Hourly wage with "normal" hours (South)

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm not sure if it's right to ask how much people make, but I'm trying to get an idea of how much nurses usually make in the south. Most figures include data from states where pay is much higher.

Specifically, I'm looking for wages for weekday day shift nurses...so not including any night or weekend differentials.

Please include years of experience.

I'm curious to know if $100,000 is possible without working nights, weekends or crazy amounts of overtime...

TheCommuter, BSN, RN

102 Articles; 27,612 Posts

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I'm in Texas. Generally, the Southeastern states tend to offer some of the lowest nursing wages in the country due to the lower cost of living there.

Newly graduated nurses in the metropolitan area where I live will usually earn a starting pay rate of $22 to $25 hourly at major hospitals on days. Settings outside the hospital (home health, dialysis centers, hospice, nursing homes) generally pay more. Clinics and doctors' offices usually pay a lot less.

Annual earnings that exceed $100,000 are normal for day shift nurses with only one job in the higher cost-of-living places such as the San Francisco Bay area and the NYC metro area. In fact, it is normal for new grads in SF to start at $40+ hourly.

However, you will not earn $100,000+ yearly in the South unless you work two full-time day shift jobs, accrue plenty of overtime, or end up in a managerial position (director of nursing, chief nursing officer, director of staff development, etc.).

Indy, LPN, LVN

1,444 Posts

Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

Yeah, what she said. I need to add that the stress levels will dictate that during the first six months, you need to, for your sake, not work overtime more than once a month. Really. The first year involves an adjustment with your immune system, and if you ignore the warnings and work yourself too much, you have no idea what hell awaits you.

southern rn

235 Posts

I'm curious to know if $100,000 is possible without working nights, weekends or crazy amounts of overtime...

no.

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Absolutely, low pay in southeastern VA. Our new grads start around $20/hr so many of them opt for nights to have the differential. There are no 100k floor jobs on day shift here:no:

allnurses Guide

Nurse SMS, MSN, RN

6,843 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

No, it is not possible as a floor RN in the south.

Is it possible anywhere without overtime? I calculate that to being about $53+ an hour for 36 hour weeks. I worked in a high COL area and wages weren't close to that even with experience.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN

102 Articles; 27,612 Posts

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Is it possible anywhere without overtime? I calculate that to being about $53+ an hour for 36 hour weeks. I worked in a high COL area and wages weren't close to that even with experience.
One member recently posted that (s)he currently earns $67 hourly in the Sacramento area and asked if a full time staff pay rate of $50+ hourly was possible in Dallas, since the person was thinking of relocating to Texas (answer: no).

Northern California (Sacramento, SF Bay area) is known for unionized hospitals and some of the highest pay rates in the country. I know that Kaiser offers a PRN rate of $70 hourly to experienced RNs.

Sun0408, ASN, RN

1,761 Posts

Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

Don't go into the hospital if you want "normal" hours. And the quick answer is No. I work in the south, work hospital and do all nights with some weekends. 12 hour shifts and no where near 100,000. but I am around 30+ an hour with shift dif. I almost refuse to do OT unless something major happens in the unit.

Wave Watcher

751 Posts

Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.

Nope. I live in Nashville, TN.

Daytime hours/floor nursing $21-$25 hr.

SummitRN, BSN, RN

2 Articles; 1,567 Posts

Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.

Nobody makes 100K on a day shift with no OT unless they live in places like parts of CA or NYC where a a studio apartment is $4K/mo.

It's all about cost of living, not your salary figure.

oldeddieboy

24 Posts

So what do yall think the top 5% of RNs working days in a hospital down south are making?

Would you say they average about $85k (~$45/hr)? Little more little less?

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