS TO. JUST THINK MOST THINGS HOSPITALS GIVE YOU CAN PURCHASE YOURSELF. I KNOW LOTS OF US HAVE CHILDREN AND I UNDERSTAND THAT COMPLETELY. I JUST HATE BEING A SLAVE TO A JOB. SOME OF THE DOWN FALLS ARE WHEN THE CENSUS GETS LOW YOU REALLY START TO FEEL IT. YOU END UP WORKING IN AREAS YOU MAY NOT WANT TO WORK. DEPENDING WHO THE STAFFER IS THEY MAY TRY TO SEND YOU TO SOME PLACE OUT OF YOUR WAY OR WHERE YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO. FOR THOSE WHO NOTICED YOUR ARE TAXED FAR MORE THAN REGULAR TIME HOSPITAL. BASE ON WHAT YOUR NEEDS ARE REGISTRY CAN BE FOR YOU FULLTIME OR JUST OCCASIONAL. I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND A NEW GRAD DOING JUST FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. I KNOW THERE ARE REGISTRIES THAT WONT HIRE YOU BUT IF YOU LIE AND SAY OTHERWISE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CHECK. THEY WILL MAKE SURE YOUR LICENSE IS CURRENT. I RATHER DO BOTH.

[shanzah]

Brandy, you will be making 15.83 when you graduate!!!! I make 16.23 and I've been doing my job for 10+ years..... how do ya like them odds.......oh, I have worked where I made more, but it was agency and I got tired of travelling, besides, I still have kids at home too.

[a54flo]

My current hourly wage is 24.75 and I have been a nurse for almost 20 years. At my hospital we use the novice to expert staging model by Benner and I have staged as an expert (5). Our top of scale is about 27.80 for stage 5. One of the nurses I work with has worked on this unit for 27 years and STILL has not reached top of scale for a level 5 RN. Yet there are nurses who have hired in with as little as 10 years experience who are making very close to what she is. Administrations can only do this because people will not talk openly about their wages. If they did, administration would have to be more equitable with raises etc. If everyone were paid based on how long they had been a nurse, you would have equity. You would also cut down on people leaving to go to another hospital because they can get more money per hour.

[teeituptom]

W ell I have been doing this for over 2 decades now. I remeber when I first graduated in Oklahoma, I started out at 6.25/hr. Now years later, and further south in Texass. My base pay is a little over 35 an hour now. And Im only a charge nurse in an ER. So you cant say it really is administrative pay. Primarily, my pay level is there for a number of reasons. First off, seniority and experience can count for a fair part of it. Secondly achieving and maintaining specialty certifications need for Er, account for some of it. such as CEN,PALS,TNCC,ACLS,NALS, etc and a few other that can fit in there. All help your bargaining power. That brings us up to number 3 on the list. Bargaining, down in texas there is no collective bargaing going on to help you out.
When you to apply for a job, do it with the utmost in professionalism. Dress very nicely, resume well formatted and on good paper, And approach the interview with the mind set of they are not just interviewing me, Im interviewing them. You let them know what your capabilities are and any special skills that you posess to enhance your appeal to them. But in return,you let them know what you are expecting to recieve and you can bargain from there. And this does work,in texas anyway. maybe in states with collective bargaining aka Unions and stuff, this wont work, I dont know but it cant hurt to try.
Also remember nurse recruiters are not your friends, they are the enemy. While some of them are actually nurses themselves, they are tools of the administration. And their job is to try to plug you into a hole or slot. most of them get bonuses for filling slots. So do they truly care about you as an individual, while some might the majority is HELL NO.... So if you are applying at a hospital for a job or in anything else for that matter, dont fall for that old addage that you just need to get your foot in the door. Go in with a clearly defined list of needs for yourself. yes there is room for give and take on both sides, but dont settle for just a handout. Remember you are doing them a favor, not the other way around.
So in lieu of good collective bargaining, stand up for yourself. You are there to provide a service for them and their customers. The patient. So dont sell yourselves short.
Be positive about yourself
Good luck and go get them
teeituptom

[Peeps Mcarthur]

Almost 1200 views and only about 100 participated in the poll?

You just have to click dots people! I don't see the problem with posting your hourly wage in a poll that is completely anonymous.

[fergus51]

Peeps, I am one of those non-participants because I work in Canada. My wage here is about 18$ US. WHen I left the US I was making 22$.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

Fergus51,
It's just frustrating because I would like to see the real wages as compared to the BS we hear from other sources.
This would seem to be the perfect forum for such a thing.
I hadn't thought of people from other countries viewing it though. That could be the rest of the lurkers. Maybe there's only about a hundred members from the U.S. that are actually employed.
Thanks.

[fergus51]

I know it can be frustrating, but I think everytime we look we count as another view, if so I am at least 10 of those!

[Stargazer]

And many of us who do not work at the bedside (and thus are exempt from your survey) are nonetheless interested in the results.