Compare Nurses Salaries Across The Nation

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Nursing Education, LTC, and HHC.

Wondering how nurse salaries are comparing as a whole across the nation. Are you paid more for having a BSN or Masters as compared to those with an ASN degree? I am writing from Florida where our RN's start at about 17.00 an hour. The high end of the scale will top out at about 23 or 24 an hour if they have many many years of experiance and a higher degree. How does this compare to the rest of the states?

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

Hi Monica!

Those rates are lower than where I work. I wouldn't work for anything less than 25.00 an hour. :nono: And even that amount sucks for as long as I've been a nurse.

There is NO pay difference where I work for path of degree choice taken by each staff nurse hired. You may disagree with me on this, but I personally do NOT think there should be a pay difference for nurses who work as staff nurses just because they have obainted a different degree path than another staff nurse.

Now...I DO think if a nurse is in management, the pay should reflect the expertise required by the job.......that is IF the job requires a BSN, MSN, or PhD to do "said job".

For example: There are hospitals that only hire BSN grads. The pay should be the same until they assume a role of management, then they should be paid more.

If the nurses are doing the same work, the same payscale should apply. Just my thoughts on this. :)

Specializes in ER, ICU, Nursing Education, LTC, and HHC.

Dear Cheerful... I certainly agree that nurses should be paid similar pay if they are doing the same type of work, as many places do not pay higher based on degrees. I have been in management for years and pay is still not great even then. The issue I hear al the time in our LTC facility is that the place is staffed mostly with LPN's who are paid 13 to 14 dollars an hour, and the RN's do EXACTLY the same work for 17 to 20 an hour. Certainly an RN should be paud a bit better than an LPN but what do you think when there is absolutely no difference in the work they do? In my opinion the LPN's should be the ones paid better. What do you think????

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

I agree Monica. I have always thought it sad and pitiful and dehumanizing for LPNs to be paid so low just as RNs are paid too low a wage. I still see the problem being that nursing is predominantly "female" which is why I think nurses are still considered low on the wage totem pole in comparison to men in mostly male occupations. :o

RNS (regardless of "degree choice") should be paid more than LPNs because our nursing license requires more expertise than theirs does. RNs have more responsibility based on the Nursing Board Guidelines, even if the LPNs are doing just as much as RNs in many areas across the USA. Perhaps those Nursing Board Guidelines should be revamped for LTC facilities?

When it comes to RN pay differences......a RN is a RN because she/he passed the NCLEX and has earned the privilege to work as a licensed registered nurse in accordance with the nursing boards guidelines spelled out for RNs.

Where the pay differences come from for RNs is based on each hiring facility's individual decision as to whether they are willing to pay for the degree choices each nurse has chosen for themselves.

Be back in a minute......one of my "grown kids" is on the line. :D

Moms never get a break do we? God bless 'em! ;)

Just started at new job for $24. The new grads that started with me get $18. I heard they are up for big raise at 6 months as a retention thing. My complaint is the shift diff. Fifty cents an hour is terrible.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

I'm in Florida making 25/hr with an associates degree, plus three bucks an hour diff. on top of that. But your right, it took me 11 years of hard work to reach that salary.

I am an LPN making base salary of 18.62 an hour. I get .70 shift differential for pm shift and 1.00 per hour for charge, so when I work charge on a pm, I am not making bad money for an LPN in a small town!!

I'm a new grad (ADN) in NH. I work in as a state employee in an acute psych hospital, admission unit. My new-grad pay (while still on my temp. license) was $16/hr. After passing the NCLEX, I am now an RN I, which pays $18.44 (days) and still working with a preceptor.

After 6 months, my residency will be over, but I will still be RN I and on probationary status as a state employee. After 1-2 yrs. experience I can get RN II status and another pay raise then RN III which requires a BSN *or* equivalent combo of education/experience.

Then there is RNC, which is a couple of labor grades higher. Most of the RN III nurses there have their "C". There is also a Clinical Nurse Specialist title (still a direct pt. care position) that pays about $25-30/hr depending on # of years in that position. And on the managerial side, each unit has a Nurse Coordinator who is paid approx. $30-35/hr. Then there are folks in the nursing education dept who probably have their BSN and I haven't a clue how much they make, but they sure seem to have a LOT of time to hang out in the cafeteria...LOL. :chuckle

There is also an excellent shift differential of $3.50 for evenings and $5.00 for the 11-7 shift for staff nurses. We also have excellent medical and dental coverage for ourselves and our families.

On the down side, once I'm done with my residency....there is a LOT of floating between units that goes on, due to the general nursing shortage and given that only about 2% of new grads go into the psych specialty. There is also mandatory OT and both nursing staff and mental health workers are pulling many extra shifts, either voluntarily or not. :zzzzz

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

Hi Monica!

Those rates are lower than where I work

What state is Realityville in? In the hospital about 15 mi from the WA norther border, RNs are about $22hr. They just started doing away with RNs in the birthing center and replacing them with LPNs. A fellow GPN was offered a job in L&D for $12hr. She turned it down because with tips she makes more than that driving around the golf course in a cart selling beer. LTC LPNs start $12-15hr. Clinics pay $12-13hr for LPNs. Because of the education, I think RNs should make more. But, during clinicals at nursing homes, I witnessed LPNs doing the same work as RNs (and more of it and sometimes better). Those RNs just had it made so to speak.

Specializes in LTC, Post OP.
Originally posted by itsme

I am an LPN making base salary of 18.62 an hour. I get .70 shift differential for pm shift and 1.00 per hour for charge, so when I work charge on a pm, I am not making bad money for an LPN in a small town!!

This is a good salary. I know LPN out here who make between 17-22 dollars and hours, Some of them do private duty though. And for louisiana this is good IMO!!

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

"She turned it down because with tips she makes more than that driving around the golf course in a cart selling beer."

Now THERE'S a job! Independence (as every professional should have), minimal paperwork, fresh air, sunshine, clients who are always glad to see you, clients who appreciate what you do (they tip, don't they?), no being micromanaged, no night shifts, no working in bad weather, winters off, (we could go on and on).

Specializes in ER, ICU, Nursing Education, LTC, and HHC.

Interesting how the jobs vary from coast to coast....Thanks for your replies.

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