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Hey guys, I am not a nurse yet but I been thinking about becoming one, I really want to help people and I like the paycheck that goes with it, (The paycheck isn't the main reason why I want to go in to nursing so please do not flame me). My question is, I know some people work a lot of hours a week and some try to go for the 100k milestone every year, I like the idea of a 100k paycheck in a year it sounds like a nice goal to aim for but if I am fully capable and doing my job right is there any negatives that go along with this goal? and is it so bad to be a "Workaholic" if i am enjoying myself?

I would like to hear from you guys of what you think, :)

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Don't go to school expecting a 100K/yr salary. I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just saying I don't know any nurses that have them.

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Don't go to school expecting a 100K/yr salary. I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just saying I don't know any nurses that have them.

Thanks for your input :)

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Specializes in rehab.

Hi, I know you (OP) said "don't Flame me.." when refering to money being the reason why you are wanting to be a nurse....

It would be a great injustice if no one tells you you will be sadly disappointed. Money is decent, compaired to most other jobs anyway, but you have to put up with A LOT (just read other nurses experiences posted and you may get a rough idea what i mean). You need more than just 'the money' to be a nurse, or you will be burned out , angry, depressed, suicidal in your 1st few years! Just my 2 cents

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Specializes in Telemetry, CCU.

There are certainly people that like to work 60 hours/week on a regular basis but one person in particular just screams BURNOUT.... Everytime I work with this person all I do is hear complaining about how she works 5 days/week, never gets called off, always gets the hardest assignment, always has a crappy night, always has the worst day of her life basically. And I just keep thinking to myself, "you chose to work 2 jobs, deal with it!". It gets old. So to answer your question, if you are young and single there is certainly nothing wrong with making the extra cash, just don't burn yourself out and turn into a bitter worn out person. And the 100k salary, maybe in some parts of the country if you have 2 jobs, but certainly don't go into nursing for the money!!!!!! Trust me on this! The money is good enough to live comfortably, but comes with a price :)

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Hi, I know you (OP) said "don't Flame me.." when refering to money being the reason why you are wanting to be a nurse....

It would be a great injustice if no one tells you you will be sadly disappointed. Money is decent, compaired to most other jobs anyway, but you have to put up with A LOT (just read other nurses experiences posted and you may get a rough idea what i mean). You need more than just 'the money' to be a nurse, or you will be burned out , angry, depressed, suicidal in your 1st few years! Just my 2 cents

No, I said don't flame me because money isn't the reason I want to be a nurse, Thanks :)

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There are certainly people that like to work 60 hours/week on a regular basis but one person in particular just screams BURNOUT.... Everytime I work with this person all I do is hear complaining about how she works 5 days/week, never gets called off, always gets the hardest assignment, always has a crappy night, always has the worst day of her life basically. And I just keep thinking to myself, "you chose to work 2 jobs, deal with it!". It gets old. So to answer your question, if you are young and single there is certainly nothing wrong with making the extra cash, just don't burn yourself out and turn into a bitter worn out person. And the 100k salary, maybe in some parts of the country if you have 2 jobs, but certainly don't go into nursing for the money!!!!!! Trust me on this! The money is good enough to live comfortably, but comes with a price :)

Thanks for you advice, I am not going to go into nursing for the money, My main focus is to help people and make a difrence in my community, If I was to make a list of pro's and con's money would be very high on the list of pro's but it wouldn't be at the top, I have always been told that if you find a career that you love you will never have to work a day in your life, I want nursing to be that for me.

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Working 6 12's a week gets to you very quickly and then you start looking for other career options. Don't even think about it. You THINK you will enjoy it now....but wait until you are on the other side of the fence and your rose colored glasses have been shattered. What we do is HARD work and you MUST take time for yourself.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU.

I happen to work in a part of the country where you can make 100K/year without killing yourself. However, you will pay 24K of that each year to live in a crappy one bedroom apartment in a so-so neighborhood and then pay inflated prices for everything else you must buy. Probably you will also spend one hour each day driving around the block looking for parking or paying to commute across a bridge that seems to be closed down every other week now (on those days you will commute across 2 bridges).

If all of that STILL sounds good to you, sorry but no hospitals around here are hiring nurses, especially not new grads.

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I happen to work in a part of the country where you can make 100K/year without killing yourself. However, you will pay 24K of that each year to live in a crappy one bedroom apartment in a so-so neighborhood and then pay inflated prices for everything else you must buy. Probably you will also spend one hour each day driving around the block looking for parking or paying to commute across a bridge that seems to be closed down every other week now (on those days you will commute across 2 bridges).

If all of that STILL sounds good to you, sorry but no hospitals around here are hiring nurses, especially not new grads.

Thanks for the suport? I already have the city in mind of where I want to work, Just because there not hireing doesn't mean it will be like that forever, No one is hireing in california atm, Does that mean I shouldn't go for the rn? The answer is NO! Things change all the time.

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Specializes in ER.

Don't forget about the nights, weekends, and holidays. As a new nurse you will likely work nights, and most staff nurses work rotating weekends and holidays. It plain sucks when your family is at home celebrating Christmas and you are at work. If you plan on having a family or have children, childcare can be a nightmare. I'm going back for a master's degree so I can have a bit more normal schedule. As others have said, you might be disappointed with the pay. It is the hardest work I've ever done and the most responsibility you will ever have.

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Don't forget about the nights, weekends, and holidays. As a new nurse you will likely work nights, and most staff nurses work rotating weekends and holidays. It plain sucks when your family is at home celebrating Christmas and you are at work. If you plan on having a family or have children, childcare can be a nightmare. I'm going back for a master's degree so I can have a bit more normal schedule. As others have said, you might be disappointed with the pay. It is the hardest work I've ever done and the most responsibility you will ever have.

Thanks for your reply, I would actualy prefer nights and weekends and I am open to working holidays, But I am very flexible as to days and nights of the week aswell, I do not plan on having a family or children untell much later in life if ever, I wish you the best of luck on your MSN. :)

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