What's good pay??

[Arkansas]

Hey There

I've looked here and there and of course every place is different. I am a person who doesn't really mind moving away once graduating, but what is the best I can get? I am talking about base pay for new grads. Arkansas Children's offers 15/hr while some in other cities offer 21/hr. I also understand that you must figure in the cost of housing in different areas. Since most of you I'm sure have lots of info on this subject, please let me know: What are the base pays for newgrads at your hospital?

Thank you all very much!!

Arkansas

Whooooo pig sooie!!

[charissa]

in northern ohio it depends as always on your facility. Some are around 19 the highest i have heard is 23 in some urban areas. you also must take shift differential and other things into consideration. i get 1.50 for every afternoon shift hour, mids are an extra 1.25. If your charge you also get an extra 1.00 per hour. certification gets you an extra 60cents or a bsn will get you an extra 50 cents.(both for 1.00) Higher pay sometimes means crappier job, be careful. you dont want to be overworked just because you were looking at the price tag!

[Bluebarn]

South central Pennsylvania's starting salaries are $18-19/hr. New Jersey starts at about $20/hr.

[neuroRN, RN]

I work in Denver, Colorado. I started out at $20/hr. I work days, but the night differential if I were interested is $5/hr more.

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

Our facility in East Tx (not far from you) starts at $17, is close to your home but far enough away to be independent. Housing, etc. about the same as Ark.

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

Hey, Arkansas, I'm originally from Arkansas, too, but I've been living in South Louisiana for 4.5 yrs now. I've been a RN for a year and I started last January at just under $15/hr plus shift diffs of $4/hr eves and $5/hr nights. I got a 10% differential in July for working in critical care and a 4% raise last month (across the board for all nurses in the hospital). I'll be up for my annual raise in January and I hope it will be another 4%. The hospitals in New Orleans (about 2 hr from here) start around $17-18/hr for new grads and some of them offer a weekend differential as well as eve/night diffs.

I heard Houston is paying huge amounts of money, but working in an area with such an acute shortage may not be the best learning environment when you get out of school. I had a really good orientation and I feel pretty confident now in my ability to assess and care for my patients.

Go to the place that will give you the best orientation for a year or two, then branch out and go wherever your dreams take you. If you're a nurse, you ought to be able to find a job anywhere.

To the person who posted about living in Fayetteville, AR: I lived there too for about 4 years and I have to agree, the COL is way to high for the salaries they pay! The rest of Arkansas is not that way though, not even Little Rock. I can't wait till the day I get to move back (but not to Fayetteville).