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by PHLEBOTOMIST_TO_RN

Just for fun lets just pretend the starting wage for an RN (regardless of education just RN) started at $11.00 hr. Would you still be a nurse? Also, what would be an acceptable starting pay for you to consider the field?. Ill start it off by saying no I would not at $11 hr (to much risk, slave wage for the type of job it is etc) and even though our starting pay around here is $27 hr for new grads I would work for about $20 hr. Be honest with you answers

[MedSurgeNewbie]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

11.00 dollars umm no 20.00 is the ball park here in north east ohio - you can make more that 11.00 at Lowes

[CT Pixie]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

Nope! No way. I make almost double that in my job now with NO degree. I work no weekends, no holidays, no mandiated overtime, whether or not we have call outs, I can still perform my job without risking anything. And to do a job where lives are on the line..no way would I do it for less than I make now. One of the many reasons (not the ONLY reason) I am going into the nursing field is so I can make more than I do now.

Honestly, I have no idea what a good starting pay would be. But its way more than $11/hr. As it is Connecticut's minimum wage is $7+ I would never work as an RN for only a few dollars more than what teens make in their first job of McDonalds, WalMart etc.

[kiyatylese]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

I would, because I got a scholarship for nursing school while I was making $6/hr at a local grocery store. I don't think I would do it If I would have to pay for my own degree. But I am still going back and forth on this one.

[PurrRN]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

My father-in-law is an airplane mechanic who makes over $25.00 an hour, therefore in my mind anthing less than $19-21.00 for a new grad nurse is not to be tolerated.
My reasoning is that nurses hold sooo much responsibility in maintaining human life, that it doesn't make sense to me to be paid less than a general laborer. I'm looking to have an ok/decent life while doing a job I enjoy, not barely scrape by because some "entities", people, etc, think it's my duty as a nurse to care for patients at my own personal expense.

I think area of the country definitely has to be taken into account since pay and living expenses certainly come into play. But I will say there is NOWHERE in the country where I would work as an RN (when I finally achieve my degree), for less than $18.00/hr.

[Tweety]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

Knowing what I know now, probably not.

I will say that in years prior to me becoming a nurse I was making close to minimum wage and RNs were making $12.00 (early 90's) and I thought that was a fortune. So if I was in the same position now $11.00/hr. would not seem like "slave labor" wages. Minimum wage in a hot restaurant cooking, mopping, working late hours, and dealing with the snarly public was slave labor. So given that situation I might do it. An associates degree for that kind of raise might be worth it me.

[morte]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

i worked for 9.25 at my first job.....but when that was is on the list of things not to ask me,lol
now, here in the north east, NO WAY

[nurseKim28590]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

Uh...No. But, I'm not sure what new grads are making these days....but I'd bet it's greater than that! 18 yrs ago it was 12.35 here in eastern NC...though I hear we don't get what you guys up north get...but our cost of living is much less so I think it evens out.

[kontakt]

Re: would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

In 1992, I started nursing @ a little over $12.00/hour. Eleven years earlier, in 1981, I was working as a steel factory worker making that same amount of money (it was 3-month summer job program that I had for 4 summers which paid for my college expenses). And Now? I can't complain about my current hourly rate as a nurse. My base pay is a little over $32.00/hour.

But making $11.00/hour as a nurse in 2007 is not acceptable in any part of the country. There can be an argument made that making $11.00/hour by anyone working in any chosen field, in any part of the country, is unacceptable.

[mom2michael]

Originally Posted by SiamCat1

My father-in-law is an airplane mechanic who makes over $25.00 an hour, therefore in my mind anthing less than $19-21.00 for a new grad nurse is not to be tolerated.
My reasoning is that nurses hold sooo much responsibility in maintaining human life, that it doesn't make sense to me to be paid less than a general laborer. I'm looking to have an ok/decent life while doing a job I enjoy, not barely scrape by because some "entities", people, etc, think it's my duty as a nurse to care for patients at my own personal expense.

I think area of the country definitely has to be taken into account since pay and living expenses certainly come into play. But I will say there is NOWHERE in the country where I would work as an RN (when I finally achieve my degree), for less than $18.00/hr.

Where I live spanning across 2 states, I've yet to see a starting new grad wage over $18/hr yet. Most are $16'ish. And no, cost of living is not that low where I live. And where I live there are 13 hospitals within 1 hour drive from me and it's the same story in each facility, low, crappy pay. I've seen as low as $14.37 to as high as $17.95 with the average, starting pay for new grads..$16-17/hr. Sure they'll do a 2:1 pay raise for your experience as an LPN and most facilities might give you 1% above for your experience as a tech...but not always.

And no, moving is not even close to an option for me for another 10 years.

So would I work for $11/hr, probably not, but I don't make too much more than that right now