Hey so young nurses, are we really making "that much"?

Nurses General Nursing

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I ponder about this all the time. If you are a RN now by this point, you know you don't make that much, but still most of us admit that "well, still among our friends, I make decent money." Are we?

I have been a nurse now about year and half, and I really wonder if people at my age group make as much as or more than I do; I live at Dallas, 1yr and half exp making $25/hr + $4 for nights ($29), and $34 for weekend nights. I think it comes to about $3100-3600 a month after taxes :angrybird1:, and I don't know about you, but to me, that doesn't feel very much. I have friends who are teachers, architects, interior designers, and etc, and seeing the way they spend, I doubt that I make more than they do. If I even increase the times I eat out by little bit, I can clearly see my budget affected by it, and it seems like everyone and their grandmother eats out everyday and they still have money to buy other stuff.

Or maybe they are broke and living by paycheck to paycheck because they are not saving up any monies? Ah... I really wish I made enough not to really care whether I eat out today or not. And by the way, I am single and childless... well, I forcefully support millions of lazy freeloaders with my sweat-stained money, so I guess I have lots of children. So, what do you think?

Specializes in CVICU, CCRN.

I just accepted a new grad position in a large, large hospital and I am going to be making 24.25 an hour with only a 1 dollar shift differential. Eh.

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wow, way to stereotype! I suppose your ok with people who generalize that nurses are just lazy, in it for the "money", and not smart enough to be doctors?

well you can think about why stereotypes exist, and there's good reason for that. i give benefits of doubt, but most of folks that roll into our ER, I know they don't pay the bills, they probably go straight to trash and we can't refuse treatment due to emtala. so the money has to come from somewhere, and that's from your and my pocket.

we see it in first hand all the time; welcome to america, land of the "free". call me heartless or whatever, but in other societies, they don't do lazy people this much good, and if we minimized free welfare for lazy people who abuse it, then the money can go to few people who really need it, such as homeless people trying to find a job or single mother who can't get a job even with bsn. i call for strict regulations on it, and i don't know, make them sweep the street or do something jeez. there's my two cents about my 25%.

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You're right, in other countries people get free healthcare, free college, and high minimum wages. Damn that socialism! We Americans are just so much better than the rest of the civilized world. Lazy moochers!!

/sarcasm

And yes, I know it comes from taxes.

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You're right, in other countries people get free healthcare, free college, and high minimum wages. Damn that socialism! We Americans are just so much better than the rest of the civilized world. Lazy moochers!!

/sarcasm

And yes, I know it comes from taxes.

didn't see it as sarcasm. pretty much nailed it

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Specializes in L&D.

Personally I feel like I make pretty decent money. Could I support my family of 6 on one salary? Nope, but pretty close to it....but mainly because we have credit card debt from our years of being stupid.

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Specializes in L&D.

Oh and I try to do as many weekend shifts as I can stomach because weekend diffs are 10$/hr(7p Fri-715am Sun)

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When you consider that somebody with an associates degree in nursing (or even a few allied health positions) worth $10-20k is starting off making the same money as a BSN worth $30++k it becomes hard to accept that we've got it good. Then again look at all the under- and unemployed nurses, accountants, lawyers, and various other college educated professionals who are out of work completely, debt-in-hand. Either way it's crappy to acknowledge that you've got a BSN and a year experience and you're still pigeon-holed in your first job because of how absolutely disgustingly saturated the market is.

ADN's are only "worth" $10-20k? That's insulting.

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Specializes in nursing education.
ADN's are only "worth" $10-20k? That's insulting.

I believe the poster is referring to tuition paid for the degree.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
ADN's are only "worth" $10-20k? That's insulting.

That is not even close to what she said.

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I just graduated with my ADN and sure didn't pay only $10-20k. I didn't even take out loans the first year and still owe $29,900 :no:

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I just graduated with my ADN and sure didn't pay only $10-20k. I didn't even take out loans the first year and still owe $29,900 :no:

That is just crazy. Why would you pay that much? Start to finish an ADN in any of my state's community colleges is about $6,500.

It's hard to have sympathy for anyone who chooses to spend $30K on a $10k education.

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That is not even close to what she said.

Well whichever way you want to say it- he is stirring the never ending debate of BSN is above someone with ADN. Be it by paying more for tuition or bigger salary

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