100k salary?

[pilot833]

18 year old male. I've wanted to be a nurse for a couple years and will be starting to work towards my BSN this fall. I've volunteered at the local hospital on med/surg floors and the ER room to make sure this is what I want. I will be taking classes to be an EMT-B or ER tech during college in order to gain medical knowledge, contacts in the hospital, and experience in an acute care setting.

Med/surg floors are........eh...but I am absolutely in love with the ICU and ER. When I was volunteering on a med/surg floor a male nurse said he had worked 20 years as a nurse an was making 120k

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My question is how possible is it for a nurse to make over 100k a year?

Does it pretty much require overtime to make that?

Whats the highest you have ever heard of a nurse making that wasn't a anesthetist or practitioner? And what did that require(overtime, certifications, years of experience, department,etc)?

I was thinking of becoming a charge nurse for the ER eventually. Good or bad idea?

I want to make it clear I am NOT getting into nursing for the money, but just like everyone I wouldn't mind making a decent amount doing what I love. I am just interested in how obtainable a "decent" salary is when it comes to nursing

[puravidaLV]

Only certain markets have federal pay that will go over the 100k mark.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

met a nurse in clinical. 25+ years exp; works Fri/Sat/Sun nights. 6 figures

My hospital offers a weekend premium contract where you're obligated to work something like 90% of all weekends in a year. Weekend premium nights is base pay + 65% base pay + night shift diff + weekend shift dff. The nurses make around $90,000/year on this contract.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

It is possible, but it would require OT to do it. I almost made it to the 100k mark, but I was working 40+ hours a week too.

If you work an off shift, you get shift differential which will help. Weekend differential at 4.00/hr would help, as would certification pay 1.00/hr and charge 2.00+ typically. Add that to 20 yrs and you could do it.

Oh, throw in working every holiday under the sun.

I work 36 hr weeks (12 hr shift), get paid for 18yrs (I was docked for being out a few years)and do a lot of committee work. I average 40-45 hours a week and made roughly 90 k last year. I'm also a FT charge and certified.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

I want to make it clear I am NOT getting into nursing for the money,

That doesn't appear to be the case.

Try banking.

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

It also depends on what area of the country you end up working in, since there are wide variations in salary and cost of living from region to region.I made $106,000 in my first year as an RN. That was without overtime. This was in the San Francisco bay area though, where the cost of living is also somewhat higher.

[ProgressiveThinking, MSN, CRNA]

This is highly dependent upon your location and employer. I have RNs in my family who work up in Northern California, and they clear 100k easy. One cousin started at $50/hour at Kaiser. The cost of living is very high there though.

Here in Southern California, it is very possible to make 100k. Many people I work with (I work at a VA in an area with a higher COL than other areas) who have been there 10+ years make 100k with their 25% weekend differential. As a new grad RN I'm set to pull in about 74k with my weekend diff (we're required to do every other weekend) and my paid federal government holidays. I'll probably be up to about 80k/year in 3 years because we automatically get raises every year.

Example:

Base pay:80k (VERY attainable in SoCal after a few years). Per diem job average salary (non-benefited): $40/hr X 12 = $480. Let's say you work 1 extra shift a week 42 weeks of the year:

$480 *40=20160. Total = $100160. You'll make even more with time and a half working OT at your benefited job, and even more if you work night shift. A LOT of people here do it. You REALLY earn your wage in nursing though. We have patient to staff ratios here in Cali as well. It's nice to be a nurse here.

[TotallyAwwwesome]

It is VERY possible for a RN to make 100k. My mother is a psych RN in Los Angeles and she made over 200k last year. I think it just depends on the area you live in. Nurses in the Bay Area (San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, etc) make a little under 100k as new grads!

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

To all you SoCal folks making over six figures, easily ---) isn't cost of living kind of high in these areas? And by kind of high, I mean really high?

[PMFB-RN, RN]

I make over $100K as a staff RN, not counting OT, but DOES include differentials. Just about all the nurses where I work with 5-6 years experience make the same. Some of the nurses who have worked here 20+ years are making $140K or more as staff RNs doing patient care.

There are a number of areas in the country where this is possible. Most of the, Like San Jose Ca, are also very expensive places to live. I looked for an area with a high pay vs cost of living ratio (rather than just looking at pay alone). I found that here in the upper midwest.

[RNsupermom99]

Hubby and I live in the bay area and our combined income is $240,000. We are both RNs (only 2 years in the field!). The cost of living is also a little steeper here. The median house price is $710,000 where we live.

[jtmarcy12, BSN, RN]

Depends on the state. California no problem. Also by law after 8 hours you are paid time and 1/2, double after 12 hours.

[jtmarcy12, BSN, RN]

Good Idea! I think it is a SHAME that they are paying an RN less than $20.00 an hour. That is disgusting!!. If you have some experience try CA the starting pay for new grads was $44.00 I don't know if they have reduced that amount because of the economy. But you will surely make more than $18.00 hour. Try travel nursing that way you can do a 3 month assignment and see how you like traveling. Your air fare, housing and a car is given, (depending on what agency you work for, ACES in Alabama). The agency I worked for was the only one I know of that gave you a rental car. They use to pay for it up front now you rent the car and you get about $200.00 a week for rental. I think they did this because of liability issues. Best wishes to you:).